A student of mine was called to a house to perform some work. He was working near the meter, and being somewhat cautious, but not overly concerned, he noticed that the cable entered the wall at a 90 deg. angle below the meter, went into the basement, and noticed it exited at a 90 deg. angle from the wall, all normal. What he could not see was they had taken a turn once in the wall. The NEC says you must terminate SEC as soon a practical, but as everyone knows, does not give footage, most jurisdictions in VA establish their own. These guys were just trying to hide their routing. He begins drilling with a 1/2" drill and Ship Augur bit. There are a few sparks and the drill is hung tight. He notices the bit begin to turn cherry red, then move up to the drill. The only thing he could think to do is to cut the seal and pull the meter, good choice. Gives new meaning to the term "infinite buss". I did get to see the drill (fried) and the bit that night, the bit had "drooped" under the weight of the drill. The PoCo did not even get mad at him.
