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Electrical Panel and Service Upgrades - Tulsa Electrician Services
Our Services Include:
- Fuse To Breakers
- New Main Panel Installations
- Pool Panel Installations
- Surge Protection
- Main Grounding Systems
- Emergency Panel Installation
- Main Breaker Replacements
- Troubleshoot Flickering Lights
- Label Household Circuits on Existing Panels
- Sub Panels
- Generator Panels
A panel upgrade or replacement is usually required to alleviate a problem with the existing panel. Sometimes a breaker might overheat to the point that the buss bar in a panel gets burned. The conductors between the meter and panel may become loose and burn out the main lugs, especially common when aluminum conductors were used. Other common reasons to change out an existing panel are due to obsolescence and outdated technology. Split-buss panels, cheap builder-grade panels, panels contaminated by water, paint and corrosive environments are often candidates for replacement. Panels long ago manufactured by Zinsco and FPE have many issues and are considered a hazard by many in the industry.
The professionals electricians at Scotty Electric only use the
highest quality panels (load centers) manufactured by Square D or
Cutler Hammer for your panel change out or upgrade. Every panel that
we install has a lifetime warranty on the equipment and a 2-year
warranty on the installation. The bottom line is we make sure the
heart of your electrical system, the electrical panel, will be
trouble free for years and years to come.
Electrical Service Upgrades - Tulsa Electrician Services
Our Services Include:
- Service Upgrades
- Meter Base Repairs
- Meter Base Replacements
- Service Mast Repairs
- Replace Weather Head
- New Grounding Systems
- Whole House Surge Protection Devices
- Mobile Home Pedestal Replacements
- Apartment House Gang Meter Repair
- Apartment House Gang Meter Replacements
An electric service upgrade is often recommended or required to increase the capacity of the existing electrical service. With all the new appliances and technical devices we now have in our homes, we find that older homes just don’t have sufficient power available to handle the increased demand. Therefore, a "service change" is required. This may include not only upgrading your electric panel, but upgrading your meter socket, the wire between the meter and panel, the wire between the utility and the meter and the grounding system as well.
Why Upgrade From a Fuse Panel?
Insurance companies usually get uptight when they find out the home
has a fuse panel and recommend that the panel be changed to a
breaker panel system. Everyone is familiar with the old screw in
fuses. And for those that have a fuse panel know that if the 15 amp
fuse keeps blowing you can screw in a 20 amp, 25 amp, 30 amp fuse
till the fuse stops blowing.
This is where the problem lies. The fuses are rated for the wire it
is protecting. Our standard lights and receptacles work off a 14
gauge wire. The wire is rated to carry a maximum of 15 amps. So when
we plug in too many devices on one circuit the fuse becomes
overheated and ‘blows’. By using a larger fuse we may stop the
problem of the fuse blowing all the time but the wire is rated to
carry only 15 amps. Now that we’re used a larger fuse the wire
becomes overheated, as it is working beyond capacity. These
overheated wires are running through wood studs in the walls. The
potential for fire now exists.
This is why the insurance companies would like the panel changed
over from fuses to breakers. They know that the home will be much
safer with a new breaker panel than the old fuse panel. Our
electricians have changed over many old fuse panels that were in
great shape for this very reason. There is nothing wrong with the
panel. It’s human error where the problem lies.