On Wed, 23 Mar 2011 09:10:41 -0700 (PDT), Tom Horne
wrote:
On Mar 22, 9:37Â*am, jamesgangnc wrote:
On Mar 22, 8:38Â*am, "Stormin Mormon"
wrote:
Must be a pretty small panel, to have slotted screws
for the main power feed. Most of the main power
feeds I've seen, you needed a big allen wrench to
tighten them. There may be some way to do the
tightening "hot". Electricians gloves, or something
like that. But, I don't want to be the one to find
out. I was talking to an electrical department guy
at Home Depot last night. He says the mains have
to be cranked down extremely tight, aluminum
tends to expand and contract a lot.
Might even be a problem in the power company's
wiring.
--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
Â*www.lds.org
.
"jamesgangnc"
wrote in ...
Concur. Â*Loose neutral. Â*If you are comfortable working with
high
power pull the breaker panel cover and check the tightness
of the set
screws for the mains coming into the panel from the meter.
In
particular the bare wire. Â*Use a plastic handled
screwdriver.
Otherwise call an electrician asap.
Yes, sometimes they are allen. Â*You can use a platsic handled tool.
That's easy to find for slotted set screws. Â*Harder for allen. Â*You
can get T allens that have plastic on the grip end.
Please see my other reply on this topic of tightening the main lugs
hot. It is an extremely dangerous task that ought only be done by a
properly trained and equipped electrician. Plastic coated tools are
no substitute for insulated tools that are wielded by a trained
electrician wearing arc flash protective clothing. Attempting to
tighten the main lugs of an electric panel while energized can lead to
serious injury or death!
Arc flash is an unlikely occurence working on a hot feed with no
heavy loads turned on. When working on live feeds ALWAYS shut off all
load breakers or pull all load fuses so there is no LOAD on the system
while working on it. No load means no arc flash unless your tool
connects between live and neutral or ground. Common sense and a bit of
care - combined with the right tools, will prevent that from
happening.
Obviously, it is best to shut off the main before working on the
switched side - but it is also good to shut off the main before
working on the LIVE side for the same reason.