Need a sparky...kinda....

[PoopyTeaBags]

so about 12 noon today my breaker flips for my bedrooms. My room is in the room of the main breaker... its sealed off with poly i had to tarp zip it and open it up to get to it.

the breaker that flipped was a wierd long breaker with a hot going in as normal but had another neutral white wire going to a different screw below the main one and ANOTHER thicker coiled white wire coming out below that one that also hooked to the neutral.


for the life of me i couldnt figure out why it flipped and would reset... then i look at the very top breaker... it has water pooled on it.... o shit right? lol then i see whats happening is there was a small drip that is not going on any more but u can see residue on where it dripped on the bottom of the main breaker and runs left and right fall down the box... well it flipped this breaker cause its long and the drip landed on it and made the breaker wet.


the real question is how the fuck do i have water in my electric box? is it a bad seal on the roof or where ever it comes in? i dont believe my room has anything to do with it...
i could use some advice....

 

[rives]

Breakers with that type of configuration are either a ground-fault breaker (GFCI) or an arc-fault breaker. Since it is for your bedrooms, it is probably an arc-fault breaker, current code requires them for bedrooms. The odd neutral configuration is so that the neutral feeding the protected circuits comes back to the breaker, and then the pigtailed white wire completes the circuit to the neutral buss. This enables the breaker to monitor both the hot and the neutral for problems. It probably sensed a minor leakage to ground or to the neutral from the water and tripped the circuit.

As far as where the water is coming from, that is going to be tough to figure out over the net! First of all, has it been raining there? If not, then the panel probably got sprayed from your setup somehow. If you've been getting some weather, then you are going to have to get into your attic and see if you can determine where the hell it is coming from. If it is the main panel with an overhead service, the water could be tracking the service mast (the 2" conduit penetrating your roof) if you have a bad seal on the roof jack. If the panel just has romex coming into the top of it, then you may have puddling between the ceiling joists that is tracking the romex down into the panel. Hope this helps some, holler back if not.

 

[PoopyTeaBags]

Thanks alot rives... it is a 2" conduit and i think that somehow its coming in from there....

i dont think we had any rain or maybe alittle at night not too sure.... could condensation from a leak(cold air) turn into drops when it gets to the warmer air??? i think i need to check the seal on the roof.... i appreciate the help again man.

 

[rives]

Condensation goes the other way - warm air holds more moisture than cold air, so when the moisture-laden air hits something cold, the water precipitates out. I can't imagine how you would get enough moisture from condensation to do what you are describing, but I've always lived in pretty arid country. Good luck.

 

[mrcreosote]

Been windy lately? Check your weather-head for cracks in the plastic shield where the wires come in from the pole and the head is seated properly on the riser (2" conduit) that come into the breaker panel while your checking the shingle boot. Check around the jack for nail -pops through the top layer of shingles. Rives is right on the money that the leak could land on the romex going through the top (stud) plate to the panel. Check the attic for water stains first.

Seems like it would take a lot of water coming from outside the riser to get inside the box at the junction, but very little to show up in the panel if the water is inside the riser but water is sneaky.
Hopefully, needless to say to use your eyes and not your hands at the weather-head. Mistakes there will ruin more than your day.

I feel your pain brother and I hope you find the problem outside and it can easily be fixed.
Pulling apart a grow to call in the cavalry to track it down in the panel will be a major amount of work.
Leave the hooks in the ceiling and toss a piece of rope in the room. Act embarrassed if the electrician asks what they're for.
Tape some bondage pics over vent holes.
He'll probably want to get out fast. If he hangs around...I have no cheap advice for that problem.
You're on your own.

 

[growshopfrank]

Been windy lately? Check your weather-head for cracks in the plastic shield where the wires come in from the pole and the head is seated properly on the riser (2" conduit) that come into the breaker panel while your checking the shingle boot. Check around the jack for nail -pops through the top layer of shingles. Rives is right on the money that the leak could land on the romex going through the top (stud) plate to the panel. Check the attic for water stains first.

Seems like it would take a lot of water coming from outside the riser to get inside the box at the junction, but very little to show up in the panel if the water is inside the riser but water is sneaky.
Hopefully, needless to say to use your eyes and not your hands at the weather-head. Mistakes there will ruin more than your day.

I feel your pain brother and I hope you find the problem outside and it can easily be fixed.
Pulling apart a grow to call in the cavalry to track it down in the panel will be a major amount of work.
Leave the hooks in the ceiling and toss a piece of rope in the room. Act embarrassed if the electrician asks what they're for.
Tape some bondage pics over vent holes.
He'll probably want to get out fast. If he hangs around...I have no cheap advice for that problem.
You're on your own.

good post above the other thing it could be is possibly a previous resident may have installed a tap in the mast before the meter take a good look at the walls or whatever hides the mast from view before the meter for any hidden shenanigans from any previous growers