Open Milwaukee pack-out drawers beside the Atlas Zeus graphic on the van

Project

Sub-main and sub-board upgrade — Palmwoods

New sub-main into the house and a new sub-board after the existing feed was found undersized for the load already on it.

Sunshine Coast · Enquire

Google

5.0

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QLD contractor licence

89852

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Membership

Master Electricians Australia

Member 24178

The challenge

Issue

Existing sub-mains could not carry the home’s present load. The garage sub-board had no spare capacity, dated circuit protection, and a faulty RCD. Adding a pool circuit on that feed was not honest work.

What we did

Dug a new sub-main to the house and replaced the sub-board so the current load — and the work still to come — has a feed and protection that match it. Laid conduit feeds for the pool equipment, circuit and lighting as their own package.

Outcome

Results

New sub-main in the ground, a labelled flush-mount board in the house, and conduit feeds in for the pool equipment, circuit and lighting. This stage is in. The property stays an ongoing renovation; further electrical work is planned.

On-site gallery

Sub-board

Existing sub-board — no spare capacity, dated protection, and a faulty RCD.

Flush-mount Clipsal sub-board being fitted at the Palmwoods home

New flush-mount board going in.

New flush-mount sub-board with labelled circuits after the Palmwoods upgrade

New sub-board, labelled.

Sub-main

Lime on the tree with the new trench in the background at the Palmwoods property

Trench work behind the lime.

New orange sub-main in an open trench across a Palmwoods lawn

New sub-main run to the house.

Orange sub-main conduits laid in a narrow trench in red soil

New feed in the ground.

New conduits dropping from a wall box into a trench at the Palmwoods house

Entry at the house.

New wall boxes and conduits on a brick elevation where the sub-main enters the house

House end of the new feed.

Pool equipment, circuit and lighting

Conduit feeds for the pool equipment, circuit and lighting.

Closer view of conduit feeds stubbed up for Palmwoods pool equipment, circuit and lighting

Pool feeds stubbed up.

Project details

Services included

Switchboard Upgrades

Residential Electrical

Renovations

Power

Questions about this project

Straight answers — useful for search and context.

Why wasn’t this just a pool circuit?▼

The request was a pool circuit. Once we checked max demand, the existing feeds were severely undersized for what was already connected. Putting a pool on that run would have added load to a feed that was already short. The pool package is its own stage: conduit feeds for the equipment, circuit and lighting.

What caused the lights to dim?▼

The ducted air-conditioning cycling on. The existing sub-mains were too small for the load, so voltage dropped when that plant started.

Is the job finished?▼

This stage is — new sub-main, a new sub-board, and the pool conduit feeds. The owners have a significant amount of work still coming at the home over the next 6–12 months, so we are treating it as an ongoing renovation.