A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the service
entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down to the meter. She
was buying the house as-is anyway, and at a discounted price, so she didn't
ask the sellers to do anything about that before closing the deal. Now she
is just trying to figure out what, if anything, needs to or should be done
regarding repairing or replacing the service entrance cable.

I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but I will, so that I can observe
what the home inspector saw and maybe take a photo or two. If the service
entrance cable does need to be replaced, I do know of an electrician that I
can suggest to her to do the replacement.

But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear in
the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair the
insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some type of
insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this type of
situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

Thanks.

On 3/21/2015 11:04 AM, TomR wrote:
But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear in
the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair the
insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some type of
insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this type of
situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

Water can wick it's way in thru a crack in the cable and corrode
the connections inside of the meter box and/or your main panel.

If your cable repair fails down the road, you might be looking at $2000-$3000
for breaker panel and/or service entrance replacement.

How lucky do you feel?

On Saturday, March 21, 2015 at 11:38:20 AM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 11:04:40 -0400, "TomR" wrote:

A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the service
entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down to the meter. She
was buying the house as-is anyway, and at a discounted price, so she didn't
ask the sellers to do anything about that before closing the deal. Now she
is just trying to figure out what, if anything, needs to or should be done
regarding repairing or replacing the service entrance cable.

I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but I will, so that I can observe
what the home inspector saw and maybe take a photo or two. If the service
entrance cable does need to be replaced, I do know of an electrician that I
can suggest to her to do the replacement.

But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear in
the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair the
insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some type of
insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this type of
situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

Thanks.


I would seriously think about just sealing that jacket with a coat of
paint or two. There is a layer of wire and insulation between the
jacket and the ungrounded conductors.

This SE cable should be entering the bottom of the box with a drip
loop so water intrusion is mitigated

Range of from wear to damage is wide. OP hasn't even seen it,
so who knows. It it's wear, some simple step probably would work.
If it's been damaging by something falling on it, crushing it, that's
another story.

On 3/21/2015 11:04 AM, TomR wrote:
A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the service
entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down to the meter. She
was buying the house as-is anyway, and at a discounted price, so she didn't
ask the sellers to do anything about that before closing the deal. Now she
is just trying to figure out what, if anything, needs to or should be done
regarding repairing or replacing the service entrance cable.

I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but I will, so that I can observe
what the home inspector saw and maybe take a photo or two. If the service
entrance cable does need to be replaced, I do know of an electrician that I
can suggest to her to do the replacement.

But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear in
the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair the
insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some type of
insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this type of
situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

Thanks.

Not sure how it works there, but here anything before the meter is the
problem for the electrical utility to fix, give them a call.

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 12:36:45 -0400, FrozenNorth
wrote:

Not sure how it works there, but here anything before the meter is the
problem for the electrical utility to fix, give them a call.

Same here. Phone, cable, water, etc., are the responsibility of the
utility _ until_ it becomes "your side" responsibility.

....and in most places I've lived.
--
"We recommend using your hand to replace the fuse as it will take much longer using your knee."

On 3/21/2015 12:36 PM, FrozenNorth wrote:


Not sure how it works there, but here anything before the meter is the
problem for the electrical utility to fix, give them a call.


Where is there? Not here. From the main wires at the street is your
responsibility.

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 11:04:40 -0400, "TomR" wrote:

A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the service
entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down to the meter. She
was buying the house as-is anyway, and at a discounted price, so she didn't
ask the sellers to do anything about that before closing the deal. Now she
is just trying to figure out what, if anything, needs to or should be done
regarding repairing or replacing the service entrance cable.

I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but I will, so that I can observe
what the home inspector saw and maybe take a photo or two. If the service
entrance cable does need to be replaced, I do know of an electrician that I
can suggest to her to do the replacement.

But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear in
the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair the
insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some type of
insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this type of
situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

Thanks.



I'm wondering how that "Flex-Seal" would work? Of course that is only
to coat some cracks oe wear spots on the outer insulation. If there are
exposed live wires, it needs to be replaced.

You could probably have the power shut off and slide it thru some PVC
conduit (the gray stuff), too. But if you're going that far, you may
want to just replace the wires you put into the conduit, and upsize them
for future upgrades.

On 3/21/2015 2:08 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 3/21/2015 12:36 PM, FrozenNorth wrote:


Not sure how it works there, but here anything before the meter is the
problem for the electrical utility to fix, give them a call.


Where is there? Not here. From the main wires at the street is your responsibility.

Here in the midwest, it is the customers responsibility to maintain
the weatherhead, insulator, riser, meter base and service entrance conductor.
And there ain't no DIY allowed on any of it, licensed electricians only.

