Hotter Neutral?
- Thread starter Esthy
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mdshunk
Senior Member
- Location
- Right here.
Yeah, those neutral bars are ruined, so it seems. Loose terminations cause this problem. Appears to be a pool panel, maybe. The conductors on those main breaker lugs might be too small for the lugs, as well. The set-screw looks pretty deep in the lug. The set-screws might even be discolored from heat too. Hard to say.
brian john
Senior Member
- Location
- Kilmarnock, Va
- Occupation
- Retired after 52 years in the trade.
Couple of thoughts at 2:50 AM
Those are aluminum or aluminum alloy not nickle plated copper? It is not uncommon for nickle plated copper in the presence of some chemicals to blacken!
I did not see any damaged conductors though one neutral looks corroded.
And most likely a residential panel does not have copper plated bus in this day and age!
Tell them to go after the home inspector after you write a letter and have the master sign it.
Those are aluminum or aluminum alloy not nickle plated copper? It is not uncommon for nickle plated copper in the presence of some chemicals to blacken!
I did not see any damaged conductors though one neutral looks corroded.
And most likely a residential panel does not have copper plated bus in this day and age!
Tell them to go after the home inspector after you write a letter and have the master sign it.
brian john
Senior Member
- Location
- Kilmarnock, Va
- Occupation
- Retired after 52 years in the trade.
The issues I have, is the neutral conductors do not show the same level of possible thermal damage as the neutral termination bar. It is quite possible to have a multi-wire circuit "mis-wired" 2 or 3 phase conductors on the same phase and not have a problem with the connection, though utilizing IR you would see a thermal issue with the conductor, assuming the load is significant enough.
The neutral shows some green discoloring that could be due to loose connection or chemical exposure or a combination there of but that portion of the neutral termination bar does not appear to have thermal damage.
If there is load on the circuits (or put a load on) you could perform a fall of potential on the connections and determine if the connection is acceptable or not.
If this is a thermal issue and an ongoing problem, the cost for complete replacement is marginal, new panel guts and trim the damaged portion of the conductors, 4-6 hours. Then do what they can to go after the home inspector.
The neutral shows some green discoloring that could be due to loose connection or chemical exposure or a combination there of but that portion of the neutral termination bar does not appear to have thermal damage.
If there is load on the circuits (or put a load on) you could perform a fall of potential on the connections and determine if the connection is acceptable or not.
If this is a thermal issue and an ongoing problem, the cost for complete replacement is marginal, new panel guts and trim the damaged portion of the conductors, 4-6 hours. Then do what they can to go after the home inspector.
Last edited:
brian john
Senior Member
- Location
- Kilmarnock, Va
- Occupation
- Retired after 52 years in the trade.
EWWWWWWWWW 480 good point....
ceb
Senior Member
- Location
- raeford,nc
Had me thinking the same,glad 480 brought it up photo 1 & 4 are same panel, 2 & 3 are of a different panel, notice the 200 amp main in photo 2?Esthy said:
donselectric
Senior Member
- Location
- nh
as brian said i didn't see any insulation burn/melt. i have seen new panels with that discoloration on bus bsrs/term strips no big deal there.. why is there so
much dirt ?.. where is the gr for the feeders ? no gr rod either
most home insp don't know what they are looking at anyway.
i went to a place that just had a phi and while i was getting in the attic
i asked the h/o if he had a septic problem he said no... i looked around
and the 3" vent stack was never connected.... i told the h/o to go get his money back as the attic was full of methane gas .....
but the phi did pickup the doorbell trans that was doubled up on the breaker.
much dirt ?.. where is the gr for the feeders ? no gr rod either
most home insp don't know what they are looking at anyway.
i went to a place that just had a phi and while i was getting in the attic
i asked the h/o if he had a septic problem he said no... i looked around
and the 3" vent stack was never connected.... i told the h/o to go get his money back as the attic was full of methane gas .....
but the phi did pickup the doorbell trans that was doubled up on the breaker.
Sorry I'm late in posting. Can reversed wiring in two wires system in several receptacles caused overheating of the neutrals at the panel? This is the only, apparently, problem I found. Also I found new wiring addition that relied only on the conduit for grounding but several conexions (coupling) loose. Can this also overheating neutral? As you know, something a simple can be overlooking and your brain can be blocked to see it.
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