However, we had already worked too very, very long days and had actually gotten a lot done and we’re ahead of schedule, so it seemed like it was at least a possibility. With that goal in mind, we rolled out of our little bunkbeds early and jumped into action to see if we could wrap things up here.
We went through a bunch of junction boxes in the afflicted building that looked like this. And while there are some things in this picture that could be an obvious problem, it could also not be a problem. In the end, what you see here is the type of problem that we did eventually find along with a whole bunch of improperly installed wire nuts, which unfortunately is a pretty common thing.
There was also a wiring issue that was very hard to find in this panel until I tore it apart to replace it. The panel was slated to be replaced anyway, because it was missing a separate ground bar and the system also needed its own ground rod as it was a subpanel in a separate building. It was also missing a main breaker, and we were deleting the old rickety overhead feed for a new underground feed.
Now that we had identified the wiring issues and rectified them, Denise went back to work putting together all of the open junction boxes and dismantled lighting fixtures throughout the building while I proceeded with the panel change out.
Once Denise had the buildings lighting system put back together, she went up onto the roof to dismantle the old overhead wiring.
Meanwhile, I found a crappy place to bend up a new piece of 1 inch conduit to serve for the new underground feed to this little subpanel. Yes, it needed that many bends. And yes, it fit when I was finished.😄😄
Here is the new and improved subpanel installed with its new separate ground and neutral bus bars, a dedicated ground rod and some other upgrades.
Once this panel installation was complete, a whole battery of tests were run on the building’s electrical system and wiring system to make sure that everything was functioning as it should. Additionally, a few other smaller devices were changed out that were defective or broken such as GFI outlets and switches. Finally at just after 5 PM, after a frenzied session of throwing everything back into the work trucks, we were packed up and ready to leave a full two days ahead of schedule! This is a rare, rare event for us to get done ahead of schedule! Typically, we are behind schedule due to multiple unforeseen things slowing us down.
We were this excited-wooo!!
We rolled out of camp and pointed the trucks west into the sunset for the long trip home, another successful trip completed. 👍