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Unique problem - House main trips, but nothing else - only when dryer is on

16K views 110 replies 18 participants last post by  s0lidgr0und 
#1 ·
I'm not an electrician. i figured I'd get that out there. I know some stuff about it, I have run it throuout my house. I don't know code, the mathematics behind it, etc.

That being said, here is the problem I'm having.

In the last couple months my 150 amp main breaker has been tripping. It started out with a slight burning smell in the basement. I sniffed and traced it to my circuit breaker panel. One of the the two legs that come into the panel box gets very hot. I couldn't figure out anything that could be wrong at first. I made sure the lugs were tightened down.

One day I noticed that it only seemed to happen when my dryer is running. So one day I touched the black leg going into the breaker box and it was cold. I walked over to my dryer and turned it on. Within the 15 seconds it took me to walk back over to the circuit panel, the one leg was already warm to the touch. Within about 10 minutes it was too hot to even touch. Then as had been happening, the 150 amp main breaker tripped.

Does this sound like anything that any of you have heard of before? In my experience the smaller breaker will trip first if there's a problem. I spoke to my local Wolberg and they told me there's a thermal trip in the main, so the heat is what is making it trip in the forst place. They told me that replacing the 150 amp breaker was an option, but I fail to see how that would keep the incoming leg from getting so hot.

Oh, and this circuit isn't one that I installed or otherwise altered in the three years that I've lived in this house.

Thank for any help that any of you can give me.

Bill
 
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#79 ·
It SEEMS like in Rabun county you pull a permit. It is like a form of taxation. Never an inspection. I recall the tax assesor spent hours in there. It was a real beauty on Burton. Taxed out at 4.85 mill. Would of been 10M on Lanier (which is such a crappy lake, even when full). Coolest house I've wired to date.
 
#87 ·
I am doing some remodeling (building an attached garage) and my meter reader noticed the missing seal the next time he read the meter after the seal was removed. I explained to him that a licensed electrician removed the seal. The POCO will replace the seal when the final electrical inspection is done.
 
#89 ·
So what is the end result? Did he threaten to pull the meter? 'Cause the seal was cut?
No he didn't threaten to remove the meter. I pointed to my building permit sign (in my area a sign with the permit # must be displayed on the job site). I tape all inspection stickers to that sign. One of the inspection stickers was for approval of the electrical rough in. I have had the same meter reader for years and if I had removed the seal without a permit he probably would have brought a new seal next month. Since I have a permit, that wasn't necessary. I am not sure why they read the meter monthly, I pay a flat rate for electricity regardless of the amount I use. They could read it every 6 months or so with the same effect.
 
#92 ·
very simple call the electrician because once the box is replaced there are some code issuse will crop up and the other thing that majorty of electricians are very famiur with the electic metering harzous sisuation.

i know one DIY did try to replace the wire on breaker box and it did flash pretty hard at the meter socket and koncked the POCO transformer fuse out and end up call them and get the electrician come in after the POCO refuse to replace the fuse until the meter box is replaced.

Merci, Marc
 
#99 ·
So what do you pay per kwh for your electric (divide your flat rate by your monthly KWH usage)? What is the going rate on a normal billing plan?
Going Rate:

Summer Season:​
The four OG&E Revenue Months of June through
September.
First 1,400 kWh per month: 8.55¢ per kWh.
All additional kWh per month: 8.68¢ per kWh.

Winter Season:​
The six OG&E Revenue Months of November through April
of the succeeding year.
First 600 kWh per month: 8.52¢ per kWh.
All additional kWh per month: 4.77¢ per kWh.

Shoulder Season:​
The two OG&E Revenue Months of May and October.
First 600 kWh per month: 8.52¢ per kWh.

All additional kWh per month: 6.12¢ per kWh.

Flat rate plan:

about 7.8 cents per kWh dividing monthy rate by average KWh per month
 
#101 ·
Just an update for those of you that helped me out with this whole thing. Thanks for all of your input.

The problem ended up getting much worse. The power was turning on and off without even tripping the box. We ended up replacing the whole box.

Here's what I believe the origin of the problem is. When I moved into this house we had a problem where water was getting into the box. Water was running along the wire, into the house, and dripping into the top of the box. It turned out that the hole where the line from the meter entered the house was never sealed. I caulked it and that problem ended.

When we took the old box out I ended up having to cut the bad leg because we couldn't loosen the lug. The whole back of the lug was rusted and otherwise corroded. While I can't pinpoint the exact reason of the failure, I know that the lug looked like complete crap.

Once we replaced the whole box, everything is now fine. It's been eight hours since we replaced the box now and I'm on my third load of laundry drying in a row and neither leg is even warm.

Thanks again to all who helped.
 
#106 ·
When corrosion or rusting takes place it is usually accompanied by swelling that in turn pushes the connection apart as well as forms a non-conductive layer between wire and lug. A small amount of stretching or oozing (creeping) of metal may also occur making it impossible to undo lug nuts, etc..
 
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