On 3/21/2015 2:08 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 3/21/2015 12:36 PM, FrozenNorth wrote:


Not sure how it works there, but here anything before the meter is the
problem for the electrical utility to fix, give them a call.


Where is there? Not here. From the main wires at the street is your
responsibility.

Toronto Canada, Everything before the meter is their problem, including
the feed to the street, but it is overhead, no buried. I had a
suspected floating neutral a couple years ago, gave the Electric Company
a call, somebody came for an inspection and actually came inside my
house looked at the panel, then he called out the crew and they repaired
a loose connection. The flood lights were bright at 2AM when they
showed up.

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 13:30:06 -0400, wrote:

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 10:16:23 -0700, Oren wrote:

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 12:36:45 -0400, FrozenNorth
wrote:

Not sure how it works there, but here anything before the meter is the
problem for the electrical utility to fix, give them a call.

Same here. Phone, cable, water, etc., are the responsibility of the
utility _ until_ it becomes "your side" responsibility.

...and in most places I've lived.

The cable from the "service point" toward your house belongs to you
and typically the service point is the crimp at the service head where
the overhead drop connects to the SE cable.
In an underground lateral, the service point is usually at the street.
You own the wire underground in your yard.
The only thing the utility owns is the meter itself.


All of my utilities have a "Demarcation point" on one wall, near the
street. Water line is diagonal across the yard to the water meter at
the curb. That line is my duty to R&R on my curb side. Other
utilities, as I understand are responsibility to the "Demarcation
point" (DM) by the provider.

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 12:01:49 -0700, Oren wrote:



The cable from the "service point" toward your house belongs to you
and typically the service point is the crimp at the service head where
the overhead drop connects to the SE cable.
In an underground lateral, the service point is usually at the street.
You own the wire underground in your yard.
The only thing the utility owns is the meter itself.


All of my utilities have a "Demarcation point" on one wall, near the
street. Water line is diagonal across the yard to the water meter at
the curb. That line is my duty to R&R on my curb side. Other
utilities, as I understand are responsibility to the "Demarcation
point" (DM) by the provider.

Somewhat off topic, about sewer lines with no electricity. A friend had
a clogged sewer, and the plumber came and reamed and then he was going
to dig up the front lawn and replace the clogged pipe for hundreds or
thousands of dollars,, and another friend of my friend told him to call
the city, and it turned out the city owned the drain pipe not just under
the street (and sidewalk?) but also a wider area in case they some day
wanted to widen the street. The city came out and cleaned their part,
and everything was fine again. No added cost to my friend.

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 11:04:40 -0400, "TomR" wrote:


But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear in
the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair the
insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some type of
insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this type of
situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

I'm a big fan of silicon tape, I think it's called. One stretches it to
2 or 3 times its length before wrapping it around something. Overlap
it. Then in a couple days, it turns into one piece of "rubber". It
certainly won't leak between the layers, and probably not between the
bottom layer and they cable. It's expensive** and one roll doesn't go
very far (it's thicker than most tapes) and she might need more than one
roll.

**Although last year they had some sort of cheaper stretchable tape at
home depot. I used it but I don't think I checked it later. The
expensive one is wrapped on a white plastic spool, not a cardboard
spool.

And if the cable is right up against the wall, it might be impossible to
get the tape behind it.

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 12:16:24 -0600, wrote:

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 11:04:40 -0400, "TomR" wrote:

A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the service
entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down to the meter. She
was buying the house as-is anyway, and at a discounted price, so she didn't
ask the sellers to do anything about that before closing the deal. Now she
is just trying to figure out what, if anything, needs to or should be done
regarding repairing or replacing the service entrance cable.

I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but I will, so that I can observe
what the home inspector saw and maybe take a photo or two. If the service
entrance cable does need to be replaced, I do know of an electrician that I
can suggest to her to do the replacement.

But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear in
the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair the
insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some type of
insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this type of
situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

Thanks.



I'm wondering how that "Flex-Seal" would work? Of course that is only
to coat some cracks oe wear spots on the outer insulation. If there are
exposed live wires, it needs to be replaced.

You could probably have the power shut off and slide it thru some PVC
conduit (the gray stuff), too. But if you're going that far, you may
want to just replace the wires you put into the conduit, and upsize them
for future upgrades.
Around here it is ALL in conduit - from the attachment of the
overhead to the stack, or from at leat 1 1/2 feet underground to the
meter base.

On 03/21/2015 11:36 AM, FrozenNorth wrote:
On
I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but I will, so that I can
observe
what the home inspector saw and maybe take a photo or two. If the
service
entrance cable does need to be replaced, I do know of an electrician
that I
can suggest to her to do the replacement.

