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[3930dave]

Hi, I am a fire investigator and have seen similar conditions caused by a bad ground (sometimes loose, sometimes corrosion) Open neutrals can also do crazy things. You should have it looked at ASAP! It is a big fire hazard as well as possible electrocution. You probably have no or little ground protection when using appliances.

Any chance you could point your brothers over Boston way at this thread, and have them do some (behind the scenes) yelling at the Elec Utility ?

Poor OP and his neighbours are playing Russian Roulette with the grid, and don't seem to be getting much traction with the utility. I know it's their turf, but I'm sure you guys get tired of dealing with the aftermath of these problems being neglected....

Rgds, D.

 

[Tomtint]

Getting NSTAR to do something is a act of congress. Inevitably, you make 50 calls to different departments that just pass the buck. It took me a year to get them out here to put a bandaid on it last year. I assume the problem is solved in their eyes.

 

[rockinmywaypa]

Time to call your local newspaper to do a little piece on it. Maybe a little publicity will get some action.

 

[Soundguy]

Hi, I am a fire investigator and have seen similar conditions caused by a bad ground (sometimes loose, sometimes corrosion) Open neutrals can also do crazy things. You should have it looked at ASAP! It is a big fire hazard as well as possible electrocution. You probably have no or little ground protection when using appliances.

if you've read the thread. he's had it looked at asap. just no one cares to do much about it unfortunately...

 

[Depmandog]

Time to call your local newspaper to do a little piece on it. Maybe a little publicity will get some action.

Rockin has the right idea. But think big! Surely one of the major networks would love to do an exposé on this. 60 Minutes or 20/20 - a show like that. Those resources are relatively close assuming they are NYC based.

I can picture Mike Wallace now....

 

[Tomtint]

Way back when , when I was getting the run around. I told the 300th person I ole with at NSTAR that I was going to notify the news. I called Fox and left a message on a VM with their investigative guy... Never heard a word back from them.

 

[k0ua]

Way back when , when I was getting the run around. I told the 300th person I ole with at NSTAR that I was going to notify the news. I called Fox and left a message on a VM with their investigative guy... Never heard a word back from them.

Tom I put in thousands of VM systems thru the years (yes you can blame me) And in the early years, people used to actually clean them out and return calls. You know actually use them as intended by the inventor. But in later years, most people use voicemail to dodge calls. I used to see many mailboxes with hundreds if not thousands of unheard voicemail messages.. The point of this rant, is if you don't speak to them directly, you are not liable to hear from them.. Sometimes an e-mail works better, or a text if you can get ahold of their cell number.

 

[Depmandog]

Way back when , when I was getting the run around. I told the 300th person I ole with at NSTAR that I was going to notify the news. I called Fox and left a message on a VM with their investigative guy... Never heard a word back from them.

Send them a video calmly explaining your situation. Get test readings on video. Include Google Earth views of the area.

This does two things, it shows the investigator that you are presentable and believable (no billy bob teeth and tin foil hats); plus the data can be fired off to an expert to "qualify" your situation.

You might add research where similar situations have not ended well (injury / death). Explain you aren't after money, just fear for your family and neighbors safety.

Send it to the three big boys. Let them know the first one to send a team gets the story. Make it a competition of sorts.

You have a story....one that makes great TV. Heck I will volunteer to do some upfront research for email address, etc. PM if you are interested in the help. I am headed to Alaska for week or so, but as soon as I get back.....

Good Luck!!!

 

[jlgurr]

Try to get a neighbor or two on the vid also. This shows the problem affects a wide area not just one household.

 

[BenjiMac]

<quote>If you stand outside barefoot and touch something metal.. You get a tingle. For example, we were planting some trees and the root ball had the metal cage around it. The cage was in contact with the ground, and when I knelt down with a bare knee to the ground and touched the cage...zaaaaap !

It seems like the metal you are touching is also touching the ground. People usually don't have a problem on their own, but I have heard of cows that had problems because their feet were touching the ground in different places so they were getting shocked. That problem was current leaking from a high voltage power line.

I expect you do not get shocked when you touch a car, because the rubber tires insulate it from the ground.

In order for this to happen, there has to be current flowing through the ground from one place to another. Try an experiment with your meter. Connect the leads to two probes, which should be insulated if you don't want to get shocked, and put the probes in the ground 6-10 feet apart. Then try the same but with the probes separated in a different direction. If you leave one probe in the ground and move the other in a circle, you should find one place on each opposite side of the circle where the voltage is maximum, and another place where the voltage is zero. The probes when a maximum voltage direction will be pointing toward the problem. Then move the whole assembly some distance in the zero-voltage direction and do it again. If the two maximums are the same direction, the current source is a relatively long distance away, relative to the distance you moved. If the two maximums point different directions, the problem is likely to be where those directions intersect. You might need to try several times because the current could be traveling in an arc. If you are fairly close to the high voltage power line, it is likely to be pointing at the base of the metal tower, proving there is a leaking insulator on that tower. The most likely result will be that not all towers leak; you might be able to find one that is the main problem. Be careful, because as you get close to the source the voltage at the same distance separation will increase and could be enough to be very dangerous.

Once identified, the problem CAN be fixed.

- Benjamin