Here, in one picture, I have captured a multitude of horror. This main electric panel has had water entering into the panel, which has rusted the bottom of the box, as well as many of the screw terminals where the wires attach to the breakers. On the right, there is also a breaker which is "double tapped", which means there is more than one circuit wire attached to one circuit breaker. This in itself presents a potential fire hazard. The wiring in the panel was done very loosely and sloppily, as you can see the two wires looping down and touching the bottom of the panel box (where the water has apparently been sitting when it rains). Some of the top wires in the panel were actually wet when I removed the cover. Water has apparently been following the main service cable in from the outside, causing the damage you see. It is VERY important that the service cable always be sealed around it where it enters the house to prevent this from happening. Sometimes in older homes, the sealant becomes old and cracked, painted over, or missing entirely. This should be checked several times yearly. The corroded lugs and screws could short out, or become inoperable all together. Not to mention the fact that I (or someone else) who touched the panel box, or removed the cover could have become electrocuted. None of this was visible without removing the panel box cover, and was undiscovered by anyone before the home inspection. Home inspectors routinely remove these covers for inspection, and will discover such defects.
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Charles Buell Inspections Inc. - Seattle, WA
Seattle Home Inspector
H.I.S. Home Inspections (Summit, Stark Counties) - Canton, OH
H.I.S. Home Inspections, Stark & Summit County, OH Home Inspector
I can get into enough hot water all by myself, without going near the electric panel :)
Aug 18, 2008 06:57 AM
RE/MAX Solutions- OZARK MISSOURI - Mount Vernon, MO
MO Broker - Mt Vernon, Monett, Aurora, Barry & Law
Don't have a picture but did have grass roots growing inside a pannel in the basement. Also had a dead baby snake one time. It is important to check to make sure there is a seal. cheryl (yes the snake threw the breaker) willis
Aug 18, 2008 11:49 AM
Complete Home Inspections, Inc. - Brentwood, TN
Home Inspectons - Nashville, TN area - 615.661.029
Kevin, You are right, electricity and water do not mix. Having been an electrical engineer and a licensed electrician, I hate to see sloppy panels and sloppy workmanship...
Aug 18, 2008 09:47 PM
H.I.S. Home Inspections (Summit, Stark Counties) - Canton, OH
H.I.S. Home Inspections, Stark & Summit County, OH Home Inspector
Michael, that is also one of my pet peeves. But most of the really sloppy work was not done by licensed electricians, but homeowners (or their buddies).
I was in a "finished" basement last week, where the entire basement was hard-wired using extension cords, or pieces of them. Amazing. Of course, nobody takes responsibility for THAT kind of work.
Aug 18, 2008 10:31 PM
King of the House Home Inspection, Inc. - Bellingham, WA
Bellingham WA Home Inspector
Kevin,
Must be a coincidence. This is a photo I took yesterday. Great minds think alike. My panel is rustier than yours, hardy hardy har. Actually it is not my panel, belongs to a buddy names Charles.
Aug 19, 2008 02:51 AM
H.I.S. Home Inspections (Summit, Stark Counties) - Canton, OH
H.I.S. Home Inspections, Stark & Summit County, OH Home Inspector
Cutler Real Estate - Canton, OH
REALTOR - Cutler Real Estate
I've seen this a few times. My guess is that most homeowners don't open the panel unless the breaker goes out.
Aug 19, 2008 04:33 AM
Coldwell Banker Yorke Realty - York, ME
Seacoast Maine & NH Real Estate
Hi Kevin - While I've stopped by your blog several times, I followed Cheryl W. here today. :) I cringe when I see homeowner electrical work.
Please expand on "It is VERY important that the service cable always be sealed around it where it enters the house to prevent this from happening". This is good info for us non-handy types. How does it differ when it is underground power?
Thanks.
Margaret "Hot Lips Honarary Cheryl" Mitchell
Aug 19, 2008 04:44 AM
H.I.S. Home Inspections (Summit, Stark Counties) - Canton, OH
H.I.S. Home Inspections, Stark & Summit County, OH Home Inspector
Hi Margaret, yes.. I can see that you stopped by several times.... thankyou.
