UKC

Yes we have logged a call to the supplier, but this is so weird I thought someone on UKC might know the answer.

There is a drip of water accumulating and falling from the unused terminal on the underside of the 100A fuse that sits between the outside world and our electricity meter. All this stuff is indoors, above head height, and there are no leaks falling from the ceiling or coming from the wall, the only way water can seemingly get into that fuse is via the main supply.

There has been some work on the lines in our road in the last week, and it has been raining a lot. We have had no interruptions to teh supply, but things were a bit flickery last night.

What on earth is going on?

In reply to goosebump:

Are you sure it is the earth and not a live leak?


Sorry , I'll get me coat!

In reply to goosebump:

The insulation doesn't start properly until it enters your house on that kind of setup, right? If so, is the water getting inside the insulation where the cable enters your house and pouring out the other end?

Neil

In reply to Neil Williams:
The cable looks the same all the way from the pole, to the outside of our house, to the inside of our house...and there is a significant amount of horizontal to travel (thick stone walls), then up a bit before it heads down into the fuse. Capillary action? Siphon?

In reply to goosebump:

Are you sure you're not confusing it with a tap?

In reply to Punter S Thompson:

Yes.

The blokes are fixing it now, apparently its not that uncommon. Water getting into the sheath of the cable somewhere. Lucky them , out there in the rain trying to find the cable damage....

In reply to goosebump: Might it be condensation? Cold cable entering a warm house (I wouldn't test the temperature tho,!!)

In reply to goosebump:

I wonder whether it is actually water. Does anyone know are the fuses oil filled as they sometimes are for higher voltage systems?

Most likely it's coming down the cable by capillary action or simply condensing on the cold cable and running down to the lowest point.

jk

In reply to goosebump:

I saw a film where blood came out of the taps. That didn't end .....(SPOILER)



.......well.

In reply to goosebump:

I think the fuses themselves are dry fuses, not oil filled or anything on domestic installations. Water inside the sheath of the cable sounds the most likely if they're overhead power lines.

In reply to goosebump: The water is running down the inside of the wire/cable feeding your house. If there are no joints in the cable between the pole top and the fuse, there is nowhere for the water to escape from.

The termination at the pole top must not be water tight and the water is getting in there and following the path of less resistance (No pun intended) so exiting at the fuse.

Quite a common problem.

In reply to arch:

Agree.

Almost def not condensation

In reply to arch:

Exactly the issue, and exactly what the blokes said. Lots of housepoints to you

It got dark before they could fix the junction at the pole top, so theyve just created an alternative path of least resistance for the water by chopping the sheath off outside the house so it no longer drips through the fuse. Full fix tomorrow. Im still amazed there was no shorting out of anything though.

In reply to goosebump:

Where do you live?? We wouldn't be allowed to leave it and come back tomorrow. We would have to fix the problem there and then. Not really a difficult job TBH. Something they could have done there and then.


Hope you made them a cup of Tea. Not many do.

In reply to Turdus torquatus:

If it was Umberto Lenzi's Ghosthouse I recall it ended hilariously badly

In reply to arch:

North Wales, and my offer of tea was turned down!

In reply to goosebump:

Nooo, turned down Tea. Not proper Linesman then.

In reply to goosebump:

Did I get this right: your mains electricity is supplied from an overhead cable?

In reply to Fraser:

I can be. It's more often in rural areas, high voltage lines feed out over fields (wooden poles, not the massive pylons) and then there's a transformer up a pole with a line that feeds one or more houses.

In reply to richyfenn:

Interesting, I've never heard of that, but I guess it makes sense in the country, or one of locations.

In reply to Niall:

Even more low brow: The House that Bled to Death (Hammer)

In reply to goosebump:
We once had tar oozing from the electricity main where the big armoured underground cable splits into smaller cables. Nobody could give us an answer to why this was happening or to how is could be stopped.

In reply to Fraser:



.......And long may it continue, else i'm out of a job.

Lots of overhead about, some even in major towns. You'd be surprised.

In reply to arch: Yes, ours is fed from overhead lines to a transformer that does the whole village. In bad weather it's not uncommon for us to have power c