Landlord & hidden electrical short. What can I do?

Landlord got some electrician out here that says he teaches this stuff at the community college. He was telling me low voltages won't hurt my equipment and the equipment would just turn off which I was surprised to hear. My TV shut off yesterday because the voltage dropped so low. He also said the 140 volts won't hurt my equipment either. This all surprises me but my info all comes from the internet and maybe I am searching for a problem sort of like self fulfilled prophecy. You figure the UPS would narrow the range if 140volts was really bad. Anyway he says they have figured the problem was some corrosive wires at the main box and looking at around $40,000 to fix. Can't imagine my landlord fixing that but never know.

Opinions?

there is some truth to this, however, at lower voltages higher current is needed to do equal work, consequently I squarer R losses generate higher heat. some types of motors will tend to overheat.

My TV shut off yesterday because the voltage

there is some truth to this too, however, if you run MOV protection the MOVs may have shorter lifespan, light bulbs will have shorter lifespans.

i think the electricians point was that equipment such as computers which run on regulated power supplies can operate safely on a wide range of voltages.

This all surprises me but my info all comes from the

Anyway he says they have figured the

move out, now! this is a fire waiting to happen. an intermittent resistance point sufficient to cause that wild a voltage swing will generate sufficient heat (depending on current through that point) to ignite wood. feel your main panel... if it is significantly warmer then ambient temperature it is wrong.

the $40,000 estimate sounds absurdly high (but i don't know all the surrounding factors.)

a few years back i upgraded a building from 200 amp service to 600 amp service for $22,000

I agree, move out. Low voltage can harm TV's, monitors, also refrigerators, air conditioners, anything with a motor. Corrosion= a high resistance point. High resistance point= lower voltage on anything past the corroded point. (Unless the corrosion is on the neutral bus, then it can shoot the voltage on 120 Volt appliances from between 120 and 240 volts.) High resistance point also = high temperature spot. It will only get worse until either the corroded point opens (this can destroy 120 volt things when this happens, if the corroded point is neutral bus), or worse, a fire results. I would not depend on MOV's to protect your stuff. They dont protect against voltage drops. Also, the estimate to fix it seems awfully high to me too, but I dont know all the work that will be done and the average contracter fees for your area. I think Tim's advice to move out is what I would advise too. But I would pass the information along to the other residents, they need to be aware of the potential danger, and maybe if enough people complain the land lord will get it fixed.

I talked to the landlord and he did hire the person I recommended from the phone book that looked the most professional to diagnose the problem. I'll trust the guy because maybe I'm not explaining something right. Landlord said he is going to fix it. Guess I'll see.

100 or 140V can be a big problem, depending on what's causing it. It sounds like a bad neutral connection someplace and if the utility has checked their system, it could be on the customer's (your landlords) side of the point of service. Loose connections are fire hazards. Ask our landlord if he is fully insured. If so, ask his insurance company what they have to say about performing maintenance and repair.

Sounds a lot like a high-resistance neutral. But can't tell over the internet.

Below 100 volts is *not* okay for some loads like refrigerators and A/C (motors draw more current when the voltage drops).

IIRC, these values are outside the normally expected range of allowable voltage (120 +- 10% ???)

The bigger problem is that if it is a high resistance in the service panel neutral, it can be dangerous. If it opens completely some day, some of your appliances may see close to 240V applied to them. And a fire caused by this faulty wiring is a *real* possibility.

Give him a chance to fix it, but don't wait very long. $40,000 seems high, but I don't know all the 'particulars'.

daestrom

Have you sufficient fire insurance to cover replacement cost of all your possesions? If not you should get it quickly since you may need it soon.

Loose connection = heat = fire

The panel feels normal. However you can hear a very small sound of electricity (like a tiny electrocution sound) right were both cables go down into the ground to service building. I think this guy guy mentioned there was like about 8 volt differnce between the 2 lines. Maybe its a real mild high-resistance neutral?

Listen ahh, dont get me wrong here, but you really need to call an electrician you know and let him look at it. If you dont know an electricain that will look at it for free, call the power company, tell them what is going on, they should send a person out to look at it. Be there when they are so you can talk to them. Point out the spots where you are hearing the humm (This could be normal, if the wires are supplying a large load.) And above all else, take out some renter's fire insurance. And get a good policy that will cover all your belongings and give you enough left over to find another place quickly. (but I wouldnt mention the wiring problems in the building, if the subject doesnt come up.) Also, back up anything on your computer you want to keep and put the discs at a friends house. Good luck.

that's like having a mild heart attack. it hasn't killed you yet.

lets assume for a minute that your neutral is gone... open. that means the left and right branch of your single phase 220 are "balancing". in other words the total loads are in series. as one branch adds loads its voltage drops and the other branch rises. there is no current going through the neutral therefore no heat is generated.

now lets put the neutral back only its bad. from your earlier post we know the voltage is swinging +/- 20 volts. now lets assume we are talking about a

200 amp panel running at 50 % load... 100 amps going through the neutral. ok the voltage drop is 20 times 100 amps so that means 2,000 watts are being dissipated somewhere. the kicker is the time duration is unknown. it takes time for heat to be produced.

you might mention to the landlord that you next call will be to the electrical / codes enforcement officer / building inspector or whatever he is called in your area.

Thanks. The electrician has stuck a meter on my line to see what its doing. I had raised my voice at my landlord to get this taken care of before since it went for months being ignored. I think he could have thought I was over-anxious and blowing out of proportion. Probably electrician was told this. But with assessment meter on he should get a better picture and see it may have been my landlord and not me.

Teaches at a community college, eh??? I see he is hard at work training a new generation of covert arsonists.

Tell that goddamned cheapskate landlord of yours to get a REPUTABLE licensed electrician to come out and look at the problem and give you a quote. If he doesn't, threaten the piece of shit with a lawsuit.

$40k to fix the problem??? Sounds like this chaulkboard electrician wants to buy his old lady a new Jag...compliments of your wallet. I'd watch that sucker. ...your problem could be something as simple as bad neutrals (high resistance). If you have aluminum secondaries and/or SER (feeders), odds are it could be just that. Do these problems occur throughout the entire building at the same time? If that is the case, the problem is somewhere between the transformer and your outside disconnect/meter banks.

ahh wrote:

Has the apartment burned yet?