Hot take: Using a nicker gauge saved me 2 hours on a panel swap

I had this 200 amp panel swap last Tuesday in an old house where the knockouts were all wrong for my wire paths. I usually just bend and hope for the best but that takes forever with rigid. I tried a nicker gauge to mark the exact spots for cutting the deadfront and it lined up perfect on the first try. Has anyone else used one of those or do you just wing it with a tape measure?

2 comments

2 Comments

wyatt_lee1mo ago

Tried that once and still managed to muff the cutout...

the_susan1mo agoMost Upvoted

Oh man, I saw my buddy try to do this by eye once and it was a total disaster. He was swapping out a panel in a rental property and was so sure he had the measurements right with just a tape measure. He cut the deadfront, shoved it on, and realized the big main breaker slot was off by almost half an inch. He ended up having to order a whole new cover because he mangled the factory one so bad trying to file out the mistake. Took him an extra day just to get the new part and redo it. He's never trusted his eyeballs since, now he uses a gauge every single time.