Hello,
To whoever makes it through reading this, a most sincere thank you.
I have a situation in which there is presumed electrolysis at residence, yet cause has yet to be fully determined after nearly a dozen master electricians have been out to assess.
House was built over 10 years ago. Shortly after taking possession of this home (which was new at the time), noticed a bluish film developing on sinks, bathtubs, toilets, and ice maker. Two brand new water heaters that were installed with home completely deteriorated internally within 1 1/2 years; replacement hot water heaters have anode rods replaced every few years because they are depleting quicker than expected. On third brand new garbage disposal because the other two severely rusted where coupled to the sink (abnormal). One bathroom sink has blue corrosion where drain pipe is connected to drain under sink. Plumbers have all stated that these are signs of electrolysis and to get an electrician.
Within first year, homebuilder was called out as a warranty claim to assess these issues, and their electricians were never able to identify the cause. Their electricians reported that everything tested out fine to them, and therefore there was nothing more they could do.
Water sample has been sent out for analysis. Water is not acidic (if anything, more alkaline). All lab results from water analysis show water to be perfectly fine. Analysis done on a sample of the blue film confirms that it is completely copper. House is fully plumbed with copper (no PEX).
There have been a multitude of electrical issues at the house. There is frequent dimming of lights. Circuit boards on major appliances have had issues that replacing with new board did not resolve - oven will demonstrate signs of having experienced a power failure when there hasn’t been one, microwave has a timing issue, and capacitor failure in refrigerator. Devices have been fried - sprinkler system, alarm system, computers, TVs.
Multiple surge protection devices have been installed in the panels as well as externally, which seems to have helped some with electrical devices but not with water issue.
Residence is within major city limits with neighbors in very close proximity. Neighbors do not have any of these issues with water or electricity, and neighbors do not have such surge protection installed.
Multiple master electricians have been to the house, but none have been able to diagnose the cause of the problems. They have noted that original grounding rods are very corroded (they are about an inch apart in the ground), perhaps indicating that there is electricity flowing through them. Neighbors’ ground rods (they all only have one rod per house) still look pristine. An additional grounding rod was even installed over 10 years after construction. At the time, the master electrician noted that it was difficult to get it fully into the ground drilling it straight down, which caused him to wonder if the two original grounding rods that are clearly in a vertical position were even 8’ down or perhaps they were cut into 4’ segments. He tried to get a grounding rod in 3 times, and finally at about a 30 degree angle got it in about 5-6’ and then bent the remaining rod down flat to the ground and buried it under the dirt. He stated that he felt the home was overly grounded, yet couldn’t explain the issues. Even with the additional grounding rod installed, the issues persisted.
A clamp meter placed on the cold water line does show a slight current, and as all major appliances are turned on, the current reading increases as high as 0.09 amps.
Something important to note: this house has 2 panels. Each panel is connected directly into the meter box; this is not a scenario where one panel is the master panel and the other is a sub panel that feeds from the master. Each panel has its own ground rod external to the home, and each panel has its own ground wire to same cold water line spot under a sink. (Neighbors only have one ground rod external to home and one ground wire on cold water line even though they, too, have multiple panels.) One panel is drawing more amperage than the other (measurements at the meter box show one draws 2 - 3 times the amps as the other).
The last individual who was at the house suggested that the cause is due to the panels being wired separately to the meter box rather than the master-sub panel setup. He believed this current setup to be a code violation. To rectify by rewiring to create the master-sub panel scenario is estimated to run $2,000 to $3,000. He suggested calling the electricity utility provider to assess anything on their side before proceeding further.
The power company sent out a tech who ran some tests and did not note anything out of the ordinary. He stated that he had seen panels installed before in the same manner as at this house - with each panel feeding directly to the meter box rather than the master-sub panel setup - and considered it a common practice. He stated the meter wasn’t sized correctly and replaced a CL200 with a CL320. He checked the runs from the transformer to the property. Neutral had some corrosion, but not much. Was changed out. For adjacent property that shares from same service run from transformer, the positive and negative had some corrosion, but he did not replace. A senior technician from power company is due to come out to make sure transformer is property sized and that there aren’t any issues in the power lines running to the meter box.
I am hoping that perhaps someone will read this and have some insight as to other possibilities that would cause these issues or maybe someone has even run into this scenario before. Every professional/expert that has been at the house has claimed to have never seen an issue like this before. A large investment has already been made in these master electricians and their suggestions (surge protection, more surge protection, grounding rods, etc.) as well as in replacing/repairing devices in the house that have electrical issues. If the $2-3k fix of rewiring the panels was truly going to fix it, great. It’d just be nice to have someone independent corroborate that resolution.
Thanks in advance for reading this all the way through and be willing to assist.
