Floods

[wmeek]

I am going to look at a project on Gulf Coast. Lower part of house was damaged by the Tidal Surge from the hurricane. Question is what should be done about the Service wires. Meter is located on lower level, but panel is upstairs and was not damaged by flood. I am figuring on replacing the meter can due to any corrosion from salt water. Any receptacles and switches on lower level are to be removed and capped off. Trying to get electrical back to a safety point of view to get Utilitys back on. I am just not sure if the wires from meter to panel would need to be replaced or not.

Thanks

 

[ultramegabob]

what type of wire is run to the panel?

 

[wmeek]

The wire type is thhn. I was just wandering about the salt water that has got under the insulation. Did not know if any corrosion would occur and have a problem down the road.

 

[ultramegabob]

just THHN or dual rated THWN? if not dual rated, replace it, better safe than sorry....

 

[DanZ]

Either way, replace it. If all you do is cap it, it's still connected to the panel, and I can see an HO or handyman just hooking another receptacle or switch in place.

When in doubt, tear it out! The damage may not be there at the moment, but if water, salt, mud, anything else gets under that insulation...

It's better to error on the safer side.:wink:

Good luck!

 

[ce2two]

ce2two

ce2two

we work with 100 pair ,50 pair communication cables in telephone vaults ,contracters fail to pour in to the 3m enclosure a vegatable oil /a two part mixture ,also use gel filled 2 wire squeezes ...my point is if the moisture gets in to the enclosure ,water will find it's way under the insulation of the 22 gauge wire,the wire turns black ,connectors turn green (high resistance)..bad connections,opens, noise on the line etc..food for thought................ long winded eh ?

 

[LarryFine]

................ long winded eh ?

Nah. We've seen worse. :smile:

 

[nolabama]

NEMA says- http://www.nema.org/stds/water-damaged.cfm - their are many different methods to repairing flood damage - and most of it depends on how the house is gutted - if it is just a first floor gut and the ceiling is still in good luck - if it is your home try to remove as much drywall as you can afford - if not talk the ho into the same if you can - do not leave water damaged conductors in the home - they will get used period , ive seen it and it doesnt look good - use your megger to prove a point if you have to

 

[fireryan]

Whenthe floods came through here we did lot of houses. We replaced all the nm and all the devices. We also had to put in a outside panel that fed the house the disconnected the panel. There also had to be a gfi outside feed from the outdoor panel so people can plug in a pump from outside if it ever happens again. Most people were not happy about this