But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or
wear in
the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair the
insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some type of
insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this
type of
situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

Thanks.

Not sure how it works there, but here anything before the meter is the
problem for the electrical utility to fix, give them a call.




The sure is not true here.


The power company is responsible /only/ for their own wiring.

The run from the power company wiring...down to the meter is the owner's
responsibility and I'd never seen that be a cable. It should be a
heavy-wall conduit. I'd replace it and not try to somehow re-insulate.

On 3/21/2015 11:04 AM, TomR wrote:
A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the service
entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down to the meter. She
was buying the house as-is anyway, and at a discounted price, so she didn't
ask the sellers to do anything about that before closing the deal. Now she
is just trying to figure out what, if anything, needs to or should be done
regarding repairing or replacing the service entrance cable.

I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but I will, so that I can observe
what the home inspector saw and maybe take a photo or two. If the service
entrance cable does need to be replaced, I do know of an electrician that I
can suggest to her to do the replacement.

But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear in
the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair the
insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some type of
insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this type of
situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

Thanks.


If this were me, I'd go see in person. And then open
the yellow pages under electrical parts and supplies.
Call a couple places, see what they reccomend. The
available parts, legal trips and local advice will
vary from place to place. A northern cloudy area might
(for example) say to use repair tape. Where a bright
sunny area like southern AZ might require to replace
sun cracked cable. We can't see it from here.

Western NY, USA, I do know of two residences which
had cracked cables from the pole to the house, which
required to be replace. And the power was off, for a
couple days at each of them.

-
..
Christopher A. Young
learn more about Jesus
.. www.lds.org
..
..

On Saturday, March 21, 2015 at 1:30:16 PM UTC-4, wrote:
On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 10:16:23 -0700, Oren wrote:

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 12:36:45 -0400, FrozenNorth
wrote:

Not sure how it works there, but here anything before the meter is the
problem for the electrical utility to fix, give them a call.

Same here. Phone, cable, water, etc., are the responsibility of the
utility _ until_ it becomes "your side" responsibility.

...and in most places I've lived.

The cable from the "service point" toward your house belongs to you
and typically the service point is the crimp at the service head where
the overhead drop connects to the SE cable.

That's how the overhead service works here in NJ too.

On 3/21/2015 4:29 PM, philo wrote:

..

The run from the power company wiring...down to the meter is the owner's
responsibility and I'd never seen that be a cable. It should be a
heavy-wall conduit.


You should look around more. I can show you thousands of houses with
cable. When I lived in Philadelphia, I never saw a conduit entrance
unless it was from an underground entrance, a rarity. .


I'd replace it and not try to somehow re-insulate.

I'd inspect if first, then decide what to do.

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 19:00:16 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

I'd inspect if first, then decide what to do.

Ordinarily
--
"..,what is good is the front end if you don't have the back end"-- Kimberly Guilfoyle

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 19:00:16 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 3/21/2015 4:29 PM, philo wrote:

.

The run from the power company wiring...down to the meter is the owner's
responsibility and I'd never seen that be a cable. It should be a
heavy-wall conduit.


You should look around more. I can show you thousands of houses with
cable. When I lived in Philadelphia, I never saw a conduit entrance
unless it was from an underground entrance, a rarity. .


It's common here in northern Illinois. Maybe code. Some wires are
strung to fascia, and some to a pipe sticking out of the roof.
Mine's a 3 1/2" pipe going 4' above the roof.
That goose-necked pipe goes to the meter.
I had a new 200 amp service put in when I bought the house, and that
pipe was on my dime.

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 18:44:29 -0500, Vic Smith
wrote:

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 19:00:16 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 3/21/2015 4:29 PM, philo wrote:

.

The run from the power company wiring...down to the meter is the owner's
responsibility and I'd never seen that be a cable. It should be a
heavy-wall conduit.


You should look around more. I can show you thousands of houses with
cable. When I lived in Philadelphia, I never saw a conduit entrance
unless it was from an underground entrance, a rarity. .


It's common here in northern Illinois. Maybe code. Some wires are
strung to fascia, and some to a pipe sticking out of the roof.
Mine's a 3 1/2" pipe going 4' above the roof.
That goose-necked pipe goes to the meter.
I had a new 200 amp service put in when I bought the house, and that
pipe was on my dime.
The service stack is part of your house.. The service feed wire
across your property is yours. All the way from the main distribution
line, generally at the street.

