Power Problems in House

Good move, Bob. I second that. Describe your problem, show him your findings, tell him about the power co. visit and let him go to work.

If there's that kind of issue in the service entrance, you clearly do need an electrician!

 

Good luck with this.  I hate aluminum wiring by the way - worrisome stuff if not checked occasionally.  Worth having the electricians inspect everything while they are there.

Do you think aluminum is that big of a deal when used for service entry?  Pretty much standard around here for residential entries.

 

I agree you don't want your house wired with it though.

Most of the larger gauge wiring in residential wiring is still aluminum.  The issues with dissimilar metals has long ago been solved.  All the wiring to my three heat pumps is aluminum, as is the wiring to the range, dryer, and of course, the service entrance.  When I take the cover off one of the two 200A panels in my house, I see lots of aluminum wiring.

The main feeder box is wired with aluminum, as are the range (220 V), the dryer and a sub panel in the basement, both 220 volts.  Everything else, all 120 volt circuits are copper.  I have added several circuits in the basement, a feeder to my barn, and a 220 volt  copper feeder to the AC/Heat pump.  

 

When the power company rep was here yesterday, and told me my feeder was undersized, looked at for some inkling if they would replace the feed from the street to the house (about 300 feet - overhead).  I could not get a reading, he just had no affect.   

I think they must be trained to act like this, much like the medical profession about getting information without a doctor present.

 

Well, I am hopeful that the electrical contractor will be able to offer me some insights about cost and specific responsibilities.  Wish me luck.

 

 

Power Problems in House

Hi Bob Severin

See photo below of my power panel 

 

I am not an electrician, but I took a picture of my power panel. The house was built in 1936. Over the years it has been updated.

 

In the box you will see a whole house surge protector at 29 & 31. This has solved a lot of issues and I had it installed by a electrician, from the advise of my local building inspector. This may help - Good Luck 

Those are just breakers, the surge protector should be inside the cabinet, out of view. Those may be the breakers that the surge protector uses to tap in to the panel.

My whole house surge suppressor is a little box that hangs off the panel and does have a 220 breaker feeding it.

Yes, the device is inside the box. 29 & 31 are the reset for the Whole House Power Surge. We had a bad storm last week and the protector did trip 29 & 31. The building inspector did approve this installation.  Do you think a Whole House Protector would help for this issue? The big box stores all sell these. Thanks

Hi Bob 

we had the same problem at our old house.

This went on for a month or two.like you the rest of the block had same problem.

then we lost all power the transformer blow up That feed the block.

hope this helps.

 

Bob, you said this started back in May. Do you have central air conditioning? That load could cause draw down the voltage when the compressor starts. I get that all the time in my train room. 

 

On the other hand, if your neighbors are experiencing the same thing, it is probably the power company's problem and you have no control.

Although it started in May, it has nothing to do with the AC.  The problem occurs whether or not the AC is running.  It even happens in the wee hours, when the outdoor temp is cool, and there is not much going on anywhere in the area.  I have a dusk to dawn sodium light that lights the back property, and it continues to flicker when nothing else is happening.

Bob, you're doing the right thing by calling in a certified electrical contractor.  Once you get the house checked out by them it gives you more strength to be able to fight it out with the electrical company & PSC if needed by having a professional contractor reporting issues from the meter out and showing your house has been checked. Good luck!

UPDATE:

 

Today, both the power company and an electrical contractor were out. The power company lineman installed a monitor at the lines feeding my house.  They will monitor it for approximately a week to determine the cause of the voltage drop.  

 

A bit later the electrical contractor also came out.  I contracted with him to replace the entrance service, from the mast, to a new meter plug, and a complete replacement of the main panel, with an upgrade to a 200 amp service.  They are also going to install a surge suppressor in the new panel.  The surge suppressor also includes a $75000.00 rider for my home owners insurance.  

 

For those who worried about me attempting to do this on my own, I am  ever thankful for your concern.  I think it was in a Dirty Harry movie - "A man's got to know his limitations."  Well this one certainly was above my limitations, and both the wife and I are feeling good about this investment in our lives.  

 

Once again, thanks to everyone for your answers, input, and concerns.  It's what this forum is about for me.  

 

bob 

Sounds like you should be able to nail any power issues with that combo.

 

It'll be interesting to see what the power company comes up with.

"A bit later the electrical contractor also came out."

 

did he offer any speculation about what was happening?

Not directly.  He did comment that despite the obvious problems, he said everything is correctly wired, no apparent overheating or visible problems.  I still think the drop in voltage / lights flickering problem stems from the power company.

I've got no problem with AL in utility systems - called for a lot of AA and ACSR in my time and very little CU.  Or into my meter box.  Good, solid meter box terminals and all will not come loose if done right, and they are . . .

 

But here in the house, and in the trainroom and workship, no.  It's all copper and only copper.  I'm not concerned about dissimilar metals, etc. - yes that's been solved.  What bothers me is thermal expansion working circuits loose.  Somehow it causes the aluminum to gradually weaken and screwed-down contacts to loosen just a tiny bit, which causes more resistance, which causes more heating - which causes more expansion and eventually a rash of open circuits or flickering lights.  It was a major pain in a home I had two houses ago.  

 

Maybe that has been solved, too - it has been 25 years - but I'm sticking with CU.

 Bob, Thanks for the intelligent and reasoned story about your situation. I like to hear about people taking an in-depth interest instead of just "call an expert". There are plenty of cases of supposed "experts" not nailing down specific problems but charging you plenty regardless! In this case, the final verdict is not in yet?

 

A friend had a low water pressure situation at his residence that was an elusive problem. He finally tracked it down to an undersized hole in the plastic water main upstream of the water meter. It was one of those neighborhoods where new houses are connected to the existing pressurized main with a saddle tee, then they drill through a ball valve to make the connection. But the "experts" drilled too small! And it took years to track down the real problem!

Bob:

 

Glad that you have a handle on this situation. It will be interesting to see what the Power Company comes up with in terms of their monitoring device. Please keep us posted.

 

It sounds like you have the problem in hand. Sorry to be late to the party, but I can offer a possible explanation to the relatively sudden onset of low voltage problems.

 

I was asked by our local church to figure out why, suddenly, the lights would flicker when the A-C units kicked in.  I took measurements and determined that the line voltage on both 120 volt legs would sag 5 volts when the compressors started.  That is more than the recommended maximum 3% voltage drop that we go by.

 

It seems that the lighting company had re-run and re-directed our aerial drop wire from an adjacent pole-mounted transformer, to one about 4 sections (~600') away.

 

They had done this because a commercial building across the street had complained of low voltage, so the brains at LIPA (motto "We're even worse than the phone company") moved the church to a different transformer, and in doing so added more copper, which results in more resistance, which results in more sag.

 

I convinced them to put things back the way they were, and to move the commercial building's service to a transformer one section back.  Now everyone is happy.

 

Something like this might have happened in your neighborhood back in May.

Bob, if you're having the electrical contractor upgrading your service up to 200 amp service from the panel, meter, pole mast, & feeder wires from the mast to the panel the electrical company will need to upgrade your supply wires from the street pole to the mast to handle the extra power requirements if ever needed,  they charge by your supply service so make sure they replace & upgrade your supply lines. Try to have your contractor there when the electrical company does the upgrade plus everything has to be inspected too. Sounds like you're doing everything right. Good luck.