United States

When I was a boy a friend did that and you should have heard him scream gtzip

delivering unending current to my house

I dont understand. Do you have power to you house? Or is that a live broken line laying on the ground?
I dont think the rain would cause it to arc any more or less than it is doing now. Pure water (not rain) doesnt conduct electricity. Its the impurities in e.g. tap water or rain mixed with ground chemicals that causes electrical conduction.(salts, metals, etc) You have reported it to the power company as a downed line emergency, right? My guess is that they have their hands full. I'm not sure what effect the rain would have on the downed-line, but it might be a blessing in keeping a fire from happening. It may drastically increase the chance of someone getting electricuted tho. Please be careful.

The wires are still connected to the house. The fascia that held them up is ripped off the house & lying on the ground, but the wires are still bringing the juice in to my breaker box, cuz they ain't broken. I know that the insulation on them does NOT make them safe to touch, though. So yeah, I have live wires laying on the ground, & holes in my house where the fascia & gutters used to be. I just don't know how unsafe this situation really is, & it's making me nervous.

Plus, I gotta kinda work near them to cut up that damned tree, so I stopped doing that, & I'm just waiting for SOMEONE to come & tell me what's gonna happen next - will the elec co fix the fascia, or will they disconnect the power so I can do it, & then reattach the wires?

The wires are still affixed to the fascia, or i'da fixed that by now.

Damned power lines were only 8 feet off the ground before this happened anyway. I kept trying to get them out here to raise them, but they told me I hafta install a new pole at my expense. Hardly seems right, when it's an unsafe thing that THEY did in the 1st place! I hafta handle extension ladders & such out in the yard all the time. GRRRRRrrr!

They'll be sorry when they kill me & hafta explain themselves to somebody.

Maybe I should learn Portugeuse...Brazil's looking better & better!

Oh, ok. Well at least you still have power. I dont know for sure but I'd say that they will have to come out and do something with their lines (before the meter) as opposed to your house wiring (after the meter). Anything on their side is their reponsibility, I believe.

They'll be sorry when they kill me & hafta explain themselves to somebody.

Yeah, that'll show 'em. Glad you still got your sense of humor thru all of this, Philby!

Brazil, huh. Alot of gigs there?

I dunno about the gig situation in Brazil, but I'm a sucker for the wax jobs...heh heh heh

I guess the power co isn't very worried about my downed lines, so I won't worry about 'em, either. Nary a thing can I do about 'em, 'cept prop 'em up on poles...maybe tomorrow...if they don't come.

Got my truck back today. Tie rods were really really really really very very bad, according to my mechanic. It's hell bein' poor, ain't it? Now to find some el cheapo tires & get that expired inspection sticker taken care of.

They won't put the car damage on my house policy, for some reason...I think it's the $500 deductable vs the $100 one. No wonder you get a "discount" for getting both through the same co.

I can see I'm gonna hafta start thinkin' about something...anything...else for a bit.

Yeah...Brazilian wax jobs! Do they do cars, too?

It's hell bein' poor, ain't it?

Yep.

'cept prop 'em up on poles...maybe tomorrow...if they don't come.

You're going to do that yourself? In the rain. Inadvisable

get that expired inspection sticker taken care of.

I got one of those

No wonder you get a "discount" for getting both through the same co.

I got one of those too.

Yeah...Brazilian wax jobs! Do they do cars, too?

I dont know what the Brazilian wax job iz??

OK i googled it
The landing strip, or sometimes nuthin' at all
Right?
Got any good pics??

Philby, your elec. provider will want you to repair your weatherhead thats what they call that pole that has the wires connected that goes down to your meter (that was ripped off your house). after they turn off the power of coarse, depending on whether or not you live in the city and they have building codes you may have to update to code which can be another big expense. It sounds like the tension wire for your incoming cable was I bolted into your fascia. Having all that extra slack in your incoming cable is probably a good thing. Our drummer had this same thing happen during Ike and he was without power almost 2 months.

Speaking from experience (hurricane Ike) when a big weather event comes thru the power co.'s prioritize who they respond to and get the most people back on line that they can. During hurricane Ike There were litterally hundreds of homes if not into the thousands around here that burned to the ground because of this very problem.

Gee, JH, that doesn't sound too encouraging. Funny thing - I spoke to the ins guy - he lives in Texas! I'm beginning to think that might be a bad thing for me...

I gotta take pics & email 'em...fortunately, I may be able to do the work & get paid for working on my own house!

Plus - I prolly got two cords of wood & possibly another car for a mere $350, & a few hours work...I'm not sure I believe that yet, though, but it's kinda what they've been telling me, provided that damned Explorer is totalled. I hope so - I hate that thing!

Still no word from the elusive power co. They'll hafta cut the power before I can replace the fascia, but I got a good electrician to hook it all up when & IF it ever gets done!

Send me flowers.

Building codes? ....
In West Virginney?
ya gotta be kiddin' ....
it appears they don't even have linemen.

I am a lineman for the county,,,

We gots linemen. We don't use weatherheads much, though. Mine is just a ceramic connector directly on the fascia that accepts the wires from the pole out on the street. I really should have another pole, though. It's a far stretch from the road, & my lil single story isn't very high, so the wires crossing my driveway are truly just under 8 feet off the ground. It gets worrisome when you're tossing that 32 foot aluminum ladder on top of the Jeep, believe me!

Good Luck Philby and Please Be Careful !!!!!!!!!!!

I didn't mean to sound so negative after reading last nights post Damn!
Thats what I have been doing philby it depends on whether or not your Ins. co. sends the check made out to you and your mortgage co. which they almost always do, then your mortgage co. has the option of giving you the money incrementally as you complete the work which slows things down they do this about 50% of the time, the really cool way is when the mortgage co. sends you a check back for the full amount, thats what they did for us because of the hurricane then you are in full control to work on your own house and get payed and do it at your own pace without having to wait for the ins. co. inspectors. If it just pulled that porceline connector connected to your fascia that is lag screwed, in a lot of instances if you have the materials and everything ready they will turn the power off and wait while you replace the fascia if you have everything ready (fascia pre-primed) and ready to go it takes what maybe 30 minutes then they will turn your power back on and Viola.
Your good to go, I hope all works out well for you.

Hey Phillby, Sorry for bad luck

Jammed with a drummer last knight whent well we will see.

The little isulator that holds my line has been pulled loose for over a year. It had thesse bi aluminum clips that hold the line. I guess ill fix it when it falls completly off. Hopfuly im not standing under it when it falls ZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAPPPPPPPP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

PEACE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!