Went to a flickering lights service call this morning.
From the symptoms the HO described I went straight to the service.
I determined that a 200A upgrage had been done in the early 80's with no permit. The overhead connections were obviously not done by the utility.
I climbed up to get a better look and :
Are those....?????
Why yes they are. 3/4 inch two screw romex connectors. I was 90% sure the problem would be here. POCO removed them and I cut the remaining tape off.
Actually they weren't that bad. I expected oxidation and burned conductors but had neither. POCO replaced with proper crimps and I chased the problem down to the main breaker. It was stuck on the bus pretty good and I had to coax it off. I found a suitable replacement ( Home Depot 3 miles away!!!) and cleaned up the bus so they could squeeze a few more years out of their service.
From the symptoms the HO described I went straight to the service.
I determined that a 200A upgrage had been done in the early 80's with no permit. The overhead connections were obviously not done by the utility.
I climbed up to get a better look and :
Are those....?????
Why yes they are. 3/4 inch two screw romex connectors. I was 90% sure the problem would be here. POCO removed them and I cut the remaining tape off.
Actually they weren't that bad. I expected oxidation and burned conductors but had neither. POCO replaced with proper crimps and I chased the problem down to the main breaker. It was stuck on the bus pretty good and I had to coax it off. I found a suitable replacement ( Home Depot 3 miles away!!!) and cleaned up the bus so they could squeeze a few more years out of their service.