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Wetness between the fuses in my main electric box

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  • Wetness between the fuses in my main electric box

    My electric box is mounted near the top of a corner wall in my otherwise dry basement. Yesterday I had a circuit breaker trip that wouldn't reset for seemingly no reason . When I began to pull the breaker I noticed a thin line of moisture between the breakers in that area. As I pulled it out I could see it was wet on the bus and between the fuses in that area themselves.
    I changed it out and left the panel cover off hanging a fan a couple feet out front which will dry it out . There are no offending water lines in the area to wet this area and the bottom of the box shows no sign of water ever having been there as if it had trickled down the box's bus bar on that side. The feed lines are sealed inside the conduit in some sort of epoxy material. The ground cable is not though I see no obvious sign of water having come from there. No rust, white outlines, nothing. The ground wires are brite as new.
    As for conditions we have had the highest rain / flooding in this area in recorded history so the ground is and stays wet. I did for the first time in 10 years set up the sump pump and it pumped away on and off for a few days though we have had no flooding in the basement othewise. The house's foundation is sitting directly on a flat shale outcropping which does create hydraulic pressure and slight seepage along seams on occasion.
    Question, what is better if anything than standard silicon to seal the ground conduit opening? Is there some other way for water to get in there I haven't thought of? Any other advice? Apologies for the long description but I wanted to cover all the bases.

  • #2
    it is really no big deal. it isn't going to arc over from the bus to ground, the voltage isn't high enough. the metal of the box is cooler than the surrounding air so it will condensate the moisture in the air. the added humidity from the rain will make it worse.

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    • #3
      Thanks for the reply. Should I toss the old one that was originally in there or just keep it for a spare?

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      • #4
        yeah, toss it out. the trip mechanism inside is electro-mechanical. the current loop is a bi-metal device.

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