Electrical snafu - advice requested, please...

[Shaun @ Tru6]

Something similar happened to me years ago. All of the plugs on one breaker would go off and then back on. I got a receptacle tester and it read open hot. Then it fixed itself. No idea what the problem was.

[DanielDudley]

Baz, what some of us might do could get that working again, but it could get you knocked on your bazz. If you don't mess with panels, don't start now. If you were to mess with it, use the buddy system, and don't do it alone.

No doubt a new panel would resolve all your problems. There is a lot of oxidation in there

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by dad911

2) Output (2 screws) on the main 50 amp breaker. If #1 is ok, but these are less than 220-240, then the main breaker is bad.

I am wading into not so familiar waters. I don't see a main breaker. I see the street wires coming in on top.

What am I missing? Surely there has to be a main breaker to shut the box down.

[dad911]

Originally Posted by Bob Kontak

I am wading into not so familiar waters. I don't see a main breaker. I see the street wires coming in on top.

What am I missing? Surely there has to be a main breaker to shut the box down.

Edit:
Looking at the panel cover, I think the breakers above the 'main' are fed directly by the main line coming in? Perhaps there is a breaker at the meter pan? (BAZ?)

I now see that 'MAIN' is labelled 'Main for Lights' on the cover, and probably only protects the breakers below it.

Possibly part of the reason why this panel gets no love.....

[Baz]

Good evening gentlemen.....

Again...thank you so much for your continued input on my electrical spook.....

Except for the one very brief episode earlier today - all systems are go.

I do have a volt meter ready in case things shut down again to check input and output on some of the lugs. I know what I'm doing at least for doing this so should be fine.

To answer the question about a main breaker - outside there's only the disconnect box going to the AC just below the meter. So maybe there's no main inside this panel. I'm assuming the directory is accurate too.

I will call my electrician on Tuesday and ask him for his opinion. I do agree that changing out the panel wouldn't hurt but would like to try and pin down what is causing this spook if possible before doing anything else.

I also have a buddy who is retired from working down at the Cape and he's very experienced with electrical work so likely will elicit his opinion as well.

I will post again if anything happens news worthy......thanks again for the generous input - you guys are awesome!

[wdfifteen]

I've never seen a panel like that.
Good advise to minimize useage. No cooking, no dryer, no AC. I would even turn the water heater off. If it's a bad connection somewhere, trying to draw current through it can overheat it and start a fire.

[Bob Kontak]

Originally Posted by Baz

I do have a volt meter ready in case things shut down again to check input and output on some of the lugs. I know what I'm doing at least for doing this so should be fine.

Keep it to that.

As Lavelle Crawford's Mom says "I don't wan't you touching shiet, I don't want you askin' about shiet. In fact keep your eyes closed.

Watch for one minute.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XHsXuIxAUgk

Lavelle was Huell in Breaking Bad.

[URY914]

When was the house built and do you have copper or aluminum wire?
A lot of houses in FL have aluminum wire.

[Steve Carlton]

[cpconst]

If your panel is from Federal Pacific replace it! FP also stands for fire probably. The breakers have an issue with not tripping when they're overloaded and they overheat. In my area of the country an independent inspector would highly advise replacing the panel upon anyone interested buying a house that is for sale with this panel. It'll cost you between $600-$1100 but cheap insurance. You're living on borrowed Time.

[1990C4S]

Originally Posted by URY914

When was the house built and do you have copper or aluminum wire?
A lot of houses in FL have aluminum wire.

At that age I think it would be copper, but that's a good question.

Aluminum wire can be a real bugger. I had it a house once...

[E Sully]

I see corrosion and poor connections heating up the wires. I would replace the panel and use an anti-oxidation compound on the terminals. Some of the wiring may have damaged insulation from the heat and be too brittle to reuse. It will crack and fall off when moving the wire.

[Baz]

Hey everyone....been a while but finally got to the bottom of the problem. Since May I haven't had any more outages so didn't worry about it, but last weekend it started doing it again so my buddy who is an electrician was over today and pointed out one of the connectors was very corroded on the lines feeding the meter through the mast on the roof. Called our utility company and an hour later the lineman came over and respliced all 3 wires. And just like that....back in business!

I still plan to switch out the panel at some point.

Thanks again for everyone's help - most of you were spot on with where to look for the problem. I just didn't notice the corroded connector on the roof.......

Here's the connector/splice that was corroded.....

[Baz]

And here is a before and after of the wires that were respliced.

In the first pic it's hard to see the corroded connector but it's right there in front of the mast.....

[DonDavis]

Wow! That's scary. Glad this was found.

Electrons like loops and sweeps, not hairpin turns and switchbacks.

[Bill Douglas]

Salt air.

[Pazuzu]

Originally Posted by Baz

one of the connectors was very corroded on the lines feeding the meter through the mast on the roof. Called our utility company and an hour later the lineman came over and respliced all 3 wires. And just like that....back in business!

I didn't see your original thread, but that's what was going through my mind right now. We had the same thing, one of the 2 power feeds was starting to crack going into the weatherhead of the house, and depending on temp/load/wind we would lose some outlets, or even half the house. It was only when I went outside during one of these events and saw some very slight arcing in the wire that we diagnosed it. The breaker panel seemed fine, the house wiring seemed fine, and it was sporadic and random based on a couple of parameters combined. Same deal, told someone in charge to fix the finger sized wire, and all has been good since.