On 3/21/2015 8:20 PM, wrote:

It's common here in northern Illinois. Maybe code. Some wires are
strung to fascia, and some to a pipe sticking out of the roof.
Mine's a 3 1/2" pipe going 4' above the roof.
That goose-necked pipe goes to the meter.
I had a new 200 amp service put in when I bought the house, and that
pipe was on my dime.
The service stack is part of your house.. The service feed wire
across your property is yours. All the way from the main distribution
line, generally at the street.


I recall seeing a rehab in Chicago and they mentioned Romex was not
allowed and they ran conduit in the walls. Codes varey around the
country and the NEC is only a minimum.

"TomR" wrote in message
...
A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the service
entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down to the meter.
She was buying the house as-is anyway, and at a discounted price, so she
didn't ask the sellers to do anything about that before closing the deal.
Now she is just trying to figure out what, if anything, needs to or should
be done regarding repairing or replacing the service entrance cable.

I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but I will, so that I can
observe what the home inspector saw and maybe take a photo or two. If the
service entrance cable does need to be replaced, I do know of an
electrician that I can suggest to her to do the replacement.

But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear
in the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair
the insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some type
of insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this
type of situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

Thanks all for your replies.

I went to look at the Service Entrance Cable today and I took some photos.
The cable has two distinct damaged areas as shown in the two photos below.
I also took a photo of the meter but I decided not to post it since it is
not my house and the photo shows the meter number etc.

This is in New Jersey (South Jersey) in the PSE&G service area. In this
area, the utility company owns the "drop" that goes from the pole at the
street to where it attaches to the house up near the roof line. From that
point down is owned by, and is the responsibility of, the homeowner -- with
the exception of the meter itself. The utility company owns the meter. On
this property, the Service Entrance Cable runs down along the house and into
the top of the meter box. Another cable/conduit comes out of the bottom of
the meter box and goes into the house to the main electric panel.

Here are the photos of the two damaged areas on the Service Entrance Cable:

http://tinypic.com/r/t7jpd5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/wr10eg/8

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 22:16:26 -0400, "TomR"
wrote:

"TomR" wrote in message
...
A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the service
entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down to the meter.
She was buying the house as-is anyway, and at a discounted price, so she
didn't ask the sellers to do anything about that before closing the deal.
Now she is just trying to figure out what, if anything, needs to or should
be done regarding repairing or replacing the service entrance cable.

I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but I will, so that I can
observe what the home inspector saw and maybe take a photo or two. If the
service entrance cable does need to be replaced, I do know of an
electrician that I can suggest to her to do the replacement.

But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear
in the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair
the insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some type
of insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this
type of situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

Thanks all for your replies.

I went to look at the Service Entrance Cable today and I took some photos.
The cable has two distinct damaged areas as shown in the two photos below.
I also took a photo of the meter but I decided not to post it since it is
not my house and the photo shows the meter number etc.

This is in New Jersey (South Jersey) in the PSE&G service area. In this
area, the utility company owns the "drop" that goes from the pole at the
street to where it attaches to the house up near the roof line. From that
point down is owned by, and is the responsibility of, the homeowner -- with
the exception of the meter itself. The utility company owns the meter. On
this property, the Service Entrance Cable runs down along the house and into
the top of the meter box. Another cable/conduit comes out of the bottom of
the meter box and goes into the house to the main electric panel.

Here are the photos of the two damaged areas on the Service Entrance Cable:

http://tinypic.com/r/t7jpd5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/wr10eg/8
I'd want that sucker in a conduit whether required by local code or
not.

"TomR" wrote in message
...
"TomR" wrote in message
...
A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the service
entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down to the meter. .
. ,

But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear
in the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair
the insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some type
of insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this
type of situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

I went to look at the Service Entrance Cable today and I took some photos.
The cable has two distinct damaged areas as shown in the two photos below.
I also took a photo of the meter but I decided not to post it since it is
not my house and the photo shows the meter number etc. . . . ,

Here are the photos of the two damaged areas on the Service Entrance
Cable:

http://tinypic.com/r/t7jpd5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/wr10eg/8


Oops, I'm not sure that the links above worked. Here is another try of
posting the two photos:


http://i61.tinypic.com/t7jpd5.jpg

http://i57.tinypic.com/wr10eg.jpg

On 03/21/2015 06:00 PM, Ed Pawlowski wrote:
On 3/21/2015 4:29 PM, philo wrote:

.

The run from the power company wiring...down to the meter is the owner's
responsibility and I'd never seen that be a cable. It should be a
heavy-wall conduit.


You should look around more. I can show you thousands of houses with
cable. When I lived in Philadelphia, I never saw a conduit entrance
unless it was from an underground entrance, a rarity. .


