Yesterday I replaced the breaker panel in my goddaughter’s house. I pulled the meter and opened up the meter box to tie in the temporary power lines and found a surprise.
The wires from the transformer come in through a buried conduit and terminate in the box in a set of lugs. The two hots show heat damage and the neutral is out of the lug completely, but still resting against it.
I wasn’t touching that side of the box, and had a good day’s work ahead of me, so I decided to not mention it until my work was done. When I was done replacing the breaker panel I told her what I had seen in the meter box and we discussed how to get it fixed. If we knew for sure that Exelon was responsible for those connections we would have called them and had them take care of it right away. But, if she is responsible for those connections we didn’t want to pay the Saturday evening emergency rate for the repair.
In case it matters, we’re in Pennsylvania.
Thanks!
Doug
Replies
Call the power Co. NOW
I agree with VAVince. Call the power company. I might he hesitant to tell them YOU pulled the meter as around here they get upset with folks for doing that as we have alot of folks do it to steal electricity.
But call them to have that issue looked at.
For overhead service in some cases the HO owns the wires to the top of the mast. (In other cases the PC owns the wires all the way to the breaker panel.) Hard to see how the PC doesn't own the wires in question in this case, though.
And in somecase you provide the PVC and the POCO will do the wires.In other you provide the PVC and pull the wires and maintace is up to you. And in other after installed the POCO will maintain them. The last 2 are probably more likely on runs past their standard service distances.There are all kinds of combinations.But no matter who is responsible the wires the POCO will end up comming out anyway as they need to shut off the power..
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A-holes. Hey every group has to have one. And I have been elected to be the one. I should make that my tagline.
All,
Thanks for the advice so far. She and I have discussed telling Exelon how she was sitting on the deck today (it's a beautiful day by the way) and how she heard sizzling and smelled something funny around that corner of the house, and that the meter box was warm. I told her that kind of call will get them out within an hour.
-Doug
I reside in the Northern Panhandle of West Virginia. Allegheny Power is our provider.
They provide you free of charge with the meter box and socket. I am responsible for installing the wires up to the weatherhead and they make the connection. I am 100% responsible for the feed from the lugs running to my panel box inside my house.
Typically, you contact the power company and set up an appointment. They arrive and disconnect the power at the weatherhead drip loop. You pick up a new meter box and socket at a local electric supply store after giving them a confirmation number that the power company assigned you. You then go ahead and run your new wiring up the mast , and/or into a new panel box or whatever you had planned to do.
An power co inspector will come by later that day to inspect whether your wiring meets their codes (2 ground rods, certain box height requirements, etc). They do not inspect the actual wiring in the homeowner's panel box...just the wiring from the meter to the box, and the wiring up the mast. Most will ask to check out the panel box, and I always let them...but they will tell you straight forward that their responsiblity ends with the main lug connections, and they have no real authority to inspect actual wiring of circuit breakers.
Once the inspector is satisfied....and after having to pay the inspector $150 for the visit, they will tag the meter box with a decal sticker that lets the linemen know they can re-hook up the service . The lineman arrives later that same day and then re-hooks the power, plus he/she installs the actual meter back in place, closes the box and installs a special metal tag plate ( seal).
If you knowingly cut that seal to work on the meter box yourself, and are caught doing so...that's a $10,000 fine in our area.
Davo
around here the meter box is the homeowners problem. i know i just paid 600 for a new meter socket that had corroded. larry
if a man speaks in the forest,and there's not a woman to hear him,is he still wrong?
We deal with 2 different power companies in my area and in both cases you own it to the mast above ground and to the pole below ground. Meter box too. DanT
You usually own the meter BOX ... but the wires may be the power company's problem (and responsibility). If it is underground service ... the power company usually pulls the wire and makes the connection ... making the connection their responsibility, I think.
I'm no electrician, though ... just a wannabe
here the power company gives you the meter box, they own up to meter and you take over from meter to house. except doing storm damage it stop at the mass
If nothing else, it's interesting to read where the different utilities around the country place the line of demarcation.
-Doug
YOU pulled the meter? Who broke the seal?
PoCo can handle this. In many places, this connection is also made by the electrical contractor.
Either way - get it fixed NOW. Doing without power is not unreasonable. Especially with that neutral loose, you are at a very real risk of damaging electrical appliances,
In the past, you could break the seal on the meter as long as you called them when you were finished.
Now, they have a "Fine" of over $100 for doing that. You have to call AHEAD of breaking the seal to prevent the fine.
Severak months ago, I was operating under the old rules and called them to tell about a disconnect by pulling the meter. The lady was nice, but bordered on getting huffy. I finished the work and was telling them I broke the seal. She said, "Well, this time there won't be a fine, but...."
Funny how it was such a big problem, but with those new radio frequency meters that let the meter readers come by the house and read the meter from 150' away, the broken seal has never been replaced....
Get those loose connections fix ASAP....;>)
Bill
poer company...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
In my experience the homeowner provides the meter box, conduit, weatherhead and wire and the power company will hang the loop from the pole and install the meter, usually they will replace or repair the meter loop wires if there is ever a problem from the transformer to the meter itself. It is always a good idea to install provide a little more wire than necessary in a new install and loop the extra couple of feet of wire in the box in case of future repair from lightning of burned conductors/claws
In underground installations, the power company will usually provide at a substantial cost the service wires to the meter if it is mounted on the side of the home or at a transformer base close to the home and then you are on your own from there. From the meter to the residence or point of use is referred to as "secondary" and you are responsible for installation and maintenance. It is possible to adjust the "taps" in order to bump voltage to account for line loss in the secondary line but not all utilities go for this and you end up with a lot of line loss and pay for power you don't really use as a result.
should have said....
wires in... power company....
wires out... the HO...
some power companies stop at the weatherhead...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming
WOW!!! What a Ride!
Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Doesn't make much differance who owns what.
The POCO still needs to be called for the corrective measures need at the meter base.
They need to pull the fuse link at the transformer, so the fix can be completed while it is dead.
Anyone working it hot needs to comply with NFPA 70E, including the POCO.
that's tellin me...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!
Well for another twist...
Power Co owns it if the HO wants a utility owned service. In this case they own to the meter but your (I was) responsible to the weatherhead and for it's replacement when it was ripped down by a large tree.
In my new house (same power co.) I chose a customer owned feed. They own the transformer and the pole at the end of the drive 345 feet away. I own the from the connections (including the Burndies) down the pole, all pipe, sweeps, and wire, meter socket and 6X6 posts to the last outlet in the house. It was much faster and cheaper than waiting for them to design and build.
They didn't even inspect the trench. The local tech said if I wanted a substandard job it was going to be my own fault. When they energized it, all the pole crew wanted was the main shut off. They did look at my install and he admitted he never saw anything like it and walked away. That's a no bs story.
"They did look at my install and he admitted he never saw anything like it and walked away. That's a no bs story."Ahhh, you're gonna leave us hanging here, then?
we can take that at least two ways....
lets take the more fun way...
Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming<!----><!----><!---->
WOW!!! What a Ride!Forget the primal scream, just ROAR!!!