Residential Service Entrance Nightmare DIY Electrical Repair!

[@ProjectFarm]

Great choice in boots and awesome job making the repair!

[@electronicsNmore]

Glad you enjoyed the video! Thanks to your great testing videos, I now have very good and reasonably priced work boots. :-)

[@zachfrancher2304]

Electrician here. Just a helpful tip. When taping splices like this it's good to put a layer of 33+ rubber splicing tape OVER your first layer of electrical tape. Followed by one more layer of electrical tape.

[@100vg]

Insulation Clip Covers are available for those big power line splices. They clip closed around the splice with slots for the cable insulation about an inch beyond the splice on both sides. Some electrical contractors use them, but I think all of them should. They wear over time from the Sun and need to be checked regularly and replaced now and then. They are much safer to use than wrapping with electrical tape. Though it was smart to put zip locks on the tape. I do that, too, when I have to use electrical tape.

[@scottinWV]

"Project Farm Approved" I'd trust his judgement. He thoroughly tests everything!

[@Quickened1]

Even wearing rubber boots, and gloves, and knowing that using safe practices, I will not be shocked, I still become apprehensive around those things! Because a wise man once said, what can go wrong, will go wrong... Nice job...

[@EngineerMikeF]

The triple wrap on exterior, full sun exposure is a good approach. Electrical tape is rated @ 600V, and good quality tape (i.e. NOT made of chinesium) has adhesive that will stand up to many years of sun & heat (adhesive on chinesium stuff dies in a few years to make a gummy mess). This being full sun exposure, that 3rd wrap will be sacrificial & protect the inner 2 wraps from U.V. for at least 2 decades, probably 3. Those tie wraps, however, will likely be dead in less than 3 years; I can't find good UV resistant zip ties these days even tho they say UV resistant on the package. IIWMI'D use braided nylon string & multi wrap the tag end of the tape, then tape over the string (which final tape wrap will unravel over 10-15 years, making the whole thing good for at least 30). That pinhole at 6:05 probably won't be an issue.

[@jerrygaber6150]

Metal bands are the latest big cable tie design for UV longevity. Find them on irrigation circle span cables. Seems that stainless steel strapping for shipping would work. Not sure of code, though.

[@JT-lq4yd]

Great fix! You saved that home from a fire or someone from being electrocuted.

[@bobjeremia8288]

Seems like the splices should have rubber liner then tape.

[@electronicsNmore]

I've used rubber splicing tape in the past, but I prefer 3 wraps of the vinyl electrical tape.

[@stans5270]

Shoutout to Project Farm - KZbinrs helping KZbinrs.

[@jamess1787]

Where I live: they use these weird plastic mechanical boots that just 'clamp' over the single conductor, some of them have bolts to hold the plastic shells together. They're seemingly flimsy but do their job.

[@franksmall1313]

Well done.... Point I would make to everyone is be safe.

[@Chill_Mode_JD]

Good job, I think it turned out great. I live on a couple rural acres here in central Florida and can totally relate. I’ve gone through great lengths patching leaks myself because you can’t trust contractors here to fix a ham sandwich lol

[@electronicsNmore]

Thanks for watching!

[@davidgrisco1939]

I've had my electric utility linesman come out THREE times over numerous years to replace those crimped sleeves. I'd lose one leg in the winter in the middle of the night. Turns out a crimp wasn't squeezed tight enough. The last visit, the linesman pulled on the crimp and it pulled apart. Hopefully third time is the charm!

[@tubeDude48]

Always, your video's are quite informative!

[@donnamills3646]

Really clean job 👍 I enjoy watching this.

[@electronicsNmore]

Glad you enjoyed it

[@vince6829]

Nice job. Thanks for sharing.

[@scottinWV]

Excellent job! Every time I mess with tar I end up spending 15 minutes with Dawn trying to get it off of me.

[@Quickened1]

Use some paint thinner on a rag, then promptly was thoroughly with Dawn... done in a couple minutes. Better yet, try tuo remember to put on nitrile gloves... ;)

[@julioolivares6701]

In my case here in LA county, CA. I was told that my service lines where possibly corroded due to poor insulation since it was an unpermited panel upgrade/relocation. At one point the power to the house was all messed up to where we called the electric company and they wouldn't touch it do to unpermited other than removing the tape from the neutral and cleaning it. They said the same had to be done for the service lines that connect to the weatherhead. What's your thoughts on that. Company said no licensed electrician is allowed to touch the service lines without risking their license

[@antilogism]

So. Cal Edison will usually do up the whole thing to their meter for free. They don't want the 2 AM storm call! They have come by and moved power lines for tree work for free too and generally they have been very responsive. It's been 16 years since those days for me though.