Must vary by municipality.

Never seen that where I live in the city

have seen it in rural areas though

I'd replace it and not try to somehow re-insulate.

I'd inspect if first, then decide what to do.

On 3/21/2015 10:16 PM, TomR wrote:


Here are the photos of the two damaged areas on the Service Entrance Cable:

http://tinypic.com/r/t7jpd5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/wr10eg/8


Looks like the outer covering is deteriorating. While you can get away
with small patches short term, the rest will be going to crap soon.

I'd consider conduit, but there may be some sort of flexible wrap made
for that.
Check this out.
http://www.conduitrepair.com/product...ctConduit.html

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 16:12:14 -0400, wrote:

Around here it is ALL in conduit - from the attachment of the
overhead to the stack, or from at leat 1 1/2 feet underground to the
meter base.

That SE cable used to be real popular in the 50s and 60s. Although they
still sell it, I dont see it used much anymore. Maybe it's no longer
code? I have not checked. The trend was metal EMT conduit for years,
now its mostly the PVC gray conduit.

But there are still a lot of older homes that have that old SE cable.
Especially rural homes. I have seen a lot of it on older barns too.

The really old stuff was coated with an impregnated cloth. I've
actually seen that stuff with over half of the outer coating missing,
where you see the wires inside, with the neutral/ground wrapped around
them. If that was mine, it would have been replaced longs ago.

"Ed Pawlowski" wrote in message
...
On 3/21/2015 10:16 PM, TomR wrote:


Here are the photos of the two damaged areas on the Service Entrance
Cable:

http://tinypic.com/r/t7jpd5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/wr10eg/8

Looks like the outer covering is deteriorating. While you can get away
with small patches short term, the rest will be going to crap soon.

I'd consider conduit, but there may be some sort of flexible wrap made for
that.
Check this out.
http://www.conduitrepair.com/product...ctConduit.html

Interesting idea about the split conduit. I'll write more later. Heading
out now and won't be at a computer until later tonight.

wrote in message
...
On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 22:16:26 -0400, "TomR"
wrote:

"TomR" wrote in message
...
A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the service
entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down to the meter.
She was buying the house as-is anyway, and at a discounted price, so she
didn't ask the sellers to do anything about that before closing the deal.
Now she is just trying to figure out what, if anything, needs to or
should
be done regarding repairing or replacing the service entrance cable.

I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but I will, so that I can
observe what the home inspector saw and maybe take a photo or two. If
the
service entrance cable does need to be replaced, I do know of an
electrician that I can suggest to her to do the replacement.

But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear
in the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair
the insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some
type
of insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this
type of situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

Thanks all for your replies.

I went to look at the Service Entrance Cable today and I took some photos.
The cable has two distinct damaged areas as shown in the two photos below.
I also took a photo of the meter but I decided not to post it since it is
not my house and the photo shows the meter number etc.

This is in New Jersey (South Jersey) in the PSE&G service area. In this
area, the utility company owns the "drop" that goes from the pole at the
street to where it attaches to the house up near the roof line. From that
point down is owned by, and is the responsibility of, the homeowner --
with
the exception of the meter itself. The utility company owns the meter.
On
this property, the Service Entrance Cable runs down along the house and
into
the top of the meter box. Another cable/conduit comes out of the bottom
of
the meter box and goes into the house to the main electric panel.

Here are the photos of the two damaged areas on the Service Entrance
Cable:

http://tinypic.com/r/t7jpd5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/wr10eg/8

That is not a huge hazard because the internal conductors have all the
insulation they need and you get quite a bit of physical protection
from the grounded conductor that wraps around the ungrounded
conductors but you should do something to further protect this.
Before I saw the pictures I was thinking of the old asphalt and fiber
jacket, hence the paint idea. Now, after seeing the PVC jacket, I
think I would go with that split conduit system or some
weather/sunlight resistant tape.
Regular old electrical tape will not hold up long.


Okay, thanks. Good thoughts and feedback. I'll write more later.

On 3/21/2015 11:04 AM, TomR wrote:
A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the
service entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down to
the meter. She was buying the house as-is anyway, and at a
discounted price, so she didn't ask the sellers to do anything about
that before closing the deal. Now she is just trying to figure out
what, if anything, needs to or should be done regarding repairing or
replacing the service entrance cable.

I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but I will, so that I can
observe what the home inspector saw and maybe take a photo or two.
If the service entrance cable does need to be replaced, I do know of
an electrician that I can suggest to her to do the replacement.

But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or
wear in the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just
repair the insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is
there some type of insulation repair product that can be applied that
is made for this type of situation -- possibly gray in color so it
doesn't look bad?

