My breaker panel started gushing water during a storm. Is it safe for us to turn it on now that it's over? Does it need to be replaced? Will we get electrocuted if we turn it on while it's still wet though no longer gushing?
Electrical – Is it safe to enable a service panel that has been recently flooded
electricalflooding
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Best Answer
Oof! Shut this thing off, have the meter pulled, and keep this thing shut off until you can get it rectified!
Flooded light-duty electrical equipment is universally beyond simple remediation due to the potential for water, salt deposits, and debris to have gotten into inaccessible areas and absorbed into insulating materials, causing arc tracking vulnerabilities, reduced insulating capability of insulators, corrosion damage to metal parts, and the potential for mechanical jamming or contact impairment due to debris. De-energize this equipment immediately (turn the main breaker off if it isn't already off and also call your electrical utility to have them shut power off to your address as you can no longer trust the main breaker(s) to shut power off properly at this point), and do not turn it back on until the situation is fully remediated.
See this Square-D document and this Littlefuse document for more information. If you provide more details about the affected electrical equipment, I can give more details about the remediation your situation requires.