Don’t Skip the Survey

During the follow-up on an EXACTER Group location field review, we were directed to what seemed to be a mistaken location. Several Events had been aggregated into one significant EXACTER Group, but when we arrived at the location we found it to be midway between two poles. There were splices on the line, so these were inspected with no trouble found. That is when we learned the importance of completing a site survey to its conclusion.

We used an RE 330 to do a sweep of the location. That is how we noticed that the Event emission was coming not from the line but from a location perpendicular to the line.

We continued to follow the emission source to a house about 200 feet off the road. The survey tool indicated a steadily increasing RF emission.

The sweep of the area quickly located the source of the emission: the service Triplex. Using the RE 330 and the RE ultrasonic parabolic sensor, we followed the service entrance to the meter socket.

Once we confirmed the source of the emission, an emergency ticket was issued and a meter technician was dispatched. We contacted the owner of the home to let them know that there would be a short interruption of service while the problem in the meter socket was investigated.

The Meter Technician removed the meter from service and the emissions ceased, obviously a load-side problem.

The problem was immediately apparent. The right-hand load-terminal was badly etched and blackened from arcing and heat. Our first thought was that the meter had not been properly seated in the socket. So, the meter was reinstalled following a thorough safety inspection. At first there were no emissions. But, in about 30 seconds the emissions began again. The emissions were low level at first, but returned to their normal pre-inspection level within a couple of minutes.

As a final step, we discussed the hazardous situation with the customer, who agreed that an electrician would be called immediately to replace the failing meter socket before a heat-related failure initiated a fire. Luckily, the weather was mild and there were no heavy loads in the home to exacerbate the problem.

The sensitivity of EXACTER located the problem which was hidden from view off the road and avoided a disaster. This really demonstrated the importance of following up on EXACTER Group Events with a site survey to locate the problem and resolve the arc emission.