[@jamesmartello1827]

So I was an electrical contractor for 32 yrs. Why no cut the incoming wires from the power company remove the old weather head. Install a new 2” weather head then reconnect with burndey press connectors. This should take approximately 1/2 hour to do.

[@electronicsNmore]

Some things I show on YT, and others I don't. :-)

[@JenniferF2882]

I notice my 1974 home is missing the top masthead cover so rain is going straight into my meter, running down through and rusing out the bottom of the meter box (with outside breakers). I also see rust marks on the 2 power wires going through the brick. We have aluminum wiring. What's the most cost effective and safe way to handle? Money is tight....

[@JenniferF2882]

Rusting* out Sorry was trying to type faster than my fingers could go

[@sapelesteve]

Terrific work eNm! For a minute, I thought that you were working on Rose's house again? 🤔👍

[@michaelmorgan7893]

Here again, I'm surprised that neutral/messenger is supported directly to the mast. Here in California, the point of attachment on any structure, is required to have an insulator of some type. Most of the newer ones are nylon, or plastic. They are usually porcelain or other glassware, to withstand lightening.

[@Michael-qy1jz]

Could you put an automotive heater hose over each leg coming innand then wrap it?

[@electronicsNmore]

If you cut a slit down the side, yes, but I prefer to triple wrap using electric tape.

[@darexdarex]

LOL. I was totally wondering if you were wearing flip-flops. To be fair, I'm worse than you! I skip the flip-flops too, as often as I can get away with it.

[@markanthonystringfellow3923]

Excellent work as always!!! 2 thumbs up :-))

[@electronicsNmore]

Many thanks!

[@markanthonystringfellow3923]

@@electronicsNmore Welcome :)

[@trench01]

lol Project farm approved. I assume your electric company (Duke Energy I assume) can fix it if you call them. I would have put aluminum tape myself and would have filled it up with something like sand then tape and then put tar on top. But you as usual do things more professional. ;) I see you dont post as much, o well but I hope all is well. Also suggestion for video is to test what is the best method to keep lithium battery the longest. Some say to drain it others say only up to 30% and other say to not keep in on the plug. But dont know if those are true.

[@DAT-TEXAS-DUDE]

Timestamp 11:08 you can still see a hole man you missed it and that is gonna make you good work go bad quickly as water will leak through😅

[@Edmorbus]

Good work

[@electronicsNmore]

Thanks Ed!

[@Enigma-Sapiens]

Be careful taping up external power line connectors. I used to occasionally work with a line crew and IIRC some of those connectors are rated for "open-air" which is what they need to cool themselves during heavy load periods. Taping them up may lead to a future failure from overheating.

[@TheOldBlackCrow]

Wouldn't the city be responsi... Oh wait, it's Florida. 😬

[@electronicsNmore]

If I called FPL, they would've either wrapped the hot wires, or swapped out the connectors. I've wrapped them in the past, so it was no big deal to me.

[@rj.parker]

Is there any water ingress concern with the wire access holes into the weatherhead?

[@electronicsNmore]

No, there's little space around the wires, and each wire is sloped down preventing water from running into the weatherhead.

[@NETBotic]

I have to wonder why the entrance is on the roof in an area that gets a lot of rain.

[@Quickened1]

To raise the wires high enough off the ground leading up to the house...

[@thomasholst998]

at 0.15 it looks like the lowest of the cables is loose in the connection. in the (press sleeve) coud be wrong. but to me it looks like small sparks.

[@electronicsNmore]

I carefully inspected everything, including the insulation on the conductors, everything looked good.

[@CollinBaillie]

Is this just 120v on those cables? Interesting to see such an old method still in use.

[@electronicsNmore]

120V per leg, with one neutral.

[@rj.parker]

120 per leg but 240 between them with huge instantaneous amp potential

[@illestofdemall13]

It's an old house from the 1950s, and 120/240 Volts is what we use in residential here in the USA.

[@scotthill4742]

I can’t believe that there is absolutely nothing in between those two phases or that neutral. Can’t imagine the damage that would cause in your house if those touched lol

[@DanielinLaTuna]

I would add for any DIYer… those are rubber gloves with leather protector gloves over them. Good up to 600 volts in my jurisdiction. Don’t try it with just leather gloves…

[@randomsucks2444]

I think that much voltage can go thru electrical tape.

[@electronicsNmore]

No, the tape is made for up to 600V.

[@howardlee53]

Place some aluminum foil over the tar to keep it from drying out and blocking the uv penetrating.

