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I had some damage to my meter box during Omar. If I move the meter in the concrete at all I lose half my power and I can hear it popping a bit inside. I had a friend of mine who does electrical work look at the main breaker side of the meter box and he tightened everything up and everything looked ok according to him on "my" side of the meter. But you can clearly hear popping coming from the "Wapa" side of the meter.
I didn't want to call too soon after Omar as I know Wapa has been slammed. It's been about a month now so I figure this would be a good time to call. To my suprise (not really) they still aren't picking up when you call them and press either 5 or 7. Is anyone else seeing this? This isn't an "urgent" issue but it needs to be resolved. I'm a little concerned though that their meter is taking some damage and I am taking some power hits due to the popping inside....if anyone has any advice or alternative contacts to reach please let me know!
Sean
Posted : November 19, 2008 1:39 pm
go in person,i was in and out in a half hour this am
Posted : November 19, 2008 1:54 pm
Same thing is going on at my house. Wapa checked it but couldn't find anything wrong. We replaced the breaker on the pole but there is still a problem. We are going to hire an electrician to look at it since we are still in the states. We lost a few of our small appliances that weren't on surge protectors.
Posted : November 19, 2008 2:53 pm
I have had the same issue.Have the electric an check the weather head (this is where the wire enters your house or meter).Mine needed a better drip loop to keep rain from running down the line into the meter. also check that ants haven't moved into your connections. They like nice dry spots when we get lots of rain.
Posted : November 20, 2008 1:17 am
Sean, you have a potentially dangerous situation. A loose connection on a high power (residential power is plenty high enough) circuit can/will heat up to the point that it can melt insulation, cause shorting, make major sparks and set any nearby wood (maybe the meter is mounted on a wood panel or wooden wall of your home) on fire. The popping noise you hear is likely associated with sparks (that you would probably notice in the dark). I would definitely get WAPA's attention enough to officially report that you hear popping noise from your meter when it moves (I don't think it's good that the meter is loose enough to move, either). BTW, once these circuits start to heat up (from a loose connection) they typically get much worse very quickly. It's possible that a short to the case can develop so I'd be extra careful not to touch the meter case or anything metal near with the meter.
Posted : November 20, 2008 10:59 pm
The meter base is not WAPA's responsibility. They bring the power to your weather head. From there on, the wiring including the meter base is the homeowners. Once you have installed the proper meter base and it is to code and meets WAPA's standards they will install their meter and seal it into place with a tamper proof seal.
If it is sparking you need to hire an electrician. All WAPA is likely to do is disconnect the electrical service because of a hazardous condition.
Jim
Posted : November 21, 2008 1:10 am
Topic starter
ENGRMP, thanks for the heads up, not worried about fire etc. as it is all poured concrete. Am slightly worried though about short's/safety but its been like this for a while.
I had someone look at it and we confirmed that the popping noise is INSIDE the meter itself...like in the unit. It seems to me that this is Wapa's property and that I can't do anything about it.
I'll try again Monday if there is a risk that they disconnect service. It's been like this for a few weeks and I don't want to have my service disconnected on a Friday. I'll let you know what I find...may have to go in in person as TRW suggests.
Sean
Posted : November 21, 2008 1:22 pm
