A customer called and said electricity was coming through her kitchen window and shocking her. I checked the neutral and ground connections in the panel. The pipes were all grounded. The ground rods were percode. I followed the service drop from the weatherhead to the pole. The pole was engulfed in ivy. The top of the ivy was very ner the high voltage bushinf on the serving transformer. I called the utility and they sent a crew out pronto. They cut the ivy back and the problem went away. Evidently the ivy was conducting voltage to her underground water pipes.
Another one: Customer says floor outlet never worked in 25 years she had lived in the house. I traced the circuit back to a switch. I flipped the switch and the outlet was hot. She always wondered what the switch was for.
Another one: A customer lived in a house for 28 years. Says the kitchen lights won't work. They were wired to 2-3 way switches which had been replaced with single pole switches. They both had to be in the up position for the lights to work. Seems the cleaning lady flipped the switch these people hadn't used for 28 years.
Another one: Customer calls and says there's a strange noise coming from her circuit breaker panel. I show up and see a
square d split bus panel. Not the greates but I don't hear anything. She comes up and says "it only makes the noise some of the time. I thump on the main breaker and we both high tail it out of there. There was a huge hornet nest in the stud space below the panel. After the exterminator eliminates the pests I open up the wall and a significant amount of insulation has been chewed off the wires. An expensive repair job!
Another one: A customer complains that anwhen they use an outlet in a hallway it ruins their vacuum cleaner. I check and find that the outlet has been wired of a baseboard thermostat located above. Funny what 240 does to vacuum cleaners.
[This message has been edited by Webmaster (edited 08-07-2003).]
