Electrical Service Drop

Avoid a “hot” summer.

This electrical service drop contains a variety of defects:

  • Both the utility splices are exposed at the “hot” legs of the service drop. The exposed conductors could shock or kill a person or animal. A strong wind could blow the splices into each other, causing an electrical arc that would damage them and pose a fire hazard to the house.
  • Concealed contact between aluminum and copper wires might have caused the white corrosion.
  • To the right of the utility splices, the big black lumps are split bolt connectors that an electrician installed when the temporary connection was made; they weren’t meant to be permanent.
  • The short sections of cable between the split-bolt connectors and the utility splices are smaller than the other service cables and could overheat.