Thanks.



I had a faulty neutral originating outside my house and the local power
company found it in my buried service entrance cable, under my front
lawn. They dug down to it and repaired it at no cost to me. Different
locations and power companies have different laws controlling how much
of the distribution system is the responsibility of the power company
and how much belongs to the property owner. In my area, everything up
to and including the meter is the power company's responsibility. I'd
advise you to call the power company and determine who is responsible
for your service entrance cable. If you're lucky, repair/replacement
may be their responsibility, not yours. Certainly it's worth a free call.

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 23:49:09 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 3/21/2015 10:16 PM, TomR wrote:


Here are the photos of the two damaged areas on the Service Entrance Cable:

http://tinypic.com/r/t7jpd5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/wr10eg/8


Looks like the outer covering is deteriorating. While you can get away
with small patches short term, the rest will be going to crap soon.

I'd consider conduit, but there may be some sort of flexible wrap made
for that.
Check this out.
http://www.conduitrepair.com/product...ctConduit.html

After looking at the pics, I can see that cable insilation is very
brittle. It's been baked by the sun. That link to the split duct
conduit looks ideal. I have never seen that stuff before. That looks
like a great solution. Or loosen it and use regular conduit after the
power is shut off. But if that Flexseal works as good as the tv
commericals (I never used it), that would be a quick and low cost
temporary repair, until a permanent repair can be made with conduit.
Even silicone caulk would probably work for short term.

BTW: Walmart sells that Flexseal cheaper than the S+H on the
commercials.

On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 23:49:09 -0400, Ed Pawlowski wrote:

On 3/21/2015 10:16 PM, TomR wrote:


Here are the photos of the two damaged areas on the Service Entrance Cable:

http://tinypic.com/r/t7jpd5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/wr10eg/8


Looks like the outer covering is deteriorating. While you can get away
with small patches short term, the rest will be going to crap soon.

I'd consider conduit, but there may be some sort of flexible wrap made
for that.
Check this out.
http://www.conduitrepair.com/product...ctConduit.html

This stuff does look pretty good. Don't forget OP that unless the
conduit bends easily, and I sort of doubt it does, you'll need a bigger
ID than just the OD of your cable, which I think bends a little -- I
can't tell how much -- back and forth as it goes over the clapboard.

I wish I could say I'd tested the silicon tape outdoors. I've used it
outdoors, on my phone line that a neighbor's half-baked contractors cut,
but I buried that and haven't see it for 10 years. Phone and DSL work
fine, however.

When I still had dial-up, one day my computer went out. I go downtairs
and ttwo guys are poking at the ground with a metal rod. I'm in a
townhouse and they're rebuilding a little fence around the front "patio"
and instead they cut one of my phone lines. They want to repair it with
wire nuts!!, but I soldered it and used this silicon tape. When I
called Verizon a couple days later, the woman on the end said they woudl
just use the jelly-filled crimp connectors and it sounded like I did a
better job than they woudl do. Not sure if she's right or not, but
voice and computer worked fine and still does.

On Sun, 22 Mar 2015 21:24:19 -0400, micky
wrote:


I wish I could say I'd tested the silicon tape outdoors. I've used it
outdoors, on my phone line that a neighbor's half-baked contractors cut,
but I buried that and haven't see it for 10 years. Phone and DSL work
fine, however.

When I still had dial-up, one day my computer went out. I go downtairs
and ttwo guys are poking at the ground with a metal rod. I'm in a
townhouse and they're rebuilding a little fence around the front "patio"
and instead they cut one of my phone lines.

When the electric company wanted to add a pole on the street in front
of my house, they called DigSafe and had it marked. Yep, they drilled
with a big auger and took out half my sewer line. I sent them the
$3200 repair bill. Plus, they had two trucks and crew out here during
the digging to support the new pole.

In ,
typed:
On Sat, 21 Mar 2015 22:16:26 -0400, "TomR"
wrote:

"TomR" wrote in message
...
A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the
service entrance cable on the outside of the house . . . ,

. . is there some type of insulation repair product that can be applied
that is made for this type of situation -- possibly gray in color
so it doesn't look bad?

I went to look at the Service Entrance Cable today and I took some
photos. The cable has two distinct damaged areas as shown in the two
photos below. I also took a photo of the meter but I decided not to
post it since it is not my house and the photo shows the meter
number etc.
. . . ,
Here are the photos of the two damaged areas on the Service Entrance
Cable:

http://tinypic.com/r/t7jpd5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/wr10eg/8

That is not a huge hazard because the internal conductors have all the
insulation they need and you get quite a bit of physical protection
from the grounded conductor that wraps around the ungrounded
conductors but you should do something to further protect this.
Before I saw the pictures I was thinking of the old asphalt and fiber
jacket, hence the paint idea. Now, after seeing the PVC jacket, I
think I would go with that split conduit system or some
weather/sunlight resistant tape.
Regular old electrical tape will not hold up long.

