It's worth mentioning that back in olden in the old days (say 25 years ago), All NM Romex style cable had the same white color sheathing, regardless of its gage. When checking for over fusing of circuits what appears to be an over fused 15 amp (14 gage) circuit may actually be correctly fused 20 amp circuit with white sheathed 12 gage wire.

When you color tape a white conductor to indicate a hot wire you absolutely must tape the other end where it terminates. A hot white wire in a box could be taken as a neutral and used opposite a hot from the opposite side of the panel resulting in a 240 volt feed applied to a 120 volt appliance.

Thank You sir ! As a retired Journeyman Electrician with more than 50 years of experience in the field I saw more than my share of the "rats nest" type of panels, gasoline stations that had been remodeled several times. I couldn't always make them look perfect, but I tried. Any of the new Installations that I worked on, looked like the 3 phase panel you showed. When I upgraded my own residence from 70 amp Zinsco to a 200 amp Homeline all my wires were formed and marked. When the city inspector came for final inspection he was taken aback and had to take a picture of the work. It is sad to say that too many tradesmen do not take pride in their work and only do the minimum.

Decades ago I took a studio engineering and sound reinforcement course at the local community college. The instructor did sound for hotels and arenas and other venues. He said that he always ran into tripping breakers because in most places like banquet halls and hotels, everybody uses the circuit breakers like a wall switch, and every time they manually trip the breaker to turn the power on and off it slightly reduces the friction or resistance necessary to trip it. So over years and years of being flipped open and closed, a 15 amp fuse might only be able to handle 12, or 13 amps. So he always carried a hand full of breakers in case he ran into one that would refuse to stay closed.

Dude waving his hands and fingers around near the main lugs was giving me cold sweats

A few points: If you home is pre-2001, you won't see a yellow jacket on 12ga wire. That started becoming available in 2001, and older wire jacketing will be white, or possibly gray. Most new panels come with covers for the primary lugs. If your panel has a master breaker and it's turned off and the covers are in place, it becomes VERY difficult to accidentally ground those out. They're also available as an option for some older panels. It's within NEC code to have two ground wires under a single screw, but NOT for a neutral. The reason you see that in the example panel is because some bus bars don't come with all the screws populated. Of course, you should always check with the jurisdiction having authority. NEC is a top-level thing. A state, county, or city can have more stringent requirements than the NEC. Lastly, it's always wise to remove jewelry when working in a hot panel. If your ring or watch manages to bridge a hot and neutral or ground, it'll turn to molten metal pretty quick.

The panel at 13:09 is beautiful. Personally, I always leave extra length on the hot wires, because you never know when in the distant future things may have to be rearranged, or a panel upgraded. I usually run the wire down to near the bottom of the enclosure and back up to the breaker. I still make it nice and pretty, but that extra length can be a life saver in the future. I've personally thanked quite a few electricians who came before me for doing this, as I'm sure some electricians in the future will thank me long after I'm dead.

I love turning chaos panels into art! I done a panel during COVID shutdown when I was on layoff from my 9-5 and let me tell you it was the worst I'd seen, made the rats nest panel showed in this video look like a work of art. Well 2 days later a fully upgraded panel that looked beautiful, a fully rewired basement, and several changes in the main part of the house were complete and I was totally satisfied with my work. More so impressed was my buddy who hired me to do the work, he knew I had an electrical background but didn't realize I was that good. I just wish I could share the pictures here so you too could see what I walked into and how great it looked when I left. Oh and I didn't mention this place had more junction boxes than any 25 houses I've seen. I done away with as many as I could but to save money most of the old wiring stayed but I got it up to par as best I could with the budget he gave me to work with. Sparky for life.

Sir, you need to be super, super clear that the mains hardware in the breaker box will be hot even if your breakers are switched off. If newbies follow your example in the video, they would feel safe touching the mains connections and bus bars. You should make it crystal clear that those are no-touch areas unless you are absolutely sure the power is disconnected to those mains (often requiring the power company to remove the electric meter from your service entry).

one point: it is currently acceptable to code to land two SAME SIZE AND STRANDING ground wires in one terminal. in some brands of boxes, it is also necessary to do that, or to add additional grounding bars.

