Does my electrical panel need to be redone/rewired?

3 years ago

last modified: 3 years ago

I will be looking into fixing various electrical issues at my house. I am starting at the electrical panel.

There are some questionable wiring configurations. i.e. washer is on the same circuit as several plugs, i.e. no dedicated washer circuit, but maybe this is fine. There is however a circuit that powers most of the kitchen sockets, small office in the next room over, part of the basement, and front door lighting. That seems awfully extensive for a single circuit. I'd rather see 2 or maybe 3, or maybe even 4 circuits for this.

Since I will be doing various rewiring, I wanted to consider a larger picture.

I have seen some very nicely-wired electrical panels. But mine looks like this:

Do I need to look into having it rewired/replaced?

If not, is there a strong reason to just keep it as-is and not do anything to it?

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Comments (8)

HU-178658043
3 years ago
Yeah. It looks like a DIY total hack job, for several reasons. There are restrictions on laundry and kitchen receptacles that must be complied with, and that panel is the pits. Have a licensed pro come in to make corrections and look for other problems which, considering what you've shown, are surely to exist.
mtvhike
3 years ago
However, you may have to bring your entire wiring up to current code, depending on where you live; be prepared for that.
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There's a lot in your message that may be areas for concern. First, the main panel is a Federal, which is notorious for causing fires. Secondly, the breakers in this panel should be double-pole, instead of the single pole that you describe. 30amp fuses in the mobile home are scary, since it's unlikely that the internal wiring is heavy enough to carry this amount of current. Wires coming up through PVC that are taped off, but live, are very scary. My strong recommendation is that you have a professional electrician look at this. This type of job is over the head of most DIYers.
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Which is why they aren't used in garages or unfinished basements, correct? The arcs in the electric motors cause the AFCI to trip. What about things like vacuum cleaners or other household devices with motors? Because I'm just replacing the panels, I shouldn't have to protect the existing circuits with AFCI, but if I rewire the bedrooms with two new 20A circuits, then I will need AFCI protection on those new circuits, correct? A random question: Why, when I watch television shows such as Holmes on Homes and others (filmed in Canada), do I see most of their load centers horizontal rather than vertical? Is their any benefit to doing that? What I'm working with now: 1st Floor: 2nd Floor: 3rd Floor: I found out last week (after pulling off the front cover) that the 2nd floor has a couple of double-tapped circuits including two 15A "house" circuits which were double-tapped to a single 30A minibreaker fuse! Also, when they installed the boiler, they double-tapped the laundry circuit to get power. I ordered two 301P fuse blocks and my electrical will be installing them next week. The third floor was just as bad with double-taps. The boiler, like the 2nd floor, was double tapped into the laundry circuit. Also, the garage was on the 3rd floor panel for some reason (I think the previous owner lived on the 3rd floor). It's funny how none of this stuff gets disclosed when buying a house, and my house inspection report didn't list any issues regarding electrical. It's like finding the pieces to a puzzle and figuring out how they match up... That was the case when I had a hunch there was a fire on the 3rd floor. There was all new (Romex) wiring in the kitchen, cathedral ceilings with six Velux skylights circa-1986 (which the identical house next door doesn't have), the back wall of the kitchen is missing the original 40's tile, vinyl siding on the 3rd floor that didn't quite match perfectly when its sunny outside, and that weird 12-3 wire that runs up the exterior of the house to behind the kitchen counter... Of course, when I went to the building inspector last year, the one permit on file for my house was taken out in 1986 for a house fire that started in the kitchen. None of it was disclosed however... I had to go searching for it. Had I known then, it might've influenced my decision to buy the house. (Of course, now, I love my house and actually am thankful for the fire because I now have all new wiring and cathedral ceilings with skylights, and a second legal bedroom on the 3rd floor which they created from unfinished attic space by installing two skylights and finishing the room.)
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Ron Natalie
3 years ago
last modified: 3 years ago
In the modern codes, the kitchen area (which includes the dining and pantry areas) needs the receptacle to be on at last two circuits wth no other outlets. The laundry needs a receptacle on its own circuit. Bathroom receptacle circuits are also restricted. Of course, older houses probably won't meet these requirements. As noted, if you do start to do substantial improvements, you'll likely need to bring the parts you touch up to code.

I agree the panel looks like amateur hour.. There are a few SCARY DANGEROUS things that need to be addressed immediately.

The first are the cables coming in through the hole in the panel (which still has the knock out dancing) without a cable clamp. You can bet that eventually the this will wear through and hopefully trip a breaker prior to starting a fire.

I'd also get the wires coming into the panel properly supported. They appear to just leap off into space.

Given the obvious defects, you should have an electrician with a clue come in and check things over.

Is that a bare wire coming out of the top left of the panel (through the crack where the cover would be)? In fact, there sees to be a general lack of grounds connected as near as I can tell.
Dennis Matveyev
Original Author
3 years ago
> "Is that a bare wire coming out of the top left of the panel"

No that is a curtain hanging wire string that is a few feet away from the panel, and just happened to get into the picture.
Dennis Matveyev
Original Author
3 years ago
Well, I got an electrician come and check out my panel, and he says it's fine, and that it's likely over 20 years old. And that if it is redone, it's more like spending money for the sake of spending money. He can redo it so that it is a little bit nicer, but he did not recommend replacing the panel, or doing a major rewiring. He said he can do some neater connections if I so wanted, but it seemed like that was meant to be a cosmetic fix rather than a functional one.

He did quote me $1800 for moving 10 electrical boxes on the ceiling in case we do drywall ceiling in the basement, plus removing an underground wire, and running a dedicated circuit for the washer, running two wires through the joists.
Ron Natalie
3 years ago
He thought that the wire running through a half punched out knock out is OK? I'd fire him and get someone competent;.
Dennis Matveyev
Original Author
3 years ago
Ron, I am guessing he didn't give it a proper thorough look. He wasn't even going to open the panel up at first, but he did to take a peek. (I did send him these very photos by email before he came over, so he had an idea what he'd see inside).
mtvhike
3 years ago
If you want to drywall your ceiling, can't you just put removable accessible covers on the boxes?

Does my electrical panel need to be redone/rewired?

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HU-178658043

mtvhike

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Does my electrical panel need to be redone/rewired?

Comments (8)

HU-178658043

mtvhike

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Ron Natalie

Dennis MatveyevOriginal Author

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