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We have been having problems with the lights in our basement for awhile now (few weeks), sometimes they will work, other times they just won't turn on.

Today I noticed a thin metal piece in the basement closet and I accidentally broke it off. I am pretty sure it was already breaking/loose because it snapped very easily. It was leading to the water pipe (where the main shutoff is) and just ends there with a metal loop and screw holding it in place. Or at least it was.

Immediately after it started to spark, because it swung and made contact with the piece it broke off of. The lights also started flickering. I managed to get it to stop sparking. But when I went upstairs to get a flashlight, the lights upstairs started flickering and the heat/ac unit had no power. Few mins later the bulbs started going out. I use fluorescents.

I'm freaking out a little bit now, turned off the power to the whole house. I originally was going to try to re-secure the metal tube but its not seeming like that will be enough. I'm hoping to call an electrician in the morning, how dangerous is this problem? Can I try to switch on just the heat and fridge? Plus who knows if I can get someone here tomorrow...

The house is about 30yrs old, with both copper and aluminum wiring.

Update: thanks for all the answers, thankfully was able to get electrician here the next morning, my fiance was mad that there was stuff in that closet. Neither one of us knew that wire was for electricity. He fixed it, it was a grounding wire, apparently also there was corrosion on the outside of the house next to the meter.

So not safe to put anything near the grounding wire now that it's fixed? I wasn't home to ask the electrical myself. If not, I'm surprised there are shelves in the closet..?? It's about 4x2 feet, small shelves about 1x2 on each side, with the pipe and grounding wire in the middle. Alive and well, no fires phew. Furnace transponder blew though, which supposedly will be expensive to fix, circuit didn't blow :(

Samantha
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    The thin metal piece is likely part of an earth-bonding clamp. It is intended to ensure that your pipes cannot give you an electric shock. I think you have a wiring fault and should call an electrician. – RedGrittyBrick Jan 04 '16 at 09:59
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    To reinforce @RedGrittyBrick: call an electrician NOW. You have the makings of a lovely electrical fire. You might even want to throw the main breaker until the electrician arrives. – Daniel Griscom Jan 04 '16 at 12:31
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    @DanielGriscom the OP stated he cut the main breaker. – Bryce Jan 04 '16 at 15:57
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    @Bryce saw that: good idea. – Daniel Griscom Jan 04 '16 at 18:55
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    Cut the main breaker, do not touch any pipes or faucets, call the power company now, let us know you're still alive (it's been 11 hours). – SQB Jan 04 '16 at 19:52
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    @SQB presumably he's shivering in the dark, and his cell phone batteries are flat :-). – Bryce Jan 05 '16 at 05:46
  • I'm very curious what the electrician and power company said and/or fixed – roel Jan 05 '16 at 08:15
  • Our wiring between our meter and the pedestal apparently had a short in it, due to them not putting conduit around the cable. It caused all manner of flickering and destruction of bulbs. And burnt out most anything with a capacitor in it. $2,000 in electrician costs later... – Wayne Werner Jan 05 '16 at 17:22
  • On a side note: the sooner you can get rid of all the aluminum wiring the better. People are less likely to want to buy your house with Al in it, for one thing. Al is a pain to interconnect with (special connectors required) for another. – Carl Witthoft Jan 05 '16 at 19:48
  • Added update, thanks for all the quick answers, I was definitely worried, we also have an extreme cold alert right now in DE so I was worried how long we would be able to keep the heat off. – Samantha Jan 06 '16 at 08:52
  • @Samantha, It's not dangerous to have that ground wire exposed now that the problem is corrected. – batsplatsterson Jan 06 '16 at 10:34
  • What about keeping things on the shelves? Or does there need to be clearance around the wire? My fiance insists that I basically had the closet full of kindling and almost killed us. I told him a fire could start anywhere... – Samantha Jan 07 '16 at 08:29
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    It's not clear to me that the problem WAS corrected. Just that the electrician reconnected the ground. Make him/her tell you what was causing the voltage that was leaking through the ground and what was done to correct that. If they can't give you a clear answer, they probably just reconnected it, ignoring an enormous spark. You could also test that ground strap with an amp clamp. It should be very low (<0.5) amps or else the problem is still there. Furnace is probably involved with it if it's electronics blew when he reconnected grounding. Maybe something shorting to a duct? – Billy left SE for Codidact Jan 07 '16 at 09:21
  • Turning off the power to the whole house was a good move. – user253751 Nov 08 '22 at 14:23

4 Answers4

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You're lucky you haven't been hurt!

