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KipDuff

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I am upgrading an old 100A semi flush outdoor overhead panel to 200A solar ready, panel. Was looking at Square D SC2040M200PF, but this appears to be designed for bottom feed- with option for top feed. Does not appear ideal, and my installer says might be a real PITA. I am not seeing many options for what I need that are "semi flush", top fed. I do se several "flush" options. Is there a difference? I see that some flush panels are over 5" deep- so how can they actually be flush?

Thanks, Kip......
 
I am upgrading an old 100A semi flush outdoor overhead panel to 200A solar ready, panel. Was looking at Square D SC2040M200PF, but this appears to be designed for bottom feed- with option for top feed. Does not appear ideal, and my installer says might be a real PITA. I am not seeing many options for what I need that are "semi flush", top fed. I do se several "flush" options. Is there a difference? I see that some flush panels are over 5" deep- so how can they actually be flush?

Thanks, Kip......
Flush panels are hard to pull new circuits out and I guess I’ve never seen a semi flush panel. Why don’t you make it simple and surface mount your panel. Top fed or bottom fed makes no difference and I don’t know why your installer told you that it would be a PITA.
 
Flush panels are hard to pull new circuits out and I guess I’ve never seen a semi flush panel. Why don’t you make it simple and surface mount your panel. Top fed or bottom fed makes no difference and I don’t know why your installer told you that it would be a PITA.

Thanks for reply!!

"Why not surface mount?" Current overhead riser, overhead load lines, and service panel are in the wall behind the stucco. And I like the cleaner look with less stuff outside.

"Why semi flush?" With semi flush (and a lot of "flush mounts" too I think) panel sticks out far enough that when you do a solar install (in my case Enphase surface mount combiner box), you can run the solar feed into the panel outside of the stucco wall and not have to bust out the stucco. From what I can tell so far, seems flush and semi-flush are very similar. Specs on the ones I've looked at seem average 6 to 7" deep- so either is gonna stick out from wall. I believe it's OK to feed the solar input to the panel at a point outside the wall.

"Why a PITA?" Reason 1) The panel I'm using is a Square D SC2040M200PF 200A solar ready panel (see attached image). I think this is a good choice- but it has a few drawbacks. The design of this panel is such that the riser can only enter the top of the panel at a point approximately 1.68" to the right of the stud- and Sq-D sells a "tunnel kit" for this panel that guides the entry cables on the left side inside the panel and must be used with this panel in an OH install. Current position of the riser in the old existing panel is 2" to the right of where it needs to be for the new SqD panel. So I will need a 2" offset for the riser to make it land at the correct point without having to re-bore thru the roof and other structure for a new riser position. Reason 2) The connection point of the entry cables is on the bottom left, and the cables come down and have to make an 180 degree turn and point up to connect to the connection points for the meter in a somewhat tight space. This panel appears to have been designed primarily as a bottom fed panel that has some design features that make it useable for OH feed as well.

difference between semi flush and flush service panels? pic of SqD panel small.JPG - EletriciansForums.net


Questions: 1) Is 1 ½" rigid OK for riser? This is an upgrade from 100 amp to 200 amp, and will use 2/0 entry cables. 2) Who in SoCal area can fabricate a 1 ½" diameter rigid riser offset segment with threads on both ends?

Thanks, Kip.......
 
Thanks for reply!!

"Why not surface mount?" Current overhead riser, overhead load lines, and service panel are in the wall behind the stucco. And I like the cleaner look with less stuff outside.

"Why semi flush?" With semi flush (and a lot of "flush mounts" too I think) panel sticks out far enough that when you do a solar install (in my case Enphase surface mount combiner box), you can run the solar feed into the panel outside of the stucco wall and not have to bust out the stucco. From what I can tell so far, seems flush and semi-flush are very similar. Specs on the ones I've looked at seem average 6 to 7" deep- so either is gonna stick out from wall. I believe it's OK to feed the solar input to the panel at a point outside the wall.

"Why a PITA?" Reason 1) The panel I'm using is a Square D SC2040M200PF 200A solar ready panel (see attached image). I think this is a good choice- but it has a few drawbacks. The design of this panel is such that the riser can only enter the top of the panel at a point approximately 1.68" to the right of the stud- and Sq-D sells a "tunnel kit" for this panel that guides the entry cables on the left side inside the panel and must be used with this panel in an OH install. Current position of the riser in the old existing panel is 2" to the right of where it needs to be for the new SqD panel. So I will need a 2" offset for the riser to make it land at the correct point without having to re-bore thru the roof and other structure for a new riser position. Reason 2) The connection point of the entry cables is on the bottom left, and the cables come down and have to make an 180 degree turn and point up to connect to the connection points for the meter in a somewhat tight space. This panel appears to have been designed primarily as a bottom fed panel that has some design features that make it useable for OH feed as well.

View attachment 104358


Questions: 1) Is 1 ½" rigid OK for riser? This is an upgrade from 100 amp to 200 amp, and will use 2/0 entry cables. 2) Who in SoCal area can fabricate a 1 ½" diameter rigid riser offset segment with threads on both ends?

Thanks, Kip.......
You need 4/0 aluminum wire which will need to be 2 inch conduit and if you use 2/0 copper then you can use 1 1/2 conduit. They sell threaded offsets at Lowes or Home Depot which is PVC. If they don’t have them you can go. To your local electrical parts house IF it was me I would use PVC PVC conduit. Good luck with your project.
 
You need 4/0 aluminum wire which will need to be 2 inch conduit and if you use 2/0 copper then you can use 1 1/2 conduit. They sell threaded offsets at Lowes or Home Depot which is PVC. If they don’t have them you can go. To your local electrical parts house IF it was me I would use PVC PVC conduit. Good luck with your project.

Using copper, so 2/0 service entry wire. The riser goes up in the wall and out thru the roof with a weather head on top connected to drop wires, so don't see how I could use PVC. I'm seeing a lot of info that says I gotta use 2" RMC for riser. Maybe they are assuming alu wire. I have to find out for sure....
 
Using copper, so 2/0 service entry wire. The riser goes up in the wall and out thru the roof with a weather head on top connected to drop wires, so don't see how I could use PVC. I'm seeing a lot of info that says I gotta use 2" RMC for riser. Maybe they are assuming alu wire. I have to find out for sure....
You are right, if it goes through the roof then you would definitely need RMC And remember that no couplings are allowed after it goes through the roof
 

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