Electrical – Best route to take when replacing an old panel without a main breaker

electrical-panel

I have a severely scary Stab-Lok panel that has no main breaker. The breakers spark and fall out when the panel is slightly wiggled. It's tiny and there's hardly any room to work, so I'm not about to screw around inside there while the mains are live. So, I need to have the electric company come out and pull the meter.

I figure while the meter is off, why not just replace the panel? So I bought a 200A load center with main breaker installed. My service is currently only 100A, but we plan on upgrading some time in the future (not sure how long it'll be). The main concern right now is to get the damned Stab-Lok panel out of here.

So, the question I have is, which is the best temporary route to take?

  1. Just connect the lines to the installed 200A main breaker.

  2. Remove the breaker and convert panel to main lug and connect directly (as the old one is now).

  3. Remove the installed breaker. And backfeed the panel through 100A breaker as specified in the wiring diagram. (But lose 4 spaces.)

Honestly, I'm strongly leaning towards #1. At least the panel will be protected and I'll be able to use the main breaker as a disconnect.

Thanks,
Michael

BTW, the panel I bought was a Siemens P3040B1200CU and they don't make a 100A main breaker for it.

Update with photo:
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The Siemens panel I plan to use photo:
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Best Answer

1) can't happen without the power company's consent, and the meter pan and service drop up to the weatherhead must also be rated for 200A. If those aren't true, you can't do #1.

2) is out of the question. The old setup was legal because it was so small it qualified for the Rule of Six (six throws to turn off everything). And the maximum theoretical load, all circuits at redline, was 125A on one pole and 150A on the other. That is such a modest oversubscription that since the Rule of Six was allowed, a main breaker wasn't really needed. However, different deal on a modern 30-42 space panel with 200-400A of breakers provisioned on each pole. Besides, the Rule of Six is now outlawed! You must have a main breaker today.

That leaves #3, and I recommend switching panel brands to one where a 100A main breaker is readily available. Unless you plan to have a generator; in that case stay with Siemens but swap it out to a main-lug panel (why pay for the main breaker) and fit their generator interlock.

You can also backfeed this panel and ignore the main breaker, but I do not like panels where the main shutoff is not obvious. In an emergency, people don't rise to the occasion, they sink to the level of their training. In other words people get stupid in key moments. Someone frantically working in the dark is gonna grab the big handle and go THWOP. And he will expect the power to be off at that point. So if that does nothing and you have to shut off one of the regular breakers, well, that's just confusing...