If you have an antiquated fuse box that looks like something from an old Frankenstein movie, you probably want to consider upgrading to a circuit breaker box. Maybe a remodeling project is forcing you to move an existing breaker box. Installing the breaker box and circuit breakers is actually a pretty simple and straightforward project.
Before I go any further, let me warn you that this is a hazardous project and extreme caution is required. You will be working with electrical service designed to deliver electricity in volumes that could cause you severe injury or even death! If you are not comfortable with this, do not attempt this project and hire a professional electrician.
That said, lets begin with the installation of the breaker box. You will need to gather some tools for this job. You will need:
Needle nosed pliers
Wire stripper
Screwdriver
Powered screw gun
Temporary lighting
Circuit breakers
First, take a look at the box. You will notice a number of small mounting holes on the back and the sides. Which ones you use will depend on your mounting needs. The box should be mounted within a wall so that the face of the breaker box is flush with the wall. It should also be mounted securely to wall studs. You don’t want this box to move even a tiny bit.
Now that the box is screwed to the wall, you need to make sure it’s safe to work on the electrical system. My house has an outside main breaker located next to the meter, which I shut off. I am very cautious when it comes to electrical work, so I remove the meter as well. This kills the power to the main breaker outside. But, with the meter removed, the hot connections of the meter are exposed. I taped a large cardboard box over the meter box with a sign warning of "hot current".
When you are absolutely sure that there is no current coming into the house from the main service line, you are ready to begin connecting the electrical lines. The main electrical line should consist of 2 black “Hot” wires, one white “Neutral” wire and one bare “Ground” wire. These should be stripped back about 1 inch.
The breaker box should have 3 or 4 large screw heads or “lugs” along the top of the connection panel to accommodate the main line. The 2 center lugs are for the 2 black “hot” wires. These lugs are connected to the main breaker that is pre-installed in your breaker box, and that is connected to the metal breaker connection points that run down the center of the panel. On either side of the panel is a long vertical metal connection bar or “Bus Bar”, filled will small screws. One side is the neutral bus bar and the other is the ground bus bar. Above these bus bars should be large lugs, just like the ones for the hot wires.
First, connect the 2 black Hot-wires to the 2 center lugs by sliding the wire behind the lug and screwing it tight. Next, connect the neutral and ground wires to the large lugs above the neutral and ground bus bars. In some boxes, the ground bus bar does not have a single large lug like the other connections do. If this is the case, simply untwist the wire and insert it into the top 2 small lugs of the ground bus bar.
Now that you have the main line installed, it’s time to install the circuit breakers. On the top, sides and bottom of the breaker box are knockouts to open holes to feed wire through. Strip the outer jacket of the wire you are installing about 2 feet from the end. Now strip about 3/4 of an inch on the ends of the 2 insulated wires. Feed the wire into the box. The bare ground wire will install behind one of the small lugs on the ground bus bar. The white neutral wire will connect behind a small lug on the neutral bus bar. Make sure these 2 connections are screwed down good and tight.
The circuit breaker should have a small screw on one end to accept the black wire. Insert the black hot wire under the connection screw and tighten securely. Your box may be different, but in my breaker box, the circuit breaker installs by seating a groove in the breaker into a lip on the panel, then rocking the breaker forward so it seats onto the connection strip in the center of the panel. Make sure the breaker is secure and doesn’t move around. Now arrange the wire in the box so it is up and out of the way while you make your next connection. Now repeat this process until all your breakers are installed.
One last note before you run off to start this project. Since you will be cutting power to the house, you are not going to have any light. This is a job that you want to be able to see very well what you are doing. So, consider having some strong battery lighting or a generator at hand before you get going.
