Water in breaker box

During a recent heavy rain, I noticed water dripping from the bottom of my breaker box. I removed the cover and found that water was coming through the main cable. It is likely that the water is enterering the the meter box on the outside of the house, or could it be getting into the weatherhead at the top of the risor?

 

If the weather head is damaged in some way it would allow rain in so would the meter box its self if damaged. What I would see if they used an LB to enter the house somtimes the cover is not screwed on tight enough and leakage gets in. Check the connector at the load side of the meter box and see if the conduit running into the house has cracked. Sometimes with the settling of the house and in cases where the conduit was not run straight through say a wall there is undo stress on the pipe and it can crack or pull out of its hub allowing water to get in. Same thing can happen to the top of the meter box undo strain and the connector starts to allow water in. I some locals they actually make a small hole in the bottom of LBs going into residences to allow the water to escape before entering the panel, Its done in areas that experience a great amount of condensation and other moisters you may be in one of thoughs areas as I don't know where you are writting from. If a visual check does not show you anything then I would suggest you call in an electrician I usually recommend this when the meter box becomes involved most homeowners don't have the expertise to work on this area themselves once it is live.

 

Look at the cable connector on the top of the meter box. They are often not tight around the cable because the connector bushing is too large for compact conductor Al SE cable. Also some power companies don't use connectors but use duct seal and a bonnet disk instead. If the connector bushing is not tight around the cable or the duct seal has dried up or been disturbed it must be resealed. Use clear silicon caulk to seal any gaps in the cable entrance fitting. DO NOT ATTEMPT TO TIGHTEN THE CABLE CONNECTOR WHILE THE SERVICE ENTRY CONDUCTORS ARE ENERGIZED. To do so can cause a disastrous fault.

For the sake of others please let us know what you find.
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Tom

 

I have an electrician coming out on Monday morning to look at the service. Due to the extreme weather, he had 7 similar calls the same evening that I called. He said the most common situation is rain being blown through the weatherhead at the eave of the house, traveling down the ground wire, through the meter box, and into the breaker panel box.

 

Sounds very possible. Good Luck and let us know how it turns out.

 

Electrician gave me a price of $200 to run a new riser and conduit. He'll reposition the weather head to avoid water plowing in. This should solve the problem.