Main Breaker On But No Power for Client's Home/Diagnosis
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- čas přidán 7. 09. 2024
- Customer called saying, there power is only working in half of the house. I'm testing why the Main breaker is on but the clients home has no power or intermittent power.
#Master Electrician
#Residential Electrician
#Commercial Electrician
#Service Electrician
#Main Breaker Not Working
I worked as a Design Engineer/ PM for Electrical contractors for 35 years. You seem to be the type of service driver that I always enjoyed having on my projects. You are thorough, educated, and professional. On thing, that is single phase 120/240 volts. There is no phase A, Phase B. They are Line 1 and Line 2.
Very wishes to you in the future! Kevin
NH Master electrician for 35 years.
1- The liability for leaving an open meter box for whatever amount of time means that you will never recover from any lawsuit.
2- Re-placing in the meter without first disconnecting the load sets you up for the arc flash Detonation experience. No insurance company will cover any of your hospital bills when OSHA laws about not working hot are ignored. The medical bills will be your responsibility , it is not the shock, but the 35,000 Degree liquid copper burns, that are what kill. If you are going to work hot, where are your PPE'S ? Gloves is not the answer. ( Mommy, where is Daddy? )
You're the man for working hot, but what does that provide your family when ( hopefully never ) a mistake catches up with you?
That is why we call them accidents.
The need for adequate working space is a first step. Turning off your loads before re-energizing is another step. Don't sell your time, sell your experience.
You sound like you may be prepared to debate these electricians that say" amps kills volts don't." Ionized fireballs at the temperature you mentioned vaporize the skin they contact. You can be burned to death without ever touching anything. So yes, voltage will kill you in the worst way. Glad you brought it up.
As a Master electrician for many years I totally agree you are absolutely correct in replacing the entire panel. No way to safely fix that mess.
I'm not an electrician, I am retired from being a Network Engineer, but the troubleshooting skills you use are very much like the troubleshooting skills I used as a Network Engineer. I really do enjoy watching your videos, and I have learned a lot from them in diagnosing and maintaining my own home and rental property electrical issues.
Thank you
@@unitedtradesmanacademy1894there's a couple of things wrong here. 1) the power company's security tag is cut off the meter can. You can get in trouble for cutting those off without express permission from the power company. 2) Although it's unlikely to have multiple bad breakers I would have checked power directly on the buss bar to verify that I'm not dealing with multiple bad breakers.
From my experience as soon as you discount the unlikely and don't check for it that's when the unlikely is the problem.
Great job of troubleshooting. I worked aircraft Avionics for many years - and you are right: You HAVE to fix it right! No Jack-Leg - it has to be fixed BY THE BOOK. Great job, thanks.
It's hard sometimes, especially when the cost goes up, and you're trying to help as much as you can.
Great video, awesome customer service.
Good Job !! Don't ever compromise on safety. There are far to many, what "I call Johnny Juice it ups" out there.
Just keep the outside meter panel closed and put a cardboard backing so that live supply feed conductors can’t be touched. Keep that positive outlook you will be an inspiration to younger electricians and your own kids. That positive mindset helps wonders. If you replaced the panel did you do a video of that?
Yes it's the next video after this one.
Great informational video!! Thank you!!
Property owner needs to clean all of that mess lol😂
its nice they left two transmissions in front of the electric panel. too much room
Good job, yea I had to replace a few like that last year, and they didn’t have panels that size so had to cut the wall wider and longer for all 12 of them :( 😢
Very detailed and informative. I never knew you could just pop that meter out of that box outside.
Your area may have a band around it and only allow the seal to be broken by the utility company, Make sure the master is off when you put it back in so there is no arcing. This is not a common DIY task,
Yeah, don’t just go do this yourself. It’s illegal to take off the meter yourself. The power company will be notified and you possibly will be fined. Check out your rules in your city by contacting the power company.
Your right to replace it. A temporary fix you could have disconnected a couple of circuits that they could live without and put a breaker in where you took two circuits out and back feed the panel with a new breaker.
I enjoyed the video Wow what a job. and that old bus behind there all burnt up. But still great job and gotta do what you gotta do. Keep them coming and I look foward for more to come.😎
Under the main disconnect breaker(s), occasionally that terminal is riveted to the drop down bus bar. Thermal expansion over the years will loosen the bar to bar connection, creating intermittent contact.
