Need an electrician and I need one ASAP

[smokin5s]

Something bad is going on with the electric in my house and I need professional help with it. Who does everyone recommend?

 

Some of the things that it's doing:

just now, my wife turned on the microwave and her fan in the bedroom spun up like it was turned on high until the microwave turned off then it went back down.

 

The UPS keeps beeping like it's detecting voltage changes

 

a ARFCI breaker in the panel got smoked

 

the GFCI breaker at the sump pump keeps tripping if you plug anything into it. (replaced sump pump.. now back to normal)

 

the ARFCI breakers in the box just randomly trips.

 

11 LED "can" lights got fried tonight as in smoked them (blew a hole in the side of them) (at 30 dollars a piece)

 

my 3d Blueray player got smoked

 

lights have been flickering

 

the 2 legs in the panel in the basement seem to fluctuate. It almost acts like a voltage regulator is bad except my house doesn't have a voltage regulator, so I don't know.

 

I need a professional to come fix this as I'm lost and I don't want my house to burn down nor can I afford to have anything else get ruined.

Edited June 7, 2016 by smokin5s

[SloSVTruck]

What do you mean the two legs seem to fluctuate? Did you use a meter to check the voltage???

 

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[SloSVTruck]

Most of the time this is an AEP issue.... as in there transformer is messed up or a wire feeding the house got hit... but that would be more of a low voltage issue.... your stuff sounds like an overvoltage....

 

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[SloSVTruck]

Also.... as much damage as this has caused you should probably get your insurance involved.

 

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[MattKatz]

Sounds like you have lost a neutral coming into the house to me.

[smokin5s]

Sounds like you have lost a neutral coming into the house to me.

You are saying Neutral coming into the house like the house ground? It wouldn't be a wiring issue inside the box or house? We had a new electrical box wired for a hot tub and pool last Wednesday (just ran a thicker gauge wire and replaced the existing box that was out there), but things started going south today not Wednesday.

[smokin5s]

Most of the time this is an AEP issue.... as in there transformer is messed up or a wire feeding the house got hit... but that would be more of a low voltage issue.... your stuff sounds like an overvoltage....

 

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I had a guy out today (the guy who helped me wire the new hot tub / pool service panel) and he said that he thinks it's a transformer issue as well. I'm worried that there's an issue with the wiring for the hot tub / pool. I pulled out the breaker for the hot tub / pool as well as removed the neutral and ground wire from the neutral bar and the issue still happens, so I'm pretty sure it's not the new box but would love a 2nd opinion.

[SloSVTruck]

Sounds like you have lost a neutral coming into the house to me.

Losing a neutral won't typically fry things..... will just make the voltage lower and things won't work.....

 

You say you had the whole house panel changed out??? Or just a sub panel installed for the hot tub?

 

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[smokin5s]

What do you mean the two legs seem to fluctuate? Did you use a meter to check the voltage???

 

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Yes, took off the front panel on the box in the basement, there's 2 legs, left and right.... the right leg at one point dropped down to 60, but did come back up to 120'ish for both sides. I'm hoping what I'm saying makes sense.

[smokin5s]

Losing a neutral won't typically fry things..... will just make the voltage lower and things won't work.....

 

You say you had the whole house panel changed out??? Or just a sub panel installed for the hot tub?

 

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sub panel that services the hot tub and swimming pool. We had a 60 amp sub panel already out there, but the wiring was on the small side to service the hot tub alone, let alone the pool as well, so we replaced it with Aluminum 2-2-2-4 (I think... it's thick ass wire, so don't quote me if it's 2-2-2-4 or 4-2-2-2 or something like that...) We put a new sub panel out there, put in wiring that can handle more than what we'd ever throw at it, and replaced the 60 amp service that was going to the sub panel with 100 amp breaker to that panel. The sub panel has 50 amp GFCI to the hot tub, then a 20AMP GFCI to the pool, and then an additional 20 amp outlet in case we need to plug anything in. it's all in weather proof box.

[SloSVTruck]

Yes, took off the front panel on the box in the basement, there's 2 legs, left and right.... the right leg at one point dropped down to 60, but did come back up to 120'ish for both sides. I'm hoping what I'm saying makes sense.

How did you test this? With an electrical meter? 1 lead on the neutral/bare wire then going to each hot leg???

 

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[SloSVTruck]

sub panel that services the hot tub and swimming pool. We had a 60 amp sub panel already out there, but the wiring was on the small side to service the hot tub alone, let alone the pool as well, so we replaced it with Aluminum 2-2-2-4 (I think... it's thick ass wire, so don't quote me if it's 2-2-2-4 or 4-2-2-2 or something like that...) We put a new sub panel out there, put in wiring that can handle more than what we'd ever throw at it, and replaced the 60 amp service that was going to the sub panel with 100 amp breaker to that panel. The sub panel has 50 amp GFCI to the hot tub, then a 20AMP GFCI to the pool, and then an additional 20 amp outlet in case we need to plug anything in. it's all in weather proof box.

