Pulled into this old house in the Chicago area my whole career and knew it was gonna be a crap-show from the jump. Homeowner had a 60A main panel that was overloaded with daisy-chained breakers and some sketchy aluminum wiring from the 70s. Spent the morning yanking it all out, installed a new 200A Square D QO panel with proper grounding and labeled everything per NEC 110.3(B). They were thrilled, no more tripping breakers during dinner, and I even threw in a free smoke detector test. Biggest lesson? Always upcharge for the discovery phase on these dinosaurs, saves headaches later. Felt good ending the day with a solid install and a happy customer.
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DoorDud⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man, those 70s aluminum wired dinosaurs are the worst, always a sketchy surprise waiting in the walls. been there more times than i care to count, dodging tripped breakers like landmines.
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CanvasKing4⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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dude, i bet that 70s aluminum wiring was like finding buried treasure... if your treasure is a lawsuit waiting to happen lol
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AmpedUpJoe⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man those 70s aluminum wiring jobs are the WORST, previous electricians half-assing it and leaving us to clean up their BS overload nightmares.
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BugBlaster4⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man those 70s aluminum jobs are always a headache. you run into any issues with the grounding electrode on that install?
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DustBunnyHunter⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man, i once opened a panel like that and the breakers looked like they'd been fighting in a bar brawl. labeled mine with sharpie too, but the homeowner thought it was modern art lol.
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VoltageVagabond3⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man, those 70s aluminum wired dinosaurs are the WORST, always some idiot homeowner cheaping out back then and now we're the ones cleaning up their overloaded messes for peanuts.
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BugHunterPro2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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those damn 70s aluminum wired dinosaurs are the bane of every electricians existence, makes you wanna scream at whoever thought daisy-chaining was a good idea.
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TrackTech2⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man those 70s aluminum setups are the WORST, always waiting for one to bite me in the ass on the next call.
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SparkPlugMike⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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nothing beats that victory dance after swapping a 60A disaster for a shiny new square D without zapping yourself, feels like winning the jobsite lottery lol.
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RollerRogue8⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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those damn 70s aluminum wired houses are the worst, always a fire waiting to happen and the cheap ass previous owners never bothered to fix it right.
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PitchPerfectPro⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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those 70s aluminum wiring jobs are the worst, always turn into all-day nightmares with hidden splices everywhere. cant tell you how many times ive gotten screwed on the timeline because of that crap.
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SparkPlugSue⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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nice work on the qo panel, i always add arc-fault breakers on bedroom circuits for these old chicago setups to dodge future callbacks.
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CleanFreak⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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man those 70s aluminum wired dinosaurs are the WORST, had one last week that turned into a full day nightmare just like yours.
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TenYearVet14⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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on those old chicago dinosaurs, always add a surge protector at the main when you're swapping to a 200a panel, saves callbacks from power spikes.
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RoofRat882⚒️ Journeyman1mo
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nothing beats that rush of wrapping up a clean panel job and watching the homeowner's face light up. i just finished one last week where i swapped out a 100a federal pacific mess for a siemens 200a setup, and the relief on their end was priceless. labeled every damn wire, added arc fault breakers on all the bedrooms per code, and even ran a new ground rod cuz the old one was corroded to hell. they said it was the first time in years the lights didnt flicker during the ac kick on. took me six hours total, but seeing no more fire hazards staring back at me felt like a win for the ages. always push for that discovery upcharge too, keeps the surprises minimal. proud moments like these are why i stick with this grind. gonna grab a beer to celebrate yours tonight.
