# Stealing Electric



## robertc65

A good friend of mine went out on a call the other day for a women who was complaining that some of her lights are flickering. He said when he got there it looked to him like the whole house was flickering. He said he took the cover off their relativly new SQareD Panel and it looked clean. He then noticed that it looked like the insulation was all torn up on the service entrance where is came in through the block wall. He went outside to see if he could see damage on the outside and while he was out there, the women said the flickering stopped for the 1st time in 2 days. She asked him if he had found the problem. He walked back in the house and the flickering started again. After a few minutes he discovered that if he was standing in front of the service entrance outside the lights seemed ok. If he took one step away the flickering would start again. He was about to tell the lady she had a wire cut underground, when he noticed the top of one of those large gray plastic enclosures sticking out of the dirt. He dug around it a bit, saw that the service cable was running through it, so he took off the top. He said it looked like someone had tried to bypass the electric meter by digging up the under cable before it gets to the meter and running it to the new panel. The women had just moved into the house a few weeks earlier, so this had been done by a previous homeowner. The meter was no longer being bypassed as it looked like it was just reconnected to the meter in a hurry before the house was sold. Have any of you guys ever seen anything like this before? He has been doing residential electric for 20 years and never has never seen someone try to bypass the meter.


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## GregS

Did the place smell like mould, as in for a grow-op?


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## mdshunk

The house next door to me is still vacant, as the owner is in jail. This has been a few years now. He did this exact thing to grow pot in his house. He nailed some spikes into the URD to steal power.


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## Sparky Joe

Don't these people know that flourescent light's are the best for growing weed, and they use hardly any power.


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## tgeb

Sparky Joe said:


> Don't these people know that flourescent light's are the best for growing weed, and they use hardly any power.


Speaking of which, have you guys ever seen these pics of someone who had a clandestine operation and probably got caught due to his utility bills.

http://www.ebaumsworld.com/tags/pot-bust/


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## Sparky Joe

That is an awesome looking set-up;
I'm truly inspired, in fact I've already started digging my escape tunnel, just typing here to take a 'breather' :laughing:


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## GregS

A lot of them get taken down around here in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).

They even had an old Molsons brewery cranking out plants for a while.

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1073775087508_82/?hub=CTVNewsAt11


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## ruskent

BuildingHomes said:


> A lot of them get taken down around here in the GTA (Greater Toronto Area).
> 
> They even had an old Molsons brewery cranking out plants for a while.
> 
> http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/1073775087508_82/?hub=CTVNewsAt11


I remember when that story broke! That was a good one.


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## robertc65

So this poor lady may have bought some drug kingpin's house. Oh my God. I wonder if people knock on her door looking for weed. Does the Electric company eventually figure out something is not right on that xformer? I imagine the meter reader would scratch his head if the meter was dead and the lights were on inside.


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## Frankawitz

I have seen in Detroit where people will do some of the craziest things, This woman didn't pay her bill, so DTE comes out and removes the meter. so she has her friend hook it back up, they used copper ground rods cut to size then they pushed the rods into the clip for the meter. DTE comes out disconnects the lines at the pole, she gets her friend to climb the pole and hook back up. again DTE comes out and remove the line from the pole. only way DTE could stop this woman. Years ago there was a car dealer who had the electrians by pass the meters well they closed them down after a few months.


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## mdshunk

*Never say you've seen it all*

Never say you've seen them all! 

A homeowner in California was concerned with two
"funny looking" black wires in the attic of his newly
purchased home. The former tenants must have had a
cash crop. They tapped the "drip loop" at the service
drop prior to the meter. 

Fortunately, no one was ever injured and the new
property owner had it promptly brought to code!

Photo for distribution courtesy: 
Joe Tedesco, NEC Consultant
www.joetedesco.org


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## Sparky Joe

robertc65 said:


> So this poor lady may have bought some drug kingpin's house. Oh my God. I wonder if people knock on her door looking for weed. Does the Electric company eventually figure out something is not right on that xformer? I imagine the meter reader would scratch his head if the meter was dead and the lights were on inside.


If they were smart about it, they wouldv'e still left the meter hooked up and just done a parallel tap.
That way the meter would still see something so the power company wouldn't know, and they'd be getting about half their power for free (percentage free depends on the tap size)


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## robertc65

Since they have to tap into the service while it's still hot, I imagine a few cultivator / amateur electricians have maybe met their creator in their pursuit of free electricity. I wonder if they make good fertilizer. Ha ha.


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## dougchips

I had my towns water dept. come out and investigate my water usage a few years ago. When I was working and remoldeling my house I would us very little water (showers, laundry done elsewhere). They checked the meter and did some flow test and were all set. The guy was nice enough to tell me how to by-pass the meter and some stories of catching people.