It is worth mentioning load balancing - installing circuits such that current is taken from each side of the 120 volt split evenly.

I would add one more important one: turning off the main breaker with all the branch circuits left in the on position. The branch circuits should be turned off first and turned on last when shutting off and turning back on the main breaker to avoid damage to the breaker due to arcing.

A couple of tips for updating your panel schedule. 1) make a layout drawing for your house marking the locations of all outlets and all light fixtures. A drawing thats not to scale is fine. You will turn off all curcuits and only have one circuit on at a time. You will mark on your drawing the circuit number at each location that you detect power. This drawing will be used to help you write a more accurate panel schedule. Any unused spaces with breakers in them can be marked as spare on the panel schedule. Keep in mind that you can have outlets and lights in crawl spaces, attics, and closets. Sometimes you'll find equipment (water heater, dehumidifier, air handler, etc) in these locations. If you have a hardwired doorbell, don't forget to check what circuit that is on. 2) they make printer paper that is a sticker. You can print off your own schedule. Alternately, you can print on regular printer paper and use packaging tape to secure it to the panel. One common mistake many homeowners make is storing items in front of the panel or not having a clear path to the panel. You're supposed to keep the work area and access path clear. The work space extends 3 feet from the face of the panel and is 30 inches wide. The safe access path is supposed to be 3 feet wide. All this is so that you have ready access to the panel in an emergency.

As a DIYer, I use a P-Touch labeler to stick labels onto the breakers (makes it easy to see what’s what even with the cover off) and onto each cable coming out of the panel. Saves so much headache down the line and 3rd party p-touch tape is available in a wide variety of colors and sizes (6mm tape is the perfect size for labeling romex)

5:51 if you are going to use a wire nut to combine grounds, consider using a green "grounding wire nut" that has a hole on the end allowing one of the wires to continue at full lenght to land on the grounding bar. This way you don't have an unnecessary extra wire in a "pig tail" to make the final connection to the grounding bar.

Although wiring a residential main panel to look like a machine tool panel with tight bends and labeling each conductor looks sharp I have always thought of the person that might have to work in the panel down the road. For this reason I forgo the form for function and provide a service loop when landing the hot/feed conductors! When done correctly it will look nice and allow for moving a circuit’s location without having to break out the cumbersome wire stretcher tool 😋

I must admit that I had some bad experiences as a teen working with high voltage and was terrified to do anything in my box for years. Even something as simple as replacing a receptacle made me cringe. But when I realized the cost of adding a circuit for my shed, I decided it was time to get over my fear. I watched a number of UKposts tutorials but yours was the best. Your videos gave me the confidence to do the job and the knowledge to do it right. I’m now working on replacing all the old wiring from the 1950s when the house was built and upgrading my box. I’m nearly done and will have an electrician check my work in a few days before the electric company turns everything back on. Thank you so much for being so informative and straight to the point in all your videos.

I'm an EE and a gearhead. I torque nearly everything on a car. Thank you for pointing out that there's a torque spec on breakers. Never even thought of it. So far using a little sense has kept me from burning any houses down but I will buy the proper tool for the job. Great channel!

I recently had a panel added that had a few more spaces than the old panel. Since the house is older, several circuits had outlets & switches from different rooms on one circuit. What I did was typed up a sheet laying out each breaker as shown in the panel and listed each outlet, switch, etc, placed it in a sheet protector and taped it to the outside of the panel.

Mistake #3.5 @ 3:55 - do not turn away from the panel to face the camera while waving your hand near the live connections :)

A little note about "prettying up" a circuit breaker panel - be careful with your wire bends; the NEC stipulates a minimum bend radius of 8 times the conductor diameter. I once saw a panel that had been rewired by the property owner and it was very neat, but all the conductors had very tight right-angle bends; he was so proud of his work, I didn't have the heart to tell him it was a code violation. The one you showed in your video would be considered acceptable, the bends are gently curved.

The guy that wired my house used the wrong screw on my neutral wire to my sub panel, I came home one day and walked by my panel and thought it was awful warm as I walked by, I removed the cover and sparks was flying out and the plastic clip that was holding the neutral bar was melting as well. The house was 7 years old at the time. It took that long for it to happen. The sad part was the correct screw was lying in the bottom of the box. I had to relocate the wire and up higher due to the damage threads and 10 years on still working great.

