that was a close one

rick n ohio · Mar 2, 2017

my power went off yesterday afternoon around five thirty pm.so no problem just like every time i open up the breaker box going to shut off the main breaker then turn on the breaker for the generator i had the box replaced about five years ago all set up real nice to make it easy to switch over to the gen.well soon as i flipped off the main breaker i saw the appearence of water so i pulled the front cover off the box and the whole inside was water soaked .water was between every breaker down one side only there was even about a sixteenth of a inch of water laying in the bottom of the electric box itself i couldnt believe what i was seeing my elctrician who installed it just lives over the hill about five miles away .he came right over immediatly.with all the high winds and rain yesterday the rain traveled or blew in along the main wire coming through the house to the box where there was a small gap where some of the morter had cracked looks like it probably froze sometime and caused a crack.the buss bar was still dry but barely i think im lucky i still have a home
RICK

larry@stinescorner · Mar 2, 2017

We are glad everything turned out ok,,

BarnyardEngineering · Mar 2, 2017

Not sure why you think this was such a close call or why you're lucky you still have a home. I bet it's been like this for longer than you think.

Worst case scenario, the water causes a short, trips a breaker, power goes out, and you discover the problem... I just know I couldn't live worrying that my house could burn down at any moment like that.

rick n ohio · Mar 2, 2017

if you would have paid attention to what i said you wouldnt have had to stick your foot in your mouth the power went out it is
still off from the power co. my electrician came right over he saw no evidence of any water being in there prior to this incident
.he is the one who installed it all new five years ago i live on a hill the electric comes in on the west side of the house that is
where the direction the wind and rain comes from so maybe you should think it threw before you just start bashing someone.
RICK

rick n ohio · Mar 2, 2017

thanks larry

Steve@Advance · Mar 2, 2017

It's not uncommon to find water in service panels.

The water itself is not the immediate problem, it's the long term effects of corrosion on the connections and inside the breakers that will eventually cause problems.

About all you can do is dry it out and find the source of the water.

You think the water traveled down the incoming wire. If so, that needs to be corrected.

Every wire that comes in needs a drip loop, a way the wire is positioned so that the final entrance is up hill to prevent that from happening. You can't depend on sealant or caulking to stop it.

Janicholson · Mar 2, 2017

Rain water has enough mineral content from dust in the air and nucleation on that dust, that it is conductive, but not enough to cause real heat. It would certainly open a GFI device if it got on it. As noted, it would add to corrosion though. Jim

DoubleR · Mar 2, 2017

Ten years ago or so I lost power. After A couple hours I realized I was the only one with no power. My Dad, who use to be a electrician, came over to check it out. We found a little water followed the main wire into the box and shorted out the main. The calking around the wire was bad and it was no longer sealed. Replaced the main and re-calked and was good to go. His knowledge sure came in handy at times when he was still alive.

We lost power in the neighborhood a few months ago. Like you I went to flip off the main and turn on the generator breaker. The main would not lock in the out position. No water or anything it just went bad I guess. It was back to running extension cords all over the place to the generator until power was restored. Ordered a new main, again, and replaced it a week later.

hadley · Mar 2, 2017

(quoted from post at 09:42:59 03/02/17) Not sure why you think this was such a close call or why you're lucky you still have a home. I bet it's been like this for longer than you think.

Worst case scenario, the water causes a short, trips a breaker, power goes out, and you discover the problem... I just know I couldn't live worrying that my house could burn down at any moment like that.

I agree. Not sure why it was "so close". Not as big a deal as it is being made out to be.

fixerupper · Mar 2, 2017

I know for a fact a building can burn down from moisture in the breaker box. Several early hog confinements in this area that were built before electricians really understood the moisture problems in a confinement burned from wet electrics and it seems like the breaker box is the first one to go.

farmerjohn · Mar 2, 2017

My biggest concern with your problem is that if your generator is wired up properly so it is IMPOSSIBLE to send power out the lines. If not it only takes one time to turn the breakers off in the wrong order to send power out the line and kill somebody. If it's wired wrong and your power company knew about it they would shut you off until it was fixed.

JMS/.MN · Mar 2, 2017

I"d worry more about not having a proper transfer switch for the generator. Your electrician didn"t notice that? Around here, our REA would disconnect us, as it should be.

Married2Allis · Mar 2, 2017

I think that he clearly described above that he has a [i:8f00f3c676]Manual Interlock[/i:8f00f3c676] safety installed.

rick n ohio · Mar 2, 2017

my box is designed/constructed so only one feed breaker can be on at a time i dont know how to explain it any simpler than that.
when the main breaker is on from the power company the generator breaker cannot be accidently turned on its either one way or the other.
RICK

rick n ohio · Mar 2, 2017

by the way the main power is still off at five thirty this afternoon it will be off twenty four hours.i live back in the boonies in hill country in ohio so anytime there is high winds my power goes down usually because a tree or trees have come down on the line.i have a miller bobcat welder on my service truck with a 11000 watt genthat can handle my whole house central air included .i have a electric cord going to the generator breaker that is forty foot long all ineed to do is unroll it from the house it plugs into the 240 breaker on the welder and i have power no messy extension cords works really well.
RICK

ss55 · Mar 3, 2017

I also had the same first impression that you only had two independent feed breakers instead of a generator transfer switch. Sometimes posts from cell phones can be very tough to interpret.

W_B · Mar 3, 2017

(quoted from post at 16:19:29 03/02/17)

We lost power in the neighborhood a few months ago. Like you I went to flip off the main and turn on the generator breaker. The main would not lock in the out position. No water or anything it just went bad I guess.

Had a similar problem in a box on an outside pole, just under the meter. 200 amp breaker would not shut off and we had some bad connections in there. This box feeds the house, garage, a shed and the barn. Got it fixed before there was real trouble.

that was a close one

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