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## faber307

We used to talk about how you could put a pipe T in your soffit and run your wires to a panel in your attic. Split some heavy loads through a contactor that is controlled by a breaker in your lower panel so that if the meter was pulled the contactor would drop and there would be no load. It would work, but I never heard of anyone trying it.:no:


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## mdshunk

Tab Faber said:


> It would work, but I never heard of anyone trying it.:no:


Is that one of those things you can upsell your customers on? :jester:


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## Teetorbilt

I don't know about the newer meters but the old were magnetometers and pretty easy to fool with heavy permanent magnets. The ones from OMC 35A alternators fit the can almost perfectly.


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## robertc65

If you are planning to retire in Mexico this may be a good service to provide your customers.


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## faber307

I remember when I was a kid I had a friend that would hit his electric meter with his tennis shoe, quite hard to stop it from spinning! We wer e in like 6th grade..............


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## rhinoguy

*Before I was old enough*

Before I was old enough to know better I hooked up a friend's house on a "split feed". There was a master cutoff switch installed in the twenties before the meter. I put a tap on the switch from behind, through the wall and out of sight. It ran the stove, A/C, dryer, and water heater, everything else was metered. The previous owner had never used much electricity and had it cut off several times for getting behind on the bill. So when my buddy moved in the power company suspected nothing. Four home owners later the power company figured it out.
I am proud of this evil! I drilled trough the wall and attached coupler nuts to the screws that held the wires in place, then put screws on the couplers. Instant tap! I covered the whole installation with enough silicone rubber to be safe and hide my tracks. Then I put a subpanel over the whole mess. I should be writing movie scripts!


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## thom

Rhinoguy, maybe you should be writing movie scripts, instead you're just another penny-ante thief.


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## JamesNLA

rhinoguy said:


> Before I was old enough to know better I hooked up a friend's house on a "split feed". There was a master cutoff switch installed in the twenties before the meter. I put a tap on the switch from behind, through the wall and out of sight. It ran the stove, A/C, dryer, and water heater, everything else was metered. The previous owner had never used much electricity and had it cut off several times for getting behind on the bill. So when my buddy moved in the power company suspected nothing. Four home owners later the power company figured it out.
> I am proud of this evil! I drilled trough the wall and attached coupler nuts to the screws that held the wires in place, then put screws on the couplers. Instant tap! I covered the whole installation with enough silicone rubber to be safe and hide my tracks. Then I put a subpanel over the whole mess. I should be writing movie scripts!




Before you were old enough to know better huh?......

The term SCUMBAG comes to mind, as well as a few others.

Too bad you were "old enough" to not short yourself 6 feet under.

idiot


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## Sparky Joe

This seems to be a touchy subject for some people.

I'll admit I was semi-involved in such an activity. I was doing some can lights in a condo, and the owner also asked that I add some lights and receptacles in the garage.

Well there was already I receptacle out there so I figured I would just tap off that. When I tore into it I found a rat's nest of wires in the wall. I wanted to make it al safe but when I tried to turn it off I found it wasn't powered from the panel in the condo. 

I just turned my head, made it safe and tied the garage into it. I guess the property management company will be paying for a couple flouresent lights from now on.


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## JamesNLA

That's a bit different. Morally speaking, let the owner know but that's about it. If you did the tap (which you didn't) than yeah, that's a degenerate. It's not your job to fix or refuse to work on that setup, just to mention it, and it's their integrity that will have it corrected.

Besides it's good to work on hot wires, keeps you paying attention!! And if you blow up your tools, it gives you a good excuse to go get more!

My last post was a bit......detailed, but I can't stand people who have no integrity. Gives this entire industry a bad rep, and indirectly affects all of our incomes at some point.


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## Forry

Wow! I wonder if you guys would have the nerve to talk like that to someones face? Tempted to say more.....:thumbdown


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## Sparky Joe

Forry said:


> Wow! I wonder if you guys would have the nerve to talk like that to someones face? Tempted to say more.....:thumbdown


Talk like what Forry? You're gonna have to explain yourself a bit better for anyone to understand.


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## thom

Well Forry, I did just that, talk to their faces like that a few years ago in a bar. Two guys were bragging about ripping someone off and I told them they were a couple of scumbag two-bit thieves. They were offended that I would call them that, they shut up and left. Generally, people know where I stand. I won't talk about you behind your back unless I would say it to your face.

Some people find me a little confrontational, though I'm not sure why.


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## Forry

G'morning, thom-

I was just surprised at yours and James' lack of tact... I don't talk that way.


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## mdshunk

thom said:


> Some people find me a little confrontational, though I'm not sure why.


