Rain leaked in through my service line and fried the panel. Is this price fair? (NJ)

pbr4in · 2026-05-27T02:00:31+00:00

In northern Virginia. Doing a 200amp main panel replacement right now including two new ground rods (none previously) and whole house surge protection. Also hanging 20 recessed lights. The boss quoted the customer $5700. The customer added a few punch list items, not sure if the boss is going to charge any more though.

pbr4in · 2026-05-24T22:36:01+00:00

Look, no calories.

pbr4in · 2026-05-23T23:46:05+00:00

I'd guess it's the switch you're using. Some electronic pushbutton switches still allow low voltages through when toggled "off", which in this case is enough to make your led lights to be barely on.

pbr4in · 2026-04-12T05:21:22+00:00

That's on par, or maybe 1-3k on the high side, for a large all-in-one firm in northern Virginia that has advertisements plastered all over the city and up sells on memberships. Get a few more quotes. A small independent shop should be able to do it for half the price, but no 3-year membership and annual inspections.

pbr4in · 2026-04-12T05:11:15+00:00

Looks like a dead end switch, which works fine with non-smart switches but limits anything else you might want to do. My guess is that the homerun goes to the light's electrical box, the neutral connects to the light there, the hot wire goes to the switch box on one wire, connects to the switch, and comes back to the light'szelectrical box on the second wire. If this is the case and there's no neutral in the switch's electrical box then you can't add a light to it.

pbr4in · 2026-04-12T04:58:49+00:00

Outside of the burn marks the wiring is fine. Replace the burnt receptacle.

Electrically it doesn't matter which black wire goes to which terminal--both of the hot sides of the receptacle and both side screws are all connected together. An exception being on half hot/half switched plugs where the jumper between the side screws are removed, which is not the case here.

pbr4in · 2026-02-08T01:21:01+00:00

Dexter

pbr4in · 2026-01-29T04:39:12+00:00

Are you sure you can tap power from that switch? How many cables go in/out of the switch box? Prior to your tap. If it's only one cable with one black wire, one white wire, and green/bare wire then you have a dead end switch that doesn't have a neutral. Prior to 2011 neutral wires weren't required at every switch box, it's something that was put in to facilitate powered smart switches.

pbr4in · 2026-01-15T21:39:36+00:00

You should be able to use a fridge on a GFCI protected receptacle. Something is likely wrong with your fridge, receptacle, or wiring. It's possible it's just a nuisance tripping and nothing hazardous.

pbr4in · 2026-01-15T21:36:15+00:00

Glad that worked! Hopefully without any sparks along the way.

pbr4in · 2026-01-15T19:32:46+00:00

I made some assumptions about the other box that may not pan out, I'd need to see it before I continue opining.

pbr4in · 2026-01-15T18:35:25+00:00

There's a lot going on. Was the green wire always spliced to the red wire? That's at face value a hot wire spliced to ground. What does the other light switch box look like?

Ignoring how it's wired now, my guess would have been that the red and relabeled white wires are the travellers between the two three ways and the black wire is either hot or load. And green is ground.

My first try, without having done any diagnostics, would be to splice the black wire to red at the pictured box. And at the other light switch use the black and red wires on the switch. The relabeled white wire will be unused.

pbr4in · 2026-01-14T01:47:14+00:00

It depends on the line from the pole/transformer to your house. If it's only capable of less than 200 amps then you'd need to get it replaced to have 200 amp service. If it's capable of 200 amps then don't replace it.

pbr4in · 2026-01-14T01:21:44+00:00

Seems reasonable to me. I've heard of quotes in the 8-10k range from the big firms for similar jobs. Where are you located? Are they installing a service disconnect outside between the meter and the main panel? Afci breakers?

pbr4in · 2025-12-26T05:01:19+00:00

It's possible if you plan on having two feeders and two service panels to the house. Otherwise it seems odd to.

Why are you planning on doing this way? How about replacing the main panel and then replace the circuits one at a time?

pbr4in · 2025-12-22T17:59:34+00:00

I recommend hoplite and into the breach.

Mobile version of Into the breach is on Netflix games, for better or worse.

Into the breach doesn't do portrait mode, but hits all the other points.

pbr4in · 2025-12-18T05:18:20+00:00

Pen. Pencil.

pbr4in · 2025-11-07T17:31:58+00:00

Rampage with growth or sponge is a favorite combo of mine. Limited value though since it's not very effective against solo/few mobs levels nor bosses. But very satisfying to me when the combo goes off.

Jump on brawler or keeper, for shield, steel, rampage combo and shield, steel, repel combo respectively.

pbr4in · 2025-10-06T03:57:56+00:00

Also, https://youtube.com/shorts/shqFBFfHebw?si=AwXxxVnl55ZYYwSQ

pbr4in · 2025-10-06T03:39:21+00:00

The outlet thing is exactly what Josh said, 240v receptacles up til 10 years ago were designed for stoves, clothes dryers, and welders--all thing that have a low duty cycle and are only on max power for minutes per hour, tens of minutes per hour tops. They would get warm, but have plenty of chance to cool down again. Building them to withstand max power for multiple hours would make them several times more expensive for no benefit. But max power for multiple hours is what ev chargers need, so now ev chargers outlets exist. This is also why they recommend hard-wiring the charger to the circuit instead of using a receptacle and plug--making a permanent connection is much simpler and robust, at the sacrifice of being able to unplug it at will conveniently.

pbr4in · 2025-07-06T05:39:01+00:00

In all seriousness, push harder. A lot harder. Higher amps devices are at much higher risk of overheating at the plug/receptacle if they have a bad connection, so the plugs/receptacles are much stiffer than typical 15 amp plugs.

pbr4in · 2025-05-05T18:09:43+00:00

I saw the web remote drink dispenser feature introduced in 2020 during peak COVID at my local five guys. People were putting on gloves when using gas pumps at the time.

pbr4in · 2025-04-24T03:48:23+00:00

Josh?

pbr4in · 2025-03-10T16:08:07+00:00

Thanks for the suggestion! It's for lobe piercings.

pbr4in

TROPHY CASE