The home I inspected today had an updated rectangular meter installed.
The main panel was 100 amps.
It appeared to me that the wires from the weather head to the top of the meter were not updated. (See photo)
I also thought the connection to the main service wires was inadequate.
Also in the main panel it appeared to have 14 gauge romex to 20 amp breakers. The romex ran along the basement but there where no markings on the sheathing. (See photos)
Am I wrong in saying that the service may only be 60 amps because of the service wires at the weather head.
I called out a sparky for the weather head & undersized wires.
Well I can’t tell from the pictures but you did the correct thing…have an Electrical Contractor look at it…
While many will argue that the line side can be smaller as it pertains to the UTY…if the electrician installs the mast and weatherhead it better be sized correctly.
If the old wires are # 4 AWG CU then they are fine for 100A…now thats guessing on the insulation jacket and what not…
In may be that the electrician who upgraded the system re-used the mast and simply placed a new weatherhead on it…anyway I would hope that the municiple inspector signed off on it before the meter was placed back in the CAB…sad to hear in some areas the things are not inspected at all so who knows…
The only real way to tell is either by pulling the meter …or getting up and looking and the size conductors at the weatherhead…sad however that a contractor will go through all the issues of updating a system and not replace the mast and conductors within it…to me just a cheap job…I mean heck look at the panel wires…does it take an effort to make things NEAT anymore…young electricians today…what are you gonna do with um…
Now we will assume the wiring from the meter cab to the updated panel ( still sloppy…but updated ) is new wire because it looks like it may be…
For a 100A service there should be #4 Cu (about 3/16" bare) or #2 Al (about 1/4" bare) service feeder wires, which should be visible at the main breaker … and the wire to the 20A breaker looks a little larger than the wire to the 15A breaker above in photo #2. Plastic wire gages can also help in that situation (pretty cheap, and good to have).