Just had a new 200A panel installed. The inspector checked the torque on every fastener in the panel and also checked the backing nuts were tight on all the connectors. Checked wire size matched the breaker size. Then outside the panel, he checked the set screws were tight on on every EMT connector in sight. Very thorough inspection, glad I had an electrician who knew the inspector and what he would be looking for so that there weren't any rejections.

Thank You sir, 5 stars from me. I did my own 200 amp service in a shop/building. I got 100 % according to you. Also I did my ground rod and grounding as well as I could. I couldn't make my panel wiring as pretty as your example but that is what I was trying for and it is certainly not a rats nest. I am a retired Union pipefitter and in our area of the world that includes the HVAC service world. So glad you included the tightening torque and going back every year to check tightness. . Skip that step and burn a terminal off of a large compressor and you could be looking for a job. It is so important! One last thing, Your presentation and your clean cut appearance make people feel secure when you come to there door. Versus someone wearing their clothes multiple days, hair all over their face, kicking the mud off their boots on your porch and I'm sure from looking at you, you know what I mean. I subscribed and want to see in your other videos what I may have done wrong. Thank You again, It was a pleasure.

In my early years as a journeyman electrician, I got busted for not having the panel labeled before I called for the inspection. I was going to do it, but hadn't got around to it first. My boss was pissed! He had to pay for an additional inspection. Lucky he didn't make me cover it. After that, I started writing the circuit number on the inside of the outlet box with a magic marker, in addition to making sure the panel was labeled correctly.

Nice clear to understand video! Remember, older NM (non-metallic) white plastic covered cable, “Romex” may be 12 gauge wire as well as 14 Gauge wire. It is nice to have color coding of the wire jacket, especially for inspection purposes. I notice the plastic bushing was missing on the incoming SE (service entrance) cable in the circuit breaker panel. On the Square D circuit breaker, you could use the second wire port to hook up the surge protector in the panel. Great job!

You’re doing a very nice job explaining all the code that’s involved with electrical panels I’ve been doing it for 50 years and I’ve seen a lot of changes

Overall a good video. A couple of comments - Multiple wires into a single hole on a buss bar is allowed if its the ground bus bar and is rated for it. Some are rated for 1@ #10, 2 @ #12, 2 @ #14. Neutrals by code must each have their own. - If you're able to calculate loads on each circuit, as much as possible balance the load on the panel. The panel is made to kind of do that, but may not have had the loads applied appropriately for the large load devices, especially when DIYers add things. Balancing the expected loads makes power use more efficient. Unbalanced loads can actually wind up costing more in electrical bills. Safety wise, balancing the loads means the neutral can remain neutral. When the loads aren't balanced, the neutral will start to carry voltage/current, and that can cause dangerous conditions within your home.

You forgot mistake #11 that you demonstrated in the video: Waving your hands cavalierly around a panel with the cover removed and then tightening the screws on the hot lead of a breaker without switching it off. Even with an insulated screwdriver this is an unnecessary risk, particularly for a nonprofessional. And waving your hands around the lugs where the entrance cable connects is just asking to touch a hot lead by mistake.

7:14 most load center manufacturers, like Square D we see here, are OK with doubling up grounding (ground) conductors per grounding buss hole. While NEC doesn't seem to explicitly allow it, NEC doesn't explicitly disallow it either. The reasoning is that the grounding conductor is only meant to carry fault current and should not experience the heat/expansion cycles like that of a current carrying conductor like the grounded (neutral) conductor. Though in your case, it looks like you have more than enough terminal spaces on your ground buss and the previous installer really didn't need to resort to doubling up grounding conductors like that. But overall, agreed with the sentiment regarding Neutrals, NEC 408.21 forbids double tapping grounded (neutral) connections at the buss termination.

Excellent run down on how to properly wire a panel. I'm about to rewire my shop panel, so this will be a big help in doing it right.

13:00 The electrician who installed my new panel also made it look like a work of art, it is beautiful to look at, he also put in three spare circuit breakers for any future expansion.

My grandfather was an electrician from the 1930s - 1970s. NOTHING on earth pissed him off more than no or wrong labeling in a panel! (it's even WORSE in a commercial setting!) I have religiously labeled mine and relabeled ones in places I rented. This is easiest on day one BEFORE you set up your furniture, so you can check every outlet! Fun fact: When my grandfather had HIS house built (Early 1950s) He wired all of the branch circuits with #12AWG, even on the circuit that were fused at 15 Amps! Then again,, he was a man to changes his car's oil more often than what the manual said to. Not one to take chances! 👍😊👍

I educate myself to the point i feel i can do it, then i call in an expert. At least then i know if he is ripping me off. A man has to know his limitations ~ Clint Eastwood

Oohhh: That perfectly organized loom of wiring in the circuit panel was VERY satisfying. I noticed and commented at a friend's house that all of her cover plates' screws were all perfectly aligned vertically, and she then showed me her circuit panel - it was just like this one. I try, but I can never seem to get them this neat and organized. Thank you for that gratifying picture.

You remind me a lot of I guy I used to work with. He was great at explaining things, looked a bit like you and always left people he talked to happy. So take the compliment, no bow necessary, grin.

One thing I wish all manufacturers would do is put two hooks on the top holes to hold the panel cover. Siemens is the only one (in our area) that does that. Good info for those that dont know.

Thank you. I'll let professionals handle this if I ever need it. 😉

Great Video! I’ve Been looking everywhere for a better explanation on the Square D double tap breaker. Thank you.

Admiring your well organized and efficient presention! You made it a pleasure to watch. Thank you!

Great video, but in the section covering torquing the wire connections on the breakers you should have noted that the screw lugs on the circuit breakers installed in the breaker panel are hot unless they are switched off or the main panel breaker is switched off. Likewise, a statement should be included that the lugs with the allen wrench style wire clamps on the transformer side of the main disconnect breaker are always hot and should be avoided (they should also have insulating covers on them per code, but I've never seen a panel in use that had them). The lugs on the other side of the main breaker are hot if the breaker is on.

Nils, this is a great video. As someone who inspects electrical panels almost every day, the basic knowledge you gave for DIYers and homeowners is great. Your tip on what is referred to as "double tapping" of hot wires to the same breaker is so beneficial.

For DIYers: if you need to replace a circuit breaker, bring the old one to the store so they can help you find the appropriate replacement. If you haven't removed it yet, take a close-up picture of the breaker and the box label. Boxes only accept compatible breakers, and even some brands have different boxes.

Thanks very much for your carefully descriptive video. As a DIY I have done sporadic amounts of outlet and circuit breaker box wiring in the home and shop but need reminders about how things should be done.

This is more personal preference, but I always double stripe my wires when recoding them. Too many times I’ll see what seems like half a roll of electrical tape just to recode a wire. As a point of safety, I always remove the tape to make sure someone wasn’t trying to hide damaged insulation (seen it more often than not). By using a SMALL amount of tape to make two stripes close together, it clearly recodes the wire without making it look like a repair.

Way back I apprenticed for a couple of years before changing careers and have always done my own electrical since, and one common thing I've seen.... most (not all) of the worst electrical work I've seen has come from licensed guys, in a hurry to make those profits. Most diy's are somewhat paranoid so they research to death then generally take the extra steps.

Thanks for the video. We had an upgrade from 100 AMP to 200 AMP in 1989. What a mess. The electricians replacing the panel did an excellent job. Very tidy but I found a few shortcuts hidden by the original owner as I completed other renos.

M.E. here. Nice video, well explained. I got a chuckle out of the clean organized panel you showed at the end. I LOVE clean work, THAT'S the guy I want on my crew or doing service calls. But then I looked closer, and saw the circuit wires labeled in numerical order from top left down, then top right down, rather than odd circuits left, even circuits right. I know this was probably from the pull, labeling the romex as each home run was pulled to their location - but then you need to have a pull drawing to know exactly where everything went, if their numbering isn't going to match the panel cover. Hardly the end of the world, just gave me a little chuckle. It's the little things, sometimes. 🙂

I had one "open hole" in my breaker panel. I just put a breaker in it. Could come in handy one day if I decide to run a new circuit. LOL.

Torquing the screws is the only one of these that have gotten me. We were in a new build home about 2 years and a screw came loose on a breaker. The wire pulled out and shut off the circuit. Of course this only happened to one circuit - the furnace, in Minnesota, mid winter. Probably about midnight. About 2:30 or 3 I woke up due to the cold and realize the furnace wasn't running, but we have power to the house... Not fun chasing problems half asleep and with a sense of urgency. Found it after a few minutes and got everything working again. One of my best examples of "Murphy's Law" - wouldn't happen to an unimportant circuit on a warm sunny summer afternoon. Noooo, of course not...

As an English Journeyman Electrician it is really fun working with 240v single phase on a 30 amp ring main. 2.5mm cable comes out of the breaker circum navigates the house then the far end goes back into the same breaker, Servicing 13 amp mostly dual switched outlets available for 3 pin plugs each with its own fuse. 1 breaker for downstairs and 1 breaker for upstairs. Water heaters, cookers, etc have their own breaker. The I.E.E. Regulations are very interesting.

There are lots of comments here about dangerous DIYers, but the two potentially disastrous wiring problems I have experienced were caused by so-called professionals: utility line workers. For 30-some years I have owned a second home on the Oregon Coast. Twice in that time I have replaced the SEP. The first was to update an obsolete 125-amp panel to a 200-amp Square D. One night I arrived during heavy rain to find the lights flickering or inoperable. Upon inspection in the basement, the entire panel looked and sounded like an arc welder. I didn’t dare touch the thing to flip the main breaker, so I poked at the breaker with a wooden broom handle during arcing (so I could see) until I killed the power. The next day I realized what had happened: wind-driven rain had entered the SEP mast, flowed past the meter and entered the box, where it began destroying its guts, all without tripping the main breaker. And all because the line crew that connected the house to the utility system had pointed the weather head at the nearby ocean, allowing wind-driven rain to reach the SEP. On another occasion when I arrived at the house every light burned out as soon as I tried to turn it on, and the refrigerator was not functioning. I soon determined that every outlet in the house was supplying 240 volts. All because inadequate work by another line crew had allowed the supply lines to short and double the voltage throughout the building. The utility worker who responded to my call shook his head, redid the connections and said something about colleagues who insisted on doing work the old-fashioned way. The blazing hot GE fridge compressor eventually cooled and the thing kept working. I’m no electrician, but have been doing all my own work for 40 years, starting with the updating of a 100-amp panel in a knob-and-tube system in my first home, built in the 1930s. That panel, itself a presumed upgrade of the original fuse box, was a terrifying rat’s nest of wires, done by a local “electrician” known to my elderly neighbor. I am pretty sure that the electrician’s helper was Jack Daniels. Some years later, when a Realtor friend wanted me to see a mess of a house that had just come on the market, I put it together that the enormous, haphazard jumble of electrical supplies could only have belonged to that same brain-fried electrician. Yes, plenty of work is done by DIYers who shouldn’t be near electricity. But every professional here has stories like this of jobs done by lazy, incompetent or drunk electricians.

Having had an arc fire in my electric furnace due to the lug coming loose, I now check the tightness of all the screws in the furnace (83 Amps x 240V) and all the connections in the breaker panel every autumn.

Always read the specs on your load center before doing things. Square D allows two wires to be placed in the holes on the neutral or ground bars. They need to be 12 gauge at the max and need to be paired with the same size wire. Yes one wire is ideal but if done properly it is ok. Also know how many breakers you load center can handle, you can put twin breakers anywhere in a Homeline series but a QO series has different rules. Older QOs could have twins anywhere, newer QOs can only have twins on the bottom five spaces on each side, and the newest QOs are being recommended to not use twins at all. Its all in the part number, a HOM4080 has 40 spaces but can have 80 circuits if filled with twins. The sticker on the inside of the door will tell you everything you need to know from spaces to acceptable breaker replacements and parts. Also most loadcenters use generic covers/doors just because you open the door and see two spaces left to knockout to add a circuit doesn't mean that you have two available slots on the bus.

This was an excellent presentation! thank you!

Great job on that project. I really like how you kept it original with the original paint.

No, you don't test to see if there is no current running through them. 0:37 / 13:54. You test for voltage.

on #2 the main breaker can handle one 100% of the calculated load. Only continuous loads are at 125% that's factored in when you do the load calculation for those individual Branch circuits. There's even demand factors that can lower the main breaker size. (Applies only to certain types of loads)

Nice vídeo, Just one comment, breakers don't "push" ampers through the wires. Actually, the reason we want breakers and wires matching is rather the opposite. If you have a short in a 14 gage wire, if the breaker is set for too high current to break the circuit, because of the wire thickness that current may not be achieved until it's too late. You may have a fire started if the wire is allowed to burn hot for long. Remember, current is required by the load, not pushed by the source. Thank you for the video!

A clear and informative video. Also the presenter straight up emanates nice person energy, best wishes for this youtube channel and everything else!

Reaching into the panel - no gloves, no eye protection, no frisk - gives me the jeebies.

Mislabeling was definitely a big point of frustration for me when we bought our home. It took more than half a day to trace out every receptacle and light. Fast forward a few years to last year and we decided to add rooftop solar system and upgrade the 150 amp panel to a 200 amp Span smart panel (already had 200 amp service to the box). Unfortunately, the solar installers did not follow my labeling scheme so I had to go about relabeling everything all over again. 😭 On the bright side, it was a lot easier with the Span panel as I just went from receptacle to receptacle with a high-draw appliance (hair iron), plug it in, and watch the usage spike on the correct circuit in my Span app. I was shocked that Span doesn't offer some sort of tracing device that can of into the receptacle and have the panel itself label it as you go.

I never knew about that circuit breaker finder tool...definitely adding it to my list to buy. I'm always trying to figure out what breaker goes with what. THANKS!

Thoroughly explained and highly informative-thanks for the excellent video.

Another issue!! You should ALWAYS tap the cover with the BACK of your hand BEFORE doing any work inside the box. Including resetting a breaker. An electrician friend got severely electrocuted because there was voltage on the box itself. Using the back of the hand is a lot safer than your palm.

Put the red tape on BOTH ends. I've got a miss-wiring here with the white being L2. Hooked up a 5-15 type outlet. The tester said something was wrong. I didn't know what right away..

Clear and concise ! Thank you!

When you showed the grounding wire coiled with a line going through it, it reminded me of what someone described to me years ago - the coil was creating a magnetic field and running a line through it caused all kinds of weirdness.

Excellent video. Im a homeowner and occasionally will make a simple repair but call in the electrician for real repair needs. About 9 years ago I had the overhead line running to my house replaced with an underground line to my house through a transfer switch and a new pole for my meter with a new meter box with 3 power legs and it's own shutoff switch. And the inspector was able to inspect it the same day the work was completed. Best upgrade this house had in years.

I am by far no expert who can give advice, but the scariest thing i ever saw in an old friend's basement was that he had disconnected all of his ground wires from the actual ground and wrapped them around a nail he put in one of the wodden floor joists. His reasoning was that "you're always told to not stand under a tree during a thunderstorm because it's such a great conductor... therefore there is no better conductor for grounding electric than wood. "

After just one minute and fifteen seconds, was something I didn't know. Thank you!

Just a note of interest. In europe, terminals are filled not a single wire, voltage is 240 no 120. I have found that a single wire can be cut if over torqued and the wire can be found to move to the side of the screw so the threads cut into the wire and not the end of the screw. I bend the solid wire over you find it fills the terminal and makes a better secure connection.

For an air conditioning or heat pump, a larger CB is needed to handle the inrush current than what is needed to handle the continuous current.

2 or 3 grounds of the same size under one screw is actually ok for most panels and jurisdictions (the panel should tell you how many it will support). But only one neutral per screw.

Few things to note: I'm sure you already know this, but viewers may not. If you are working in an older home, all NMB was naturally colored (White) till the mid-1990s when NMB 12 (Yellow) and 10 (Orange) were introduced. Also - 04:08 Romex is a trade name for Southwire. Cero, Encore, and Republic Wire all make NMB in the united states. (Calling NMB [Non-Metalic Building Wire] Romex is like calling all jeans Levis) Very well thought-out video. I will share this video with others. for sure! You also have a new subscriber! 🦅

The panel shown at 13:09 look great. However - I always added service loops to my conductors. Unless there is a gutter above for service loops (not in residential installation), I would add them in the panel. You never know when you have to move breakers around. And the key for any electrical installation is having your connections tight. As the circuit is energized - de-energized the conductors will expand and contract. If not properly tightened - will become loose. And recently I started using 24VAC lighting when possible. Those systems are typically powered from a Class 2 transformer - allowing for Class 2 power limited wiring methods, which provide many installation options.

I would like to add putting fiberglass insulation inside of the panel. I found that 2 weeks ago at my shop when I was adding a new circuit. Apparently the old owners were worried about the little bit of air coming in through the service line entrance so they risked a huge fire hazard instead.

Nice explanation. But never, never put your hands or fingers in the panel unless everyone knows it is shut down. Not sure you commented on that

I have to agree, a well laid out wired panel, is a joy to see.

Fantastic video. I don't have time to read all the comments but the ones that are saying, mistake number 11 is pointing at the box and such. Not quite sure if anybody noticed but he obviously took things apart wired them up the wrong way so that we can see the wrong way then put them back the correct way. He talks about code in several different scenarios. And he's running a sub box I'm pretty sure this guy knows what he's talking about. The video is very well composed very straightforward, well rehearsed, and like I said he took the time to write on the electrical panel labels the wrong information, rewrite them in some other language or gibberish, then put good labels on there. He wired up scenarios where two wires are in one circuit, he wired up the grounds to look incorrect without a wire nut or with a pigtail, and then corrected all of these to make them look the way that they're supposed to be to code. Great job great video and at the very least even if you don't want to touch your electrical box you can at least inspect it with your eyes and see if there's something wrong and call electrician.

Unless the code has changed in recent years, the ground wires are allowed to be two to a hole in the bars, provided they are the same gauge. This is easily verified by looking at the chart on the door that specifies wire sizes per terminal, torques, approved breakers, etc.

DIYing electrical issues is one of the few things I leave to a trained electrician outside of flipping the breaker.

Thank you for this explanation

I am glad you discussed torque settings!

Tip: put a floor plan of the house/building next to the panel. Don't just label the circuits, _show_ them!

Idk if I’m gonna trust a guy who doesn’t know different between current and voltage because if you don’t have anything plugged in…even if the plug is active there won’t be current following because it’s an open circuit beyond that point.

OH my. That panel at 13:00 is a work of art!!

I'm glad I found your chanal; it's a big help to this DIYer. Thank you for sharing your knowledge!

#11- never put your hands inside a circuit panel (live or not) without the proper PPE!

As an apprentice I loved wiring panels to look like that beautiful example. However, the Master Electrician who trained me said I was taking too long and it really wasn’t necessary. We split the difference. 😊

Great points. Thank you for getting the word out.

Great overview. Thank you for sharing your knowledge.

Another very common mistake is using a breaker from a manufacturer different from the company which made the panel as it may not be suitable.

Another mistake is not telling your subscribers that you FIRST turned off the panel before taking off the cover because otherwise they might not do that and start poking their fingers around in there and immediately die.

Excellent information. Thanks! I agree with the beautifully wired panel: That's what I want to see in my home & barn!!

I created my own breaker labels using Microsoft office. I then printed it out, laminated it, and used magnets to attach it to the breaker box door (so I can update and change it easily). It's really easy to do and far better than the stickers you buy.

As an electrician I think 2 that should be on the list is placing grounds and neutrals on the neutral bar in a sub panel and since you mentioned using tandem breakers. Using tandem breakers to expand the number of breaker when the panel either has a restricted area to place tandems or it is not listed to use tandem breakers.

The number one problem people do ALL the time is using standard screws for the cover, leading to a greater potential to cut a wire. You need to use blunt panel screws. Always check the panel with a noncontact voltage detector before putting your hands on the panel and use the back of your hand first.

I'm not an electrician; I just get called to fix their mistakes 😁. Was mildly curious about your video that popped up, so skimmed through - VERY impressive. Simple explanations packed with clear info, no fluff. If I were JUST a stupid homeowner, I'd think I could rewire my house after seeing your videos!

I am a diy electrician and actually nailed all of these. The last one about the torque I never verified with my panels but I have been working on cars for 40 years and can estimate torque within a few inch pounds.