Blue "neutral" wires

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#1

Originally Posted By: bwiley
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All of the copper neutral wires in a Square D panel that I inspected this morning were shiny blue at the exposed areas of the wiring at the connection to the buss bar. The discoloration was not consistent in color on each wire, and had the appearance of overheating. The panel was located in the garage. There was no corrosion in the panel, and no other wiring issues.


Any ideas what caused this.

PS, sorry, but the picture won't upload from my camera to my computer!

#2

Originally Posted By: Bob Badger
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Hey Blaine all I can think of you already said ‘overheating’ as you said all of them I would be concerned a with loose connection of the service neutral conductor to the neutral bar.


That said I really do not know, I would think you should write this up to be checked by an electrician

On a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the highest level of concern I would think a 7 or 8. I do not know how that fits in with the terms you use.

Make no attempt to tighten the connection if it has overheated it may break causing the neutral to be disconnected and frying half the stuff in the house.

You gotta get the camera working ![icon_wink.gif](upload://ssT9V5t45yjlgXqiFRXL04eXtqw.gif)

Bob

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Bob (AKA iwire)
ECN Discussion Forums
Mike Holt Code Forum

#3

Originally Posted By: Jeffrey Wortham
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I’d suspect it’s related to overheating also.


Copper will turn orange, then red, then blue and finally purple when it is overheated.

Any chance it's something external to the box that may have heated up the entire neutral bus area?

#4

Originally Posted By: Blaine Wiley
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PS… Naturally, I recommended further evaluation by a qualified licensed sparky… icon_biggrin.gif


And to add, I didn't see any fried or melted insulation on the wires either. I'm preplexed.

#5

Originally Posted By: rmoore
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Hard to imagine ALL of the neutrals overheating or any form of corrosive atmosphere that would change the color of ONLY the neutrals.


I wonder if a lightning strike on the grounded conductor of the service drop could have caused the neutral bar to heat enough to do this without any other obvious effects???

I look forward to possible explanations.

--
Richard Moore
Rest Assured Inspection Services
Seattle, WA
www.rainspect.com