Expensive screw

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James L

James L

Senior Member
Location
Kansas Cty, Mo, USA
Occupation
Electrician
Went to look at a house today.
House built 1950s-ish
I was told that suddenly the air conditioner, fridge, and a couple of other things stopped working

Turned out a remodeler is updating a shower.
Installed tile backer board, and gave no thought to the service entrance cable coming through the corner from outside.

He put a screw right into the cable, and immediately half the house didn't work

I cut the wood out of the corner to inspect the cable, and sure enough it blew in half inside the cloth.

POCO came out to disconnect, and they will not consider it an emergency repair. They want to see a city inspection before they'll turn power back on
Screenshot_20220430-222524_Gallery.jpg
 
Here's where it gets expensive...permit and inspection

Cable comes in to a small panel in the other side of the wall. But the panel is inside an upper kitchen cabinetScreenshot_20220430-222602_Gallery.jpgScreenshot_20220430-222613_Gallery.jpg
 
Notice there's another cable going out of the bottom of that small panel. It's doubled into the main lugs and goes through a crawl space to another panel in the laundry room.

So the panel in the cabinet is a no-no and will have to be turned into a junction box, and 6 circuits run from the laundry panel.

But laundry panel is 40+ feet away and has only H+H+N so the cable has to be replaced
 
tom baker said:
60 amp service, Zinsco….
Click to expand...
Yes. That's another issue.
You can see it's a 60 amp meter base outside.
POCO requires minimum 200 amp base, so it has to be upgraded.

But it's too close to the window and must be moved. And the drop is too low so it has to go through the roofScreenshot_20220430-222627_Gallery.jpg
 
Bottom line is one screw is going to require the entire service to be upgraded with disconnect outside and change MB panel in laundry to isolate neutrals, and add circuits back to old panel to become j-box

Price tag for one screw is about $5,600
 
James L said:
They want to see a city inspection before they'll turn power back on

Screenshot_20220430-222524_Gallery.jpg
Click to expand...
That is the smartest utility worker I've ever hear of.

Whether its service drop or lateral, never seen UN-FUSED service entrance cable without rigid or concrete encasement.

Was that ever legal ?
 
ramsy said:
That is the smartest utility worker I've ever hear of.

Whether its service drop or lateral, never seen UN-FUSED service entrance cable without rigid or concrete encasement.

Was that ever legal ?
Click to expand...
It’s common to run SE cable from meter to service panel in basement
 
James L said:
Yes. That's another issue.
You can see it's a 60 amp meter base outside.
POCO requires minimum 200 amp base, so it has to be upgraded.

But it's too close to the window and must be moved. And the drop is too low so it has to go through the roofView attachment 2560419
Click to expand...
I especially like the job the siding guys did :)

I also like the POCO's job with the point of attachment. You'll have to blow up the photo to appreciate this.
 
I don't see any se cable. The overhead looks like bx when I enlarge it and the cable in the shower looks like 10/3 nm. Are my eyes that bad?
 
James L said:
Yes. That's another issue.
You can see it's a 60 amp meter base outside.
POCO requires minimum 200 amp base, so it has to be upgraded.

But it's too close to the window and must be moved. And the drop is too low so it has to go through the roof
Click to expand...
Is that a fixed window?
Also that doesn’t look like POCO wires coming in.
 
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