TOPIC: I Know You Conduit!

Walking around the house with my client I noticed that the conduit which houses and protects the service conductors to the house had pulled away from under the meter.

Without a slip joint, as soil settles, so, sometimes, can the conduit. The problem with that is that doing so can expose the conductors to water.

You can see that this conduit had been repaired once.  It has pulled away again.

As this settlement occurs the box can settle too.  Such is the case on this house.

What can this cause?  Sometimes it can cause problems with the neutral line.  As water gets down into the conduit, if there is a small tear or hole in the insulation it can infest the service conductors.

Service conductors are typically aluminum.  Water can cause many problems, obviously, but especially with aluminum, which can turn to powder.  In this house something had happened because on one side of the house the voltage registered 40 and the other it registered 165!

Notice also where the main enters the house.  That is enough gap for water to wander into the panel box via the cable.  That's not good either!

My recommendation:  When you are walking around the house with your clients, have a good look at the electric meter and service cables.  You might see what I saw here.  I know you conduit too!

Looks unsafe to me.

'Tis, my friend, 'tis!

Seen the same thing on a home the other day where the line comes out of the ground.

Once on a house with an open conduit the house registered 35 volts on one side and 165 on the other!  That's typically a neutral problem and perhaps caused by excessive moisture melting the conductor.