Last house of the day today, should have been a 1 hour job. Dilapidated old vinyl house that the new owners are rehabbing.
The electrical service was recently re-done but the wiring from the meter to the panel was 70+ years old and the insulation was cracked and missing. I had just finished rinsing that side of the house when I heard some loud pops and saw arcing on a wire near the meter. Next thing I know there’s smoke coming from the wire that feeds the house breaker panel.
I called 911 and the fire department came. The wiring was still smoking so the FD called the electric utility who cut power to the house. The utility people and FD were stunned that the wiring was so degraded considering the house just had a complete home inspection.
Bottom line, be careful, this could have been a disaster. I had no idea that this electrical line was in such bad shape. Customer’s are spending the night with friends since the utility won’t re-connect power until the wiring is up to code. Might be a day or two without power.
This wasn’t an issue of taping anything off. I tape off outlets, cameras, and other areas of concern. This was straight up faulty wiring due to age. The insulation on the wiring was dry rotted and cracked which let the water in to create a connection between the hot and ground. The wire going from the bottom of the meter into the house should have been in couduit as well as that return line to the right of the meter.
This was extremely dangerous. The electric company said if I had actually sprayed the wires directly… Well, who knows?
I never tape anything off. I almost had a fire too from a improperly installed exterior outlet. All the tape in the world wouldn’t have prevented that one.
Glad you’re still with us. Thought you might have gone over to Ocala to lend the Gators a hand since about the whole team under the weather. Hopeflly in a couple of weeks they’ll be back.