[@electronicsNmore]

How I did it will last many years, probably way longer than I plan on living in the house. LOL

[@ThePatriotsBrother]

You gotta lot of guts! Lol

[@SuperVstech]

I am surprised you didn’t just slap on a pair of clamshell insulators.

[@electronicsNmore]

Good look finding them.

[@SuperVstech]

@@electronicsNmore yeah, good luck finding anything in stock nowadays...

[@jerrygaber6150]

Don't let him know about lined and linerless rubber splicing tape. He could put a layer on before the PVC or nylon plastic tape, though.

[@electronicsNmore]

I know all about it. Used it back in the 90's. The triple layer tape will last many years.

[@jerrygaber6150]

@@electronicsNmore But that's a 100 year installation you're supposed to be doing on buildings. Maybe throw some scotch-kote over the tape then. The tape alone won't last long in the sun and weather. Consider Polaris or Unitap connectors if you don't have big crimpers and sleeves when you replace the wire next time.

[@orvjudd1383]

You might want to place a nylon separator between the two hot lines where you taped them. Then tape them or strap them together with non conductive zip ties. Electrical tape will only last a short time when exposed to UV light. Great video however.

[@electronicsNmore]

Should last at least a few years before I have to wrap them again, or slide over a special insulator.

[@100percentgradeA]

Is that Billy Crystal repairing his roof

[@buzzsah]

Why not just replace it?

[@electronicsNmore]

Due to the age you cannot find a replacement cover.

[@buzzsah]

@@electronicsNmore I was thinking that but wasn't sure. Thanks for reply.

[@Anjanya1948]

Why didn't you just buy a new weatherhead?

[@electronicsNmore]

Why? Because all the wires would have to be disconnected

[@Anjanya1948]

@@electronicsNmore oh okay just asking

[@tonyguerich9854]

Yikes! Don't try this at home, kids. This man is a professional.

[@MF-le7fp]

@@marcolutz7065 Why you say that? Was it the $2 electrical tape, or the open pinhole still left in the cap? 😜😂 But seriously, if the content creator happens to read this, there are a few products I'd like to introduce you to.... The first, is a rust converter called "Corroseal." Without it, that painted over, paper thin rust is back to it's old self inside 6 months. The second, is called Quick Steel epoxy. Once the Corroseal dries over that shell of a cap, the Quik Steel applied to the underside (along with your wonderful plate/rivet job) would have brought that cap back to beyond it's original strength. Sealed with an oiled based, aluminium paint, you'd probably get another 5 years out of it. Oh yeah....I couldn't find a buy link to the "electrical tape" you used. I guess the Dollar Store doesn't have an affiliate program? C'mon, you seem like a smart guy. Why take all that risk up there, just to half ass everything? Even a Scotch brand "2242" would have sufficed on those lines. And why not just zip tie both ends? The Florida heat will untuck both of those tape leads, inside of a month. Just tryin to help keep your return tickets down, brother.

[@MF-le7fp]

@@marcolutz7065 I can hear Marco now....ANY "tape" is half assing it!" Insulators are spensive, sir. And those would require a professional, professional. Here, at the amateur professional level, lineman's tape works just fine. 😂

[@electronicsNmore]

Thanks for the nice comment Tony. I knew this video would be attracting the pedants and haters, so just ignore them. What I did in this video will last many years, I did the same type of repair on a friend's house 25 years ago, and everything still looks good.

[@electronicsNmore]

@@MF-le7fp The wet/dry roof cement coating will last many years on that cap. I also made it very clear that any small pinholes would be sealed off later in the video. The starting end is triple wrapped, and has very little risk of unraveling. You're not talking to a person that just started doing this.

[@electronicsNmore]

​@@marcolutz7065 I suggest a pedant like you should be much more concerned about that modern totalitarianism state you live in called Germany. Dimwit after dimwit going along with illegal orders by corrupt govt officials to shoot you up with an experimental gene therapy with no long term testing data. How I see it, if you rolled up your sleeve, the odds are much higher that my repair will be here long after you're gone. :-)

[@Jvavolerpareil]

You just forgot to paint the mast that is rusted, but it will not break tomorrow. :-)

[@Quickened1]

He said he'd come back later to paint it... 10:41

[@mule666]

​@@Quickened1hard to listen for some

[@ededmonds8792]

Wow,I just had that done and they (ELECTRICIAN) charged me $750.I HOPE YOU BILLED THE LANDLORD to get you 💰 back.💘

[@Quickened1]

Her probably is the landlord...lol

[@electronicsNmore]

@@Quickened1 Yes, I am. LOL

[@robertverburg1481]

You need a new service up grade You can't repair that mess