Powdered Wire Anyone?

I find it pretty fascinating what electricity can do without showing any signs of something being wrong. In this case I got notified that one of our meters wasn’t reading in. This typically is a problem with the meter or one of the energized hot legs has an issue. Most of the time with these Temporary Meter bases it the wire. The electricians try to use the same wire over and over again without inspecting it. All it takes is one little knick in the insulation and it can slowly turn the aluminum wire to dust.

What happens is the electricity arcs through the hole in the insulation to the ground. Add some moisture and dirt then you have a good recipe for some quality corrosion. The arcing slowly eats away at the aluminum and finally the wire corrodes enough to turn it to this nice white powder.

_{Don’t mistake this white powder for something else}

Now check this out!! Look at how it bulged out the insulation and turned that small knick in the insulation a huge hole.

_{Sorry for the blurry picture}
Here is one from farther away so hopefully you can see the size difference.

Now, just an inch away the wire is perfectly fine.

So would you like some Powdered Wire??

Until Next time...

Steem On
and

Electricity,
It just does what it wants

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