How dangerous is an open neutral?

9 years ago

Hi all. According to my electrician, I have an open neutral, but at the main (not in my house). We know this because the dimming lights and power issues are also happening to my next door neighbors.

We have been unable, however, to get our power company to fix the problem. Apparently this is what they consider to be an "isolated problem" and first priority is to rectify their very frequent and widespread outages. With that having been said, they advised us that we should stop using power at our house to minimize any risk. I'm not really sure how to do that, considering that we still live there, lol.

So, just how dangerous a situation is this? Do I really need to sit in the dark and unplug everything? As it is, we leave as many lights off as possible, so we're mostly in the dark, but I'm wondering if even turning on an electric kettle or my dishwasher, for example, is a risky proposition.

Thanks!

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Comments (3)

bus_driver
9 years ago
Your electronics are at risk since they can be subjected to severe overvoltage at times. The 120 volt equipment is affected.
Your 240 volt equipment is not at risk.
This is not trivial nor should correction be delayed.
btharmy
9 years ago
Send your utility company an email explaining the findings of your electrician. Also express your concern about your home electronics. Remind them that you have already called them on the phone and what you were told. Hopefully they will respond so you will have documented proff that they know of the problem. This may come in handy if your appliances begin letting out their "magic smoke".
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mayflower1032
9 years ago
Sounds like the utility company is clueless. Call your state board of public utilities (aka BPU) and file a complaint. The utility will immediately respond, because most companies have scorecard goals surrounding the number of executive/bpu complaints. The utility will need to formally respond to both you and the BPU. The utility should have the testing device (commonly called a "beast of burden" for example) that puts a load onto the service and will determine if the neutral issue is internal (your issue) or external (utility company issue) to your home. Open neutrals are a big issue.