It sounds from your description like the ground wire came off the pipe clamp

ground pipe clamp

If I was you I would definitely not touch that again. Under normal circumstances that wire should not carry any current. If you are seeing sparks, the ground wire is energized and carrying current.

If it does, it may indicate an extremely dangerous condition. It can shock you (possibly seriously injuring or killing you), start a fire, and damage electrical devices in the house. The shock hazard isn't just with the loose wire, it may be there with incidental contact with the pipes, sinks, etc. in the house. It's not really safe to be in the house.

If it is what it sounds like to me, you pulled the ground wire loose from its lug on the ground clamp - it shouldn't come loose easily, so maybe the wire was damaged, or the screw was not tight. In any case you didn't cause this problem by pulling that wire loose; disconnecting that wire revealed the problem.

If you have problems on multiple circuits in your house, it's especially concerning, you may have a problem with your electrical service (lost neutral or other problem). The problem may also involve your neighbors.

It's good that the main power is off, but that doesn't necessarily make everything safe in the house. I'd call the electric company immediately and consider it an emergency. Call an electrician too, as soon as possible.

edit: The original poster followed up that an electrician came and fixed the issue. With that resolved, incidental contact with the ground wire where it's exposed in the closet isn't dangerous. Disconnecting the ground wire from the pipe shouldn't be dangerous, but it can't be assumed to be safe, because there may be an undiscovered issue waiting to bite you.

batsplatsterson
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Very very dangerous.

That wire could well have been the neutral line of a badly wired "multiwire branch circuit", where two hot wires share a neutral wire. With that center line gone, you can get up to 240 volts on any outlet (double normal).

Or it's a ground wire, but has actual current on it, also a serious problem.

Or it's a bonding wire, also a serious issue if it has current (it could mean your electrical pipes are energized).

Take a motel for the night: far cheaper than having your house burn down. Let us know what happens in the morning, and what the electrician finds. Post photos!

You can also call your electric company: the "lost neutral" problem is something they take seriously, as it can be their fault, and cause fires (see various online videos for examples).

Bryce
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    There are some multi-wire branch circuits that use a metal strap to a water pipe as neutral return? That would have to be an awfully poorly wired MWBC. Of all of the concerns you noted, that would have to be the least likely. – Johnny Jan 04 '16 at 23:54
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    @Johnny bad wiring is, like, totally possible. – Bryce Jan 05 '16 at 05:43
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Sounds like your neutral connection to the utility has failed.

Neutral and Ground are bonded together at the service entrance, and at the utility's transformer. Because of this, when your Neutral to the utility is broken, current will find its way back to the utility THROUGH THE EARTH via your grounding system.

Only the utility is permitted to repair the overhead/underground service, so keep your main breaker off until they do that. They should also check the adjacent homes and check for current in the ground.

Once fixed, you can reconnect the grounding strap to the pipe IF the main breaker is off, and IF you carefully measure no voltage or current between it and the pipe.

Put a clamp meter on it and watch when you turn the main breaker back on. There should be no current going through it. If there is, then you need to shut it off, identify the circuit that is leaking current to ground, and fix that.

Billy left SE for Codidact
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    I once helped repair a house after a thunderstorm knocked out the service entrance. The utility reconnected a temporary meter while we worked, but ended up with a bad crimp on the neutral. The temporary entrance also was not grounded properly. Soon after, the refrigerator kicked on, completing a circuit from one hot leg, to the neutral, to the neutral of another circuit running a VCR to the other hot leg. Blew out all the electronics that were in that circuit. Keep the mains off and unplug everything in the house until an electrician can sort it out. – DGM Jan 05 '16 at 00:39
  • If that was going to happen, it probably already has. Step 1) get utility out to inspect their service, and the earth for stray voltage. Step 2) check for improperly wired circuits in the house (neutral and ground swapped) This would be a fantastic time to add GFCI protection as well. – Billy left SE for Codidact Jan 05 '16 at 00:42
  • true enough. Nevertheless, best to disconnect as many things as possible just in case. – DGM Jan 05 '16 at 00:46
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    I added 5-20's outlets to either side of my panel, each on separate poles. These would be great for checking a loose neutral with all the other breakers shut off. This thread makes me wonder if there should be some sort of current measuring coil around everyone's grounding wire that shuts the main breaker off when it measures sustained current for any length of time. – Billy left SE for Codidact Jan 05 '16 at 00:52
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Update: most comments here seem to come from people that have never seen an old meter. This does not change the factual correctness of the answer.