Thanks again.

The split conduit system looks interesting and may be an option.

For a quick temporary fix, maybe grey 100% silicone caulk would help. I
also have something called Permatex Ultra Grey RTV Silicone Gasket Maker
that I have used in auto work and which may work well as a temporary patch
for the damaged areas.

Based on what others here wrote, I did a search for "silicone tape" and it
does look like there may be some types of silicone tape out there that would
possibly work. Some of it says that it comes in a 2-inch wide silicone tape
so "maybe" something like that could be run vertically along the SEU cable
and wrapped around it and sealed in the back just as an additional
protection to avoid more deterioration of the existing PVC jacket.

This is for someone who just bought the property, and it may become a rental
home. So, he may want to wait until any initial town inspections are done
and see if anyone mentions that cable as an issue (not likely in my
opinion). Then, after that process is done, do some type of repair or
preventive work on the cable to avoid future deterioration. Doing something
now before any inspection may just draw unnecessary attention to the cable.

A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the service
entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down to the meter.
She was buying the house as-is anyway, and at a discounted price, so she
didn't ask the sellers to do anything about that before closing the deal.
Now she is just trying to figure out what, if anything, needs to or should
be done regarding repairing or replacing the service entrance cable.

I have not had a chance to look at it yet, but I will, so that I can
observe what the home inspector saw and maybe take a photo or two. If the
service entrance cable does need to be replaced, I do know of an
electrician that I can suggest to her to do the replacement.

But, my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear
in the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair
the insulation? I assume that it is gray in color, so is there some type
of insulation repair product that can be applied that is made for this
type of situation -- possibly gray in color so it doesn't look bad?

Thanks all for your replies.

I went to look at the Service Entrance Cable today and I took some photos.
The cable has two distinct damaged areas as shown in the two photos below.
I also took a photo of the meter but I decided not to post it since it is
not my house and the photo shows the meter number etc.

This is in New Jersey (South Jersey) in the PSE&G service area. In this
area, the utility company owns the "drop" that goes from the pole at the
street to where it attaches to the house up near the roof line. From that
point down is owned by, and is the responsibility of, the homeowner -- with
the exception of the meter itself. The utility company owns the meter. On
this property, the Service Entrance Cable runs down along the house and into
the top of the meter box. Another cable/conduit comes out of the bottom of
the meter box and goes into the house to the main electric panel.

Here are the photos of the two damaged areas on the Service Entrance Cable:

http://tinypic.com/r/t7jpd5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/wr10eg/8


*The SE cable needs to be replaced. That type of cable was not UV resistant and the outer jacket became brittle as a result. What usually happens is water gets inside and drips down the cable sometimes going all the way through to the electrical panel.

Is there any evidence of water inside of the electrical panel? How about the meter socket?

John Grabowski
http://www.MrElectrician.TV

In ,
John G typed:
A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the
service entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down
to the meter. . . . ,

..., my question is..., If the only issue is some minor cracking or
wear in the service entrance cable insulation, is there a way to
just repair the insulation? ...
is there some type of insulation repair product that can be applied
that is made for this type of situation -- possibly gray in color
so it doesn't look bad?

Thanks all for your replies.

I went to look at the Service Entrance Cable today and I took some
photos. The cable has two distinct damaged areas as shown in the two
photos below. I also took a photo of the meter but I decided not to
post it since it is not my house and the photo shows the meter
number etc.
. . . ,
Here are the photos of the two damaged areas on the Service Entrance
Cable:

http://tinypic.com/r/t7jpd5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/wr10eg/8

*The SE cable needs to be replaced. That type of cable was not UV
resistant and the outer jacket became brittle as a result. What
usually happens is water gets inside and drips down the cable
sometimes going all the way through to the electrical panel.

Is there any evidence of water inside of the electrical panel? How
about the meter socket?

Thanks John.

I think that type of SEU cable is supposed to be UV resistant, and it looks
like the same type of SEU cable that was used in all of the new electric
services that I have had installed by licensed electricians in recent
years -- a total of 5.