Good video Steven ! Hopefully you got the job, sometimes folks will take matters into their hands as well as their own personal safety and try to rig something to make it work or get someone to rig it for them . Most of the time the end result is disastrous! I notice that the meter didn't have a safety seal . In Alabama where I live ,the meter are sealed to hopefully prevent home owners or unlicensed contractors from pulling the meter. It looks like here you could pull the meter and do something and power company wouldn't know till was a problem !
Haha customers talking when you are trying to work, or following you during your troubleshooting. Pet peeve indeed.
Like it. My name is Richard. Out here in Cali. Orange Co. 2k hr in. A bit more to go. Great content
Richard nice to meet you. Hang in there keep chugging.
Been there done that. Murray panels are my nemesis
great video, and explanation. keep it up.
Love the troubleshooting vids.
LMAO....the first scene of the video I was thinking "I thought this was a tutorial on house electrical, not on automatic transmissions" People take electrical for granted. The customer is lucky he didn't have a fire. Spending some $$$ up front is worth it compared to losing your house or dying in a fire.
Just found you channel really enjoying it. Great info
Glad you enjoy it!
Good video, thanks for share
well done
That meter box might need replaced too. Meters should not go in and come out that easy. Mine was a bear trying to get it out of the box.
Good stuff! Very interesting! Keep it coming!
Appreciate the feedback!!!
Great man
Thank you!!!
Surprisingly the power company allows you to remove the meter.
yes, they do allow a licensed electrician to pull the meter for work.
Use your meter and check continuity through the main breaker
he did... the power goes away under load. IOW, a poor / burned connection.
That was great..
So how much did it cost?
As an electrician, I liked your job. I was a little sorry for you trying to walk around of so much junk.
Since the box is outside, what about water getting the box? How old is this box?
The box is inside a garage. The bus bar melted because this is a dangerous design that loosens up with age. The looser it gets, the greater the risk of hearing up. This model of PA El is infamous for causing deadly fires. Square D QO is all I use these days.
One, why is it that theres no service disconnect right at the meter? In my area, the meter is sealed with a metal tag, cutting it without the power company approval is a crime punishable by law.
Any home owner should be able to trouble shot mainbreaker. Electrician going to charge me 650$ to replace main breaker plus 205$ for service call plus trouble shooting fee so to replace main breaker will cost me 1000$. My neighbor charge me 20$ to change the main breaker. He also teach me how to check for bad breaker he retired electrician. So folk watch out for scammer
Are you working in mesquite? Noticed you said Smoke alarms with panel upgrade.
Not sure if there is a connection to the melted siding directly on the back of that junction box 😮.
workin
“How much will it cost?” How many times do you think the transmission rebuilder has been on the other side of that question?
Lol
what about replacing the buss bars?
They don't sell individuals bus bars for this old panel!
NEC 110.26 A 1 (&2). Clear that shit out beforehand.
Somebody rigged that panel up
Quick question- my garage wiring is ran into the house and when we run heat and dryer at the same time the power shuts off but the breaker dont trip?
What king of panel? Many old panels have breakers that do not trip properly. It just depends.
i cant stand when customers say how much will it cost on the spot.... its like man.. hold on lol
That's everyone's first thought. That's like going to the doctor and him telling you "according to the x-rays you have a large mass"...Your first thought is gonna be "what is it?"
You should always expect the cost question. You go to a mechanic for your vehicle and he says your transmission is fubar. Don't you ask "How much?" Or do you just say "fix it already".
Even if the home owner knows the cost is inevitable, he needs to know roughly how much asap (to prepare to pay it).
What the hell is going on in that garage? Damn.
And the price was?
Thought my shit was a mess……
This guy shows the problem so people don't mind paying him for his work
The customer is lucky that electrical panel didn't burn his garage down. Those old panels are infamous for loosening over time and causing fires.
SAY OUT "OF" THE WAY NOT: OUT THE WAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
nothing a file couldn't have fixed.
Main breakers bad
auto parts
SAY "WORKING" NOT "WORKIN"!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pulling a meter off is an extreme no-no, the main breaker should always be "off". Ps. We're is the security tag on the electric meter. Most multiply company's would fine you for pulling the meter. Pretty sure this guy has no formal qualifying credentials to be doing any kinda electrical work. Safety should be the at most of importance. Call a real electrician.