There is usually a gum-type sealant that they put around the main service cable where it enters the outside meter box, exits the box, and enters the house wall. Usually, it the sealant around where it enters the house that gets moved, cracked, misplaced, or missing altogether.
Underground services have a solid sheilded cable that is meant for ground contact. The advantage is... it comes up and enters the house, rather than down, like an overhead service. Therefore, it has less chance to let water follow the cable into the house and the electric panel.
Does that help explain it 'Hot Lips' ? :))
Kevin (Honorary Cheryl, not-so-hot-lips) Corsa
Aug 19, 2008 07:13 AM
H.I.S. Home Inspections (Summit, Stark Counties) - Canton, OH
H.I.S. Home Inspections, Stark & Summit County, OH Home Inspector
Christina,
I doubt that most homeowners ever take off their service panel cover.
Aug 19, 2008 07:18 AM
RE/MAX Solutions- OZARK MISSOURI - Mount Vernon, MO
MO Broker - Mt Vernon, Monett, Aurora, Barry & Law
our panel is always off, how else am I suppose to flip the breakers when I run the washer,dryer,micro, curling iron, AC and vacuum at the same time? just kidding
- they are all on separate extension cords.
cheryl(pulling your leg) willis
Aug 19, 2008 07:55 AM
H.I.S. Home Inspections (Summit, Stark Counties) - Canton, OH
H.I.S. Home Inspections, Stark & Summit County, OH Home Inspector
I think a lightbulb must have went out somewhere....... just kidding. :))
I haven't had my leg pulled in a long time...
Kevin (keep your mind out of the gutter) Corsa
Aug 19, 2008 08:30 AM
Hickory, NC
Kevin(Guy-Chery) from a real Cheryl G, I thought you were going to tell us that you had a NEW Hairdo !!! /???? Yikes !!! God bless,
Aug 19, 2008 12:23 PM
H.I.S. Home Inspections (Summit, Stark Counties) - Canton, OH
H.I.S. Home Inspections, Stark & Summit County, OH Home Inspector
Coldwell Banker Yorke Realty - York, ME
Seacoast Maine & NH Real Estate
Hi Kevin - Here's what I am trying to work out in my head. We once had an issue where an inspector was trying to inspect electrical work (and it sounds like the very same issue) but it was underground power. The work had been done by a licensed reputable electrician just a few years before but the inspector had an issue because he couldn't see it. (It was underground in conduit.) There were no electrical problems, nothing that indicated an issue. Does that make sense?
We have had this issue arise only the single occasion and wasn't raised on inspections on other properties with underground power. So I couldn't quite understand what the issue was. Sorry to pepper you with questions but well, I read read your blog, lol. Thanks for shedding some light (oops impossible not to pun here.)
Aug 20, 2008 02:25 AM
H.I.S. Home Inspections (Summit, Stark Counties) - Canton, OH
H.I.S. Home Inspections, Stark & Summit County, OH Home Inspector
Margaret, I have never heard of an inspector questioning underground service... just because it IS underground??
IF there is a problem with an underground service line, it usually exhibits some characteristics, like an electrical "brown out', or lights flickering, which would usually indicate a slice or nick in the underground line insulation, which eventually results in corrosion of the wires, and ultimately, failure of the entire system.
If no symptoms existed, then there was no cause for alarm or concern (or any negative commentary from the home inspector).
Aug 20, 2008 02:57 AM
Coldwell Banker Yorke Realty - York, ME
Seacoast Maine & NH Real Estate
Thank you, Kevin. Yep, that was the only time it was an issue for an inspector and there were no probems with the electrical. He kept saying he needed to see it and we kept saying it's underground (in conduit no less). This was a few years ago and fortunately, we haven't had this raised again.
Aug 24, 2008 04:35 PM
H.I.S. Home Inspections (Summit, Stark Counties) - Canton, OH
H.I.S. Home Inspections, Stark & Summit County, OH Home Inspector
Cheryl W,
I suppose separate extension cords is better than being all on one... lol
Kevin (don't try this at home) Corsa
Aug 24, 2008 07:37 PM
Rainmaker
67,228
67,228
Kevin Corsa
H.I.S. Home Inspections, Stark & Summit County, OH Home Inspector
Comments(19)