This all sounds fine, probably 2-2-2-4 wire. If there was any issue with this like you said just shutting off the 100A breaker should make any issues stop....

 

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[SloSVTruck]

What kind of service do you have? Overhead or underground? Any construction/digging goin on lately?

 

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[MattKatz]

Losing a neutral won't typically fry things..... will just make the voltage lower and things won't work.....

 

You say you had the whole house panel changed out??? Or just a sub panel installed for the hot tub?

 

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Theres really not a lot of things that will "Fry" things outside of serious overvoltage or lightning.....But No neutral can knock stuff out too from power fluctuations and creating things to overload/overwork. I was just offering up a possible option that shouldnt be too hard to check that wasnt mentioned. If you think its a Transformer, Id call your electric company and haven them come out and check, but if it is a problem like this, it would affect more then one home unless your on your own transformer which is highly unlikely.

[smokin5s]

How did you test this? With an electrical meter? 1 lead on the neutral/bare wire then going to each hot leg???

 

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exactly

[smokin5s]

Theres really not a lot of things that will "Fry" things outside of serious overvoltage or lightning.....But No neutral can knock stuff out too from power fluctuations and creating things to overload/overwork. I was just offering up a possible option that shouldnt be too hard to check that wasnt mentioned. If you think its a Transformer, Id call your electric company and haven them come out and check, but if it is a problem like this, it would affect more then one home unless your on your own transformer which is highly unlikely.

I live in the country, Houses aren't too close to each other. I spoke with a buddy who used to do electric many moons ago and he said that country homes because of the distance between them, it's not uncommon to have your own transformer. He also said though that transformers normally go out in a blaze of glory and don't just start failing like it sounds mine is doing. I did reach out to my neighbors tonight and none of them have had any issues and have been home all day so they would have noticed.

[MattKatz]

Fair enough....Country would change the game a little bit....I have nothing else of help to add....Good luck man.

[smokin5s]

I also called the electric company today and they said it would be 150 dollars if they decided it was on my end instead of theirs so I'm trying to make sure it's not on my end before I risk shelling out more money and then still having to pay an electrician to come out and fix this mess.

[SloSVTruck]

What kind of service do you have? Overhead or underground? Any construction/digging goin on lately?

 

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This???

 

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[smokin5s]

service is over head until it gets to my property, then it's underground. I'm in the country, the construction would be on my property and no construction or digging.

[SloSVTruck]

No digging for the new wire installed to the sub panel???

 

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[smokin5s]

no, that subpanel goes out the house, travels through 2 deck joists, then up into conduit to the sub panel. Total distance traveled maybe 10 feet.

[cstmg8]

You need to have AEP come check their side. I've dealt with this on two different houses in Athens county. One was a bad neutral connector on their side. The other was a bad transformer serving only my parents house.

Do you have a disconnect out by the meter on the pole? Check for those voltage fluctuations out there.

My neighbor here in Columbus had the same issue last year, and I found a bad lug in their meter box itself.

Rarely inside the house on these issues.

[smokin5s]

just had another electrician come out, He checked everything, said everything is wired right and tight. Said he thinks that it's the transformer as well. I've called the electric company but they aren't going to come out until tomorrow unless I'm willing to pay the 150 dollar "on call" fee. I've now had 3 separate electricians come out and tell me the same thing, they think it's on the electric companies side. When your parents had these issues, did the electric company replace the items that they damaged? So far my battery backup sump pump system is fried ($500), 11 LED light fixtures at 29.99 a piece, blueray surround sound ($500), cable box ($?), roku 3 ($99), random electrical outlets, the outdoor lighting in the garage, and 5 arc fault breakers are now fried. That's just what I've found so far... I'm at a loss how a company that i pay for is going to charge me to come out on the weekend and they are saying this is because I have power even though lights dim and flicker, etc....

[Coaster]

just had another electrician come out, He checked everything, said everything is wired right and tight. Said he thinks that it's the transformer as well. I've called the electric company but they aren't going to come out until tomorrow unless I'm willing to pay the 150 dollar "on call" fee. I've now had 3 separate electricians come out and tell me the same thing, they think it's on the electric companies side. When your parents had these issues, did the electric company replace the items that they damaged? So far my battery backup sump pump system is fried ($500), 11 LED light fixtures at 29.99 a piece, blueray surround sound ($500), cable box ($?), roku 3 ($99), random electrical outlets, the outdoor lighting in the garage, and 5 arc fault breakers are now fried. That's just what I've found so far... I'm at a loss how a company that i pay for is going to charge me to come out on the weekend and they are saying this is because I have power even though lights dim and flicker, etc....

 

Call the electric company back and have them come today.

 

If the problem is on their side either they will waive the fee or you'll be making an insurance claim anyhow. Insurance should pay out for that fee since it will mitigate any further damage.