To make it clear, if you try the below, you could die. You are also committing a crime

Just adding to the existing answers: replacing the neutral with the ground is a common (albeit possibly fatal) way to steal electricity. Old electricity meters are designed as a motor which slowly turns as current goes through. When neutral goes straight to ground instead of back to the grid, the motor does not turn.

However, most modern (and even not so modern now) meters have automatic protections which disconnect electricity if this happens. This is to prevent both electricity stealing but also the very dangerous accidental coupling of neutral to ground.

If there is no obvious fault that caused this, it might be that previous occupants had some original ideas on how to minimize bills. And you might have to pay for it, should your electricity company blame you for it.

Update: as requested, added a reference. The page does not make it clear that you might need a separate grounding wire that does not go through the meter. http://www.uniquestuff.net/reduce-electricity-bill-with-earth-grounding.html

Sam
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    No, sorry, that's just not true. Every neutral is bonded to ground in the main breaker box. (or service meter - I'm not sure what the current code is) – DGM Jan 05 '16 at 01:00
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    Depends on the meters/breaker models. Newer ones, that are connected as you say, automatically switch off if there is a ground leak. Old ones allow you to trick the meter. The fact that lights apparently worked through the ground make me think it might be one old system. – Sam Jan 05 '16 at 01:02
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    No, you could not trick the meter. It only measures the hot wires, and for current to exit into ground, it first has to come through the hot wires. Nothing about bonding a neutral to ground has anything to do with stealing electricity – DGM Jan 05 '16 at 01:05
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    Well you can, regardless of wehether you accept it or not. At least on old meters. All you say is true, for meters specially designed to overcome this very technique. – Sam Jan 05 '16 at 01:11
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    WHAT??? You can't be serious? This makes absolutely NO sense. – Speedy Petey Jan 05 '16 at 02:38
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    Sammy is completely wrong. This does not, and has not ever worked to steal electricity. – Billy left SE for Codidact Jan 05 '16 at 03:00
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    @sammy can you provide an citations to support the claim you are making? I've use the google and I can't find any credible sources to your claim. – citizen Jan 05 '16 at 04:26
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    Here's your reference. Please noye that in order to work, one may have to create a separate grounding, that avoids the meter.http://www.uniquestuff.net/reduce-electricity-bill-with-earth-grounding.html – Sam Jan 05 '16 at 07:41
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    @dgm & others I'd appreciate you taking back the downvotes now that I provided a reasonably reliable source. Thank you – Sam Jan 05 '16 at 07:45
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    That site doesn't look particularly reliable. (I didn't downvote your answer though) I can easily see people believing that site though, and you were saying that other people might have believed it, and you weren't actually saying it's true. – user253751 Jan 05 '16 at 08:25
  • sammy is right. Although a differential circuit breaker installed near the counter would prevent such a stealing. But with a 30 year old house anything is possible. – JB. Jan 05 '16 at 08:30
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    That site talks about the neutral as if it were the negative wire. No one should listen to anyone that talks about the Neutral as negative. – Brad Gilbert Jan 06 '16 at 06:24
  • The link @sammy provided is, of course, completely bogus. Read this one http://www.popsci.com/diy/article/2009-10/electric-meter-dissection to cleanse – batsplatsterson Jan 06 '16 at 10:25
  • Oh my god, I think the article referenced is actually designed to kill people. Positive and negative? Truthfully with DC negative actually flows to positive. Nothing in that article made sense. I thought it was supposed to be selling overpriced copper rods. Reminded me of a snake oil sales pitch. – Joe Fala Mar 17 '19 at 06:10