I absolutely understand that urge, but sometimes there's wisdom in biting your tongue (or keyboard finger, as it were). In the grand scheme of things, it matters little what some guy you'll never meet in another part of the country thinks or does. :thumbsup:


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## POOLMANinCT

... sometimes its best to share a rubber biscuit


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## mdshunk

POOLMANinCT said:


> ... sometimes its best to share a rubber biscuit


Right :thumbsup: 

As in, "What do you want for nothing..."


..bow, bow, bow, bow...


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## JamesNLA

Forry said:


> G'morning, thom-
> 
> I was just surprised at yours and James' lack of tact... I don't talk that way.


...and that's your choice to make.

If I choose to be less than nice either in person or on this board I can do that. Would you rather me give some kind of gracious pat on the back for what someone chose to do that I find discraceful? 

When something rubs me the wrong way, I can and will turn a little hot headed. And I have no problem saying what I think to someones face, but the difference is I am not out to get a rise out of people, I'm not looking to fight someone, however if someone is hearing it from me, more often than not, they deserve it. 

I didn't call him an A-hole, or a number of other foul mouth words.
I called him a scum bag and an idiot, because that's what he is (or if he has changed his ways, than that's what he WAS). We all make mistakes, of those mistikes I have made, I will not brag about them. I will make an attempt to do right by them. Integrity....Some people need a kick in the ass from a perfect stranger and who knows, maybe the next time this guy sees a tap like that, he'll actually do the right thing. If he does than our world will be just a little bit better. If he doesn't, at least I stood my ground in that attempt.

...and I agree sometimes bitting ones tounge is an admirable thing to do, and I do that often, especially when arguing with the wife. 

No, go watch NASCAR. It's the best track in the country. However I prefer the CART cars of 6-7 years ago. They used to let them run at about 230. That was cool to see!!


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## JamesNLA

Here's a pic from the winners circle in Fontana in 02


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## Magnettica

tgeb said:


> Speaking of which, have you guys ever seen these pics of someone who had a clandestine operation and probably got caught due to his utility bills.
> 
> http://www.ebaumsworld.com/tags/pot-bust/


Holy smokes! Never seen that one before. That's unbelievable. Suprised the inspector never picked up on it, lol.


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## DeepOne

Hmm, beside you may meet these problems too. It is surprised for me.
Beside me may meet else such variety - a substitution of the introductory fuze, which limits power, on more powerful.


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## Guest

*hi to everyone*

new to this but looking some info to get free electri. plz help i can't find any thread related to this thanks. i heard about megnatic but really dont' know with megnatic i hafe to buy. is there any specific one. plz help thnks for help.


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## tinner666

I was going to add a line of receptacles in a garage once. Pulled the cover and found the ground going to the line-in side. I think black was hooked to ground.  

You'll have to pardon my lack of details, but it's been about 30-40 years. I remember that 2 other carpenter friends familiar with wiring also had a look. I closed the panel and told the homeowner to get an electrician.

BTW, though a roofer, I've long had a Personal Residential Electrical Permit in Va. It's good for doing my own property. And as a Contractor, I'm allowed to "stepout' of my specialty if I'm charging $250.00 or less.

Figured I say it now before I get jumped on by the real electricians here.:devil:


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## karma_carpentry

tinner666 said:


> BTW, though a roofer, I've long had a Personal Residential Electrical Permit in Va. It's good for doing my own property. And as a Contractor, I'm allowed to "stepout' of my specialty if I'm charging $250.00 or less.
> 
> Figured I say it now before I get jumped on by the real electricians here.:devil:


Tinner, what's that law? Can you explain it more? Do you mean you can do plumbing or electric in someone else's home as long as you're charging peanuts?

I think here in Massachusetts, you can do electric or plumbing on your own home, but never legally on anyone else's property, certainly not in the line of work.


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## karma_carpentry

The only (deadbeat scumbag) customer who didn't pay me in full for my work was also stealing electric. He owns a restaurant here in Boston and he jumpered across the meter. He disconnected the jumpers sometimes to get a modest reading. He had copper exposed. I told him that's hella dangerous, if any one of his employees ever tripped and fell onto it they'd be fried.

After he didn't want to pay me, he also said "Don't bother trying to take me to court. Do you know how many people try to take me to small claims court? I just don't go. You can't make me go to court."

The amount was so small I dropped the issue. But it was the principle and I though many times of ways I could extract some revenge, until I realized I was wasting my own consciousness with the negative thoughts and I should just forget about him and let his own karma do him in.


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## Susan Betz

karma_carpentry said:


> The amount was so small I dropped the issue. But it was the principle and I though many times of ways I could extract some revenge, until I realized I was wasting my own consciousness with the negative thoughts and I should just forget about him and let his own karma do him in.


 :thumbup: Great attