Temporary Power Panel

OK, here is my problem.  I live in a newly constructed house.  They are building a new house right next door.  I am seeing a power flux (dimming) in my lights whenever any of the following occurs:



- I turn on the A/C in my house

- I turn on the washing machine in my house

- the compressor next door kicks on (for their nail gun and/or other tools)



The compressor next door is hooked up to a temporary post on the street.  I have had my electrician come look along with the utility company.  The utility company says that the house is getting plenty of power.  So now, short of getting another electrician in here, trying to figure out what the problem could be (and if my electrician, who is the one who did the wiring during construction, doesn't know what he's doing).  Most of the lights in the house are 60W if that matters.



Any thoughts on what the problem might be?  I would think that given the proper wiring that I shouldn't see any kind of power flux.



Thanks for the help in advance.
      

I built a free standing garage with main power tapped from the home breaker box.  The contractor pulled 4 wires via a conduit to the freestanding garage panel which supplies lights, a garage door, and two 20 amp outlets.



Everything worked well initially, but about 1 week ago one section of the lights in the building went out.  The contractor came out and found that one of the two hot wires in the garage panel was only seeing 100 volts and that went down if anything else was turned on.  He swapped one of the ground wires for the bad hot wire and everything now works. 



What would cause a situation like this where the hot wire apparently had a voltage loss?  Is it safe to continue with the fix where the faulty wire is now the ground?



Thanks in advance!
      

I'm having quite the time finding an electrician who will quote this.  Just about all of them say that what I need is to upgrade my main panel but I want to install a new main panel that is a part of the meter base outside and make my current 100A panel a sub.   Maybe you people can tell me why nobody seems to want to do this.  Here are a few shots of the existing meter (note what is apparently a 60A base here)






and a shot of the conduit headed underground.  Like most homes built during this era, the conduit makes a right turn underground to enter through the cinderblock, ending up coming into the back of the main panel.  This conduit encloses a 4 wire feed. edit: no, actually it is only a 3 wire feed which is a problem if I want to convert the original main panel a sub.






Here's the existing panel.  It's a 60's era Square-D split panel with a 30 amp sub panel for the finished basement.  Those are low voltage wires to circuit taps for my home energy monitoring system btw.






The reason I don't want to upgrade this panel are as follows:

We won't be expanding the electrical west of this panel any more.  All planned expansion (240v car charger in Garage, planned 3 season room with grid tie Solar on the roof) will be to the east.


Upgrading the panel will require major surgery to the walls.  Due to the way the original basement is engineered there, the walls have an intricate stud pattern behind the existing panel.  I'd pretty much have to rip out a 4' section and redo it to make the access large enough to handle a 200A panel.


Adding additional circuits to an upgraded panel will require an act of God due to the finished basement construction.  There are no raceways for additional circuits.






Based on this, my thoughts were to create a new 200A main panel outside based on something like the GE model TSM420CSCUP loadcenter.  Here's a shot of this panel:






This particular panel has room for three 2-pole breakers in addition to the 200A mains.  I'd add a 100A 2-pole breaker for the existing panel, with the other two reserved for the garage/solar expansions.



The issue with the contractors who have quoted the job appears to be the conduit going to the existing panel.  I'm not sure what's wrong with it but it is apparently not compliant with current code.  Obviously the bonding needs to change, new grounding electrodes need to be driven, and a water pipe ground needs to be established to the new main panel, but what else is required?



I'd like to throughly research all the code considerations here so I can approach a contractor from a more knowledgable perspective then determine the best way to perform this upgrade.  Due to POCO coordination and the need to cut household power for the duration of the job, I have no desire to DIY this one...



So what exactly is wrong with the conduit running from the existing meter base to the existing load center?  Why is everybody telling me that I can't do essentially what I've described above?  What are the relevant code sections that will apply to this job?  Should I be chatting with my AHJ about local considerations now or should I wait until I have the code requirements down pat (assuming the latter here)?
      

