How to Install Breaker Box Wires

Turn off the power going to the breaker box at the main disconnect for your house. Let everyone in the house know you are working on the wiring, or tape a sign to the disconnect box.

Unscrew the breaker box cover panel and remove it.

Pull the new wire through the knockout holes on the side of your breaker box.

Remove 2 inches of the end of the outer casing of the wire with a utility knife. There should be three wires inside: a bare copper ground wire, a black (hot) wire and a white (neutral) wire. To cut the casing without damaging any of the wires inside, just make a 1/4-inch cut on the end by placing your knife between the black and white wires. The casing can then be easily split apart with your fingers, then cut off with the knife.

Remove about a 1/2 inch of insulation from the white and black wires with your wire strippers, exposing the bare copper wire inside.

Locate the grounding buss bar in the breaker box. It has a row of screws on it with a bare copper wires behind each screw.

Loosen an unused screw on the grounding buss bar, insert the bare copper wire, and fasten it in place by tightening the screw.

Fasten your white wire to the neutral buss bar in the same way you did for the ground wire. Only the bare copper should be contacting the bar, not the white insulation.

Loosen the screw on your circuit breaker, then insert the end of the black under the screw. Tighten the screw to secure the wire.

Insert the circuit breaker into the breaker box alongside the other circuit breakers. Push the circuit breaker down until the two spring clips on the back onto the bars.

Tug lightly at each each wire to make sure the connections are tightly secured.

Remove a knockout from the breaker box cover panel where your new circuit breaker has been placed using a hammer or screwdriver.

Replace the cover panel on your breaker box and screw it on.

Put the fuses back into your main power disconnect and turn the power back on.