This link indicates that the SEU cable that they sell is supposed to be
"sunlight" resistant, which I guess means UV resistant:
http://www.nassauelectrical.com/wire.../ser-seu-cable



I can see that the cable photos that I posted do indicate that the outer
cover is deteriorating and cracking. So, yes, one option would be to
replace the whole cable with a new one. However, I can't help but think
that there may be some type of new protective wrap that could be used since
that is all that is really needed in my opinion. In my dreams, I imagine
someone selling a new flexible PVC or silicone protective wrap that could
just be run vertically along the from of the cable, then wrapped around the
back, and maybe sealed with silicone adhesive caulk.



So far, I haven't found anything that I would consider to be a home run for
that idea. I am still checking out various "silicone tape" possibilities as
well as the idea of a new click-together conduit as someone described in
another post. Of course, at some point in terms of cost and labor involved,
in may be almost just as easy to have the cable replaced with a new one.



About the water issue -- no water in the main panel, and I was not able to
look into the meter box so I don't know if any water is getting in there. I
did once have a problem with water in a main service panel as you described.
In that case, the water was coming from inside the meter box, down inside
the cable from the meter box to the main panel, and then dripped into the
main panel. I posted about that before and the final answer in that case
was that the meter box itself had to be sealed to water from getting in, and
the source of the water in the meter box was not coming from inside the
cable above the meter box.

Hi Tom,

A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the
service entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down
to the meter.

If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear in the service
entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair the
insulation? ...

Here are the photos of the two damaged areas on the Service Entrance
Cable:
http://tinypic.com/r/t7jpd5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/wr10eg/8

Just looking at those two photos, it looks like the outer insulation has
deteriorated due to sun exposure. There's no way to tell if the interior
cables have deteriorated also.

In any case, what you have now seems dangerous. You have no physical
protection from weed whackers, mowers, or a stray kid whacking at the house
with something sharp. That exposed cable should really be run inside a
rigid conduit, such as grey PVC.

No matter what tape or other patch you apply to the cable, it's still
vulnerable to physical damage.

The best, and safest, option is to install rigid conduit and replace that
damaged cable.

Do it once. Do it right.

Anthony Watson
www.watsondiy.com
www.mountainsoftware.com

In ,
HerHusband typed:
Hi Tom,

A friend of mine bought a house and one of the things that the home
inspector noted was some wear or damage to the insulation on the
service entrance cable on the outside of the house that runs down
to the meter.

If the only issue is some minor cracking or wear in the service
entrance cable insulation, is there a way to just repair the
insulation? ...

Here are the photos of the two damaged areas on the Service Entrance
Cable:
http://tinypic.com/r/t7jpd5/8
http://tinypic.com/r/wr10eg/8

Just looking at those two photos, it looks like the outer insulation
has deteriorated due to sun exposure. There's no way to tell if the
interior cables have deteriorated also.

In any case, what you have now seems dangerous. You have no physical
protection from weed whackers, mowers, or a stray kid whacking at the
house with something sharp. That exposed cable should really be run
inside a rigid conduit, such as grey PVC.

No matter what tape or other patch you apply to the cable, it's still
vulnerable to physical damage.

The best, and safest, option is to install rigid conduit and replace
that damaged cable.

Thanks for your thoughts on this.

Other than the possibility of water entering the cable and getting down to
the meter box or main panel, I don't see anything dangerous about the wear
in the outer cover as shown in the photos. The cable is high above the
ground level and nowhere near any possible weed whacker action. This type
of cable is used everywhere in my area with no rigid conduit. That is the
norm here and is in compliance with all codes. If the SE cable was going
through a roof and eave, then I'm sure a rigid conduit would be used for
that and it is probably what the code would require. But, other than that,
no rigid conduit is required or used in this area.

Gray/grey roofing cement or silicone rubber would keep the water out. Then, painting the entire cable with some sort of rubberized waterproofing paint, when the weather gets better, should provide enough protection unless something hits the cable and knocks the paint off. A pice of cardboard placed behind the cable would keep whatever you coat it with from getting on the house siding itself.

I think most of us thought the insulation problem was at the "head" where the wires go into a vertical pipe and/or make a sharp bend and the insulation usually deteriorates there first.

In ,
typed:
Gray/grey roofing cement or silicone rubber would keep the water out.
Then, painting the entire cable with some sort of rubberized
waterproofing paint, when the weather gets better, should provide
enough protection unless something hits the cable and knocks the
paint off. A piece of cardboard placed behind the cable would keep
whatever you coat it with from getting on the house siding itself.

I think most of us thought the insulation problem was at the "head"
where the wires go into a vertical pipe and/or make a sharp bend and
the insulation usually deteriorates there first.

Thanks. Interesting idea, and the idea/reminder about putting a piece of
cardboard behind the cable while painting helped too.

If I get a chance, I'll take a wide shot of the whole cable and meter box
and post that just to give a better idea of what the setup is that is there
now.