I want to set up a hobby woodworking shop in my garage. I was going to run from the panel maybe four or five 12/2's to accommodate lighting, power tools, dust collection, etc. or should I put a subpanel 60 to 100 amp? The main panel is on an outside wall on one side of the house and the garage is on the opposite side of the house. The distance from the panel to the entry into the garage is about 50 ft. I would be pulling wire- a straight run- through a ceiling chase that runs the length of the house. No basement.
      

My existing service entrance consists of an external Meter can mounted on the outside of the garage wall directly behind a SD Main Breaker Panel (MBP) with a 150 amp main breaker.  In order to support upgrades, I am installing a second MBP (200 amp) inside the garage in the wall cavity right next to the existing panel.



Local code requires that the upgraded Meter can be purchased from the City Utility.  I have already confirmed with the local inspector that either 4/0 Al or 2/0 Cu SE cable are acceptable for both the existing and new MBP.



My question is what is the code requirement for getting the 3 SE cables run from the dual lugs to the new panel?  Can those conductors run into the same wall cavity where the existing panel is installed?  If so, I'm certain they can't go through the same conduit nipple that connects the back of the meter can to the existing MBP.  Can they route in behind/above/below the existing panel and through a hole in the wall stud to gain access to the adjacent stud bay to get to the new panel?  If not, do they need to be routed out of the meter can on the external wall in conduit over to the next stud bay and then enter the wall there to gain access to the new panel?  If external conduit is required I would expect it must be metallic as opposed to PVC.



Best Regards,



Ted
      

Hi All -



I'm looking to add some outlets in the garage (currently have only one) for my workshop. At most, I'll be using a 13 amp table saw and 11 amp shop vac simultaneously.



I had an electrician come out for an estimate and while it was a fair price, I want to do this myself to build some confidence.



A few questions: he said they would probably add 2 15 amp circuits to handle the load. Is that necessary? Or can I add say one 30 amp circuit?



2nd: my garage is drywalled (and insulated). It will be much easier to have the outlets (and wire) on the exterior of the wall. What would be the best materials for this? My breaker is located in the garage and the outlets would run directly out from the side as seen in my poor illustration.



Since it is set into the wall, I'll have to run the wire from the breaker into the back of the first box. Is that as simple as it sounds, or is there something that I am missing?



Any help is appreciated.



Cameron
      

updating an older home (1927) and would like to replace all the receptacles/switches/plates with newer Lutron style white switches, where is the best place to order these or pick them up?  Not sure if its worth shopping online or if the big box convenience negates cost difference?

Thanks!
      

this topic came up on another thread but its buried pretty deep. it is my understanding from several experienced posters that under normal circumstances all neutral current should flow back to the utility neutral, not the grounded plumbing or rods.



i am trying to figure out why. bear with this simplistic example.



100a service - 3 wires in - A (hot+), B (hot-) and N (neutral).

circuit 1 on A is using 12 amps

circuit 2 on B is using 7 amps

so a total of 5 neutral current amps have to go somewhere.



they could all flow back on N, but if bonded to N at the panel is a low resistence connection to say, copper water pipes, wouldnt some of the current flow there?



is the utility neutral supposed to be so low resistence that none of the current would flow to the grounds? if that is the case i need to call my utility ASAP because a considerable amount of current flows to my main ground.



where i am struggling is i dont see how a utility pole or transformer would be any lower resistance than miles of metal plumbing and since they are bonded together, the current can choose (i know wrong word but im not an electrican or an engineer) either path
      

hi i need a power supply to my garage/workshop, i have a spare in my consumer unit in my house type b 32a mcb, and will i need a 4mil swa?? or 6mil swa?? from the cu in the house to the garage cu,(63A. 30MA. RCD., 1 x 6A lights + 1 X 16A scokets. MCB),, i will be useing a welder, grinders with a(240v- 110v transformer) and there will be 2 double scoket outlets in the workshop,,,is this all correct?? thanks,
      

I had a tv plugged into an outlet in my garage. The tv crapped out due to bad wiring {I think}. The reason I say bad wiring is because when I have a radio plugged in I can hear static through the speakers due to the wiring. Garage was built in the 70's. What do I look for when checking the wiring from the house to the garage and then all the garage wiring itself?