To whoever makes it through reading this, a most sincere thank you.
I have a situation in which there is presumed electrolysis at residence, yet cause has yet to be fully determined after nearly a dozen master electricians have been out to assess.
House was built over 10 years ago. Shortly after taking possession of this home (which was new at the time), noticed a bluish film developing on sinks, bathtubs, toilets, and ice maker. Two brand new water heaters that were installed with home completely deteriorated internally within 1 1/2 years; replacement hot water heaters have anode rods replaced every few years because they are depleting quicker than expected. On third brand new garbage disposal because the other two severely rusted where coupled to the sink (abnormal). One bathroom sink has blue corrosion where drain pipe is connected to drain under sink. Plumbers have all stated that these are signs of electrolysis and to get an electrician.
Within first year, homebuilder was called out as a warranty claim to assess these issues, and their electricians were never able to identify the cause. Their electricians reported that everything tested out fine to them, and therefore there was nothing more they could do.
Water sample has been sent out for analysis. Water is not acidic (if anything, more alkaline). All lab results from water analysis show water to be perfectly fine. Analysis done on a sample of the blue film confirms that it is completely copper. House is fully plumbed with copper (no PEX).
There have been a multitude of electrical issues at the house. There is frequent dimming of lights. Circuit boards on major appliances have had issues that replacing with new board did not resolve - oven will demonstrate signs of having experienced a power failure when there hasn’t been one, microwave has a timing issue, and capacitor failure in refrigerator. Devices have been fried - sprinkler system, alarm system, computers, TVs.
Multiple surge protection devices have been installed in the panels as well as externally, which seems to have helped some with electrical devices but not with water issue.
Residence is within major city limits with neighbors in very close proximity. Neighbors do not have any of these issues with water or electricity, and neighbors do not have such surge protection installed.
Multiple master electricians have been to the house, but none have been able to diagnose the cause of the problems. They have noted that original grounding rods are very corroded (they are about an inch apart in the ground), perhaps indicating that there is electricity flowing through them. Neighbors’ ground rods (they all only have one rod per house) still look pristine. An additional grounding rod was even installed over 10 years after construction. At the time, the master electrician noted that it was difficult to get it fully into the ground drilling it straight down, which caused him to wonder if the two original grounding rods that are clearly in a vertical position were even 8’ down or perhaps they were cut into 4’ segments. He tried to get a grounding rod in 3 times, and finally at about a 30 degree angle got it in about 5-6’ and then bent the remaining rod down flat to the ground and buried it under the dirt. He stated that he felt the home was overly grounded, yet couldn’t explain the issues. Even with the additional grounding rod installed, the issues persisted.
A clamp meter placed on the cold water line does show a slight current, and as all major appliances are turned on, the current reading increases as high as 0.09 amps.
Something important to note: this house has 2 panels. Each panel is connected directly into the meter box; this is not a scenario where one panel is the master panel and the other is a sub panel that feeds from the master. Each panel has its own ground rod external to the home, and each panel has its own ground wire to same cold water line spot under a sink. (Neighbors only have one ground rod external to home and one ground wire on cold water line even though they, too, have multiple panels.) One panel is drawing more amperage than the other (measurements at the meter box show one draws 2 - 3 times the amps as the other).
The last individual who was at the house suggested that the cause is due to the panels being wired separately to the meter box rather than the master-sub panel setup. He believed this current setup to be a code violation. To rectify by rewiring to create the master-sub panel scenario is estimated to run $2,000 to $3,000. He suggested calling the electricity utility provider to assess anything on their side before proceeding further.
The power company sent out a tech who ran some tests and did not note anything out of the ordinary. He stated that he had seen panels installed before in the same manner as at this house - with each panel feeding directly to the meter box rather than the master-sub panel setup - and considered it a common practice. He stated the meter wasn’t sized correctly and replaced a CL200 with a CL320. He checked the runs from the transformer to the property. Neutral had some corrosion, but not much. Was changed out. For adjacent property that shares from same service run from transformer, the positive and negative had some corrosion, but he did not replace. A senior technician from power company is due to come out to make sure transformer is property sized and that there aren’t any issues in the power lines running to the meter box.
I am hoping that perhaps someone will read this and have some insight as to other possibilities that would cause these issues or maybe someone has even run into this scenario before. Every professional/expert that has been at the house has claimed to have never seen an issue like this before. A large investment has already been made in these master electricians and their suggestions (surge protection, more surge protection, grounding rods, etc.) as well as in replacing/repairing devices in the house that have electrical issues. If the $2-3k fix of rewiring the panels was truly going to fix it, great. It’d just be nice to have someone independent corroborate that resolution.
Thanks in advance for reading this all the way through and be willing to assist.
