Service repairs

[Cow]

Customer lost a leg to the panel. Stabbed my probes into the overhead connections and had good voltage. It must be behind the meter?

It was a MIRACLE the wire didn't fault to the meterbase hub. It was right up against it and most of the insulation was gone as you can see in the pics.

Also one of the tallest masts I've ever installed. I wasn't entirely sure if it was required or not, but all my measurements said I had too many feet of aerial cable over this 3/12 pitch roof to get away with a shorter one.

 

[Cow]

This was this morning, the customer had neutral issues. Burned up a couple of TV's, microwave, furnace parts, etc. This metermain was in the worst shape of just about any metermain I've ever changed. It was an FPE which I've never seen before, most are Unicorn out here that we replace. Turned out to be a bad neutral lug behind the meter.

Forgot the after pics, you'll just have to imagine what a new metermain looks like.

The hole was dug so we could swap wires from one side to the other since new metermains have meter on the left side. Somebody really needs to make a metermain with the meter feed on the right!!!

Last pic shows how far they hair cut down a wire to fit in the main breaker lugs to feed the adjacent subpanel. I've seen a few strands trimmed off before but this one only had a few left!!

 

[Cow]

Last but not least, truck driver cut the corner by about 4' even though the corner is at least 30'+ wide already:roll: and broke the pole off. It has a meterbase feeding an ANCIENT AB 200HP pump panel feeding a 75HP pump.:huh: They used a loader to knock it the rest of the way over once the power company clipped their aerial loose. I haven't started this project yet. I'll have to build a stanchion for all the gear this time though, they won't let me put it back up on the POCO pole like it was before.

Lots of services to do lately, fortunately the weather has been cold in the morning but it warms up during the day. Great weather to be outside doing this kind of stuff.

 

[ActionDave]

Looks like you have have done well in all thy challenges. I now dub thee Captain Service Repairman.

 

[Cow]

Looks like you have have done well in all thy challenges. I now dub thee Captain Service Repairman.

Well, the Captain does what he can!

 

[John120/240]

Cow, Last picture of your first post it looks like you use wire rope to support the mast. Fine & Dandy. Has anybody ever used 3/4 EMT,cut to appropriate length, flatten each end, use Minwac to attach to mast, use Lag screw to attach to roof. The EMT would provide a rigid support. Your opinion, Pro's or Con's to either method

 

[ptonsparky]

Last but not least, truck driver cut the corner by about 4' even though the corner is at least 30'+ wide already:roll: and broke the pole off. It has a meterbase feeding an ANCIENT AB 200HP pump panel feeding a 75HP pump.:huh: They used a loader to knock it the rest of the way over once the power company clipped their aerial loose. I haven't started this project yet. I'll have to build a stanchion for all the gear this time though, they won't let me put it back up on the POCO pole like it was before.

Lots of services to do lately, fortunately the weather has been cold in the morning but it warms up during the day. Great weather to be outside doing this kind of stuff.

Fairly warm here yesterday, but a bit windy. Crawling a leg between two bins was just that, crawling. I weigh in at 200 lbs and was not sure my feet would stay on the rungs. Motor replacement will have to wait until calmer day. I envy the green in your pictures. No snow here but colder than a Well Digger's ___in January.

 

[Cow]

Cow, Last picture of your first post it looks like you use wire rope to support the mast. Fine & Dandy. Has anybody ever used 3/4 EMT,cut to appropriate length, flatten each end, use Minwac to attach to mast, use Lag screw to attach to roof. The EMT would provide a rigid support. Your opinion, Pro's or Con's to either method

Yep, I used wire rope. I bought a standard guy kit and had to cut out the wire rope in the kit because it was too short. I replaced it with some longer wire rope and clamps from ACE.

I think EMT would have worked just as well if not better than guy wire in this instance. I wasn't sure what the POCO's policies were on guying masts and whether or not they would accept EMT. This was a get-it-done type repair since the customer didn't have power and I was working in a different POCO's jurisdiction than I usually work in so I didn't have a chance to look up their service requirements until I finished. They actually show in their service illustration using 3/4" rigid with feet that thread on the end. I've been meaning to find that kit, just so I can keep one in the shop in case this kind of job comes up again in the future.

Seems like it'd be easier using rigid and being able to rotate the feet just right to match the pitch of the roof then trying to flatten EMT at just the right angle?

Fairly warm here yesterday, but a bit windy. Crawling a leg between two bins was just that, crawling. I weigh in at 200 lbs and was not sure my feet would stay on the rungs. Motor replacement will have to wait until calmer day. I envy the green in your pictures. No snow here but colder than a Well Digger's ___in January.

We get some pretty serious wind around here too, about this time of year. We have a pretty good sized project coming up at a feed mill in the next month or so. I'm sure there will be some days up on the catwalk that we'll be leaning into it just to stay upright.