Installation of Electrical Service Panel With Brackets

Make an outline of the electrical panel on a piece of 3/4-inch plywood. Enlarge the outline by an extra 6 inches on each side, then cut the outline with a wood saw. Nail the plywood onto the studs behind the wall where you wish to place the panel.

Unscrew the front cover of the electrical panel. Place the template supplied with the panel against the plywood and align the template vertically and horizontally with a level. Mark the location of the mounting bracket holes on the plywood with a pencil. Hold the mounting brackets against the plywood backing with the holes on top of the markings.

Screw the brackets onto the plywood while making sure that the bracket holes fall on the markings. Mount and screw the electrical panel onto the brackets. Plug the main circuit breaker and each auxiliary circuit breaker onto its corresponding slot.

Punch the knockouts on top and along both sides of the box, using needle-nose pliers. Plug the main conduit running from the electrical panel onto the top center knockout, then lock the conduit into place with its lock nut. Plug a cable clamp onto each knockout, then secure each clamp, using lock nuts.

Slip the three main cables running from the electric meter through the main conduit, then pull the cables from inside the electrical panel. Insert each cable into its corresponding terminal lug according to the following configuration: each black power cable (hot) to each terminal on the main circuit breaker; black cable with white stripe/markings (neutral) to the terminal lug in the neutral buss bar. The neutral buss bar is a long strip of metal that contains a sequence of terminal screws where all white (neutral) wires are plugged into. Tighten each lug, using an Allen wrench.

Hold the grounding wire running from the ground rods outside your home, then slip the wire through a knockout. Plug the grounding wire to the terminal lug on the ground buss bar inside the panel. The green/bare grounding wires on circuits inside your home catch any stray electricity and carry the stray electricity to the ground buss bar inside the panel, where it will flow safely to the ground via the main grounding wire plugged to the ground rods.

Slip each black, white and green/bare wire running from each circuit inside your home through a knockout on both sides of the panel, then strip the tip of each by 1/2 inch, using a wire stripper.

Plug each black wire onto the terminal screw on its corresponding circuit breaker. Plug each white wire to a terminal screw on the neutral buss bar. Plug each green/bare wire onto a terminal screw on the ground buss bar. The ground buss bar looks similar to the neutral buss bar but is located opposite the neutral buss bar. Tighten each screw to secure each connection. Tighten each cable clamp plugged into each knockout to secure the wires onto the box. Get in touch with your local municipal electrical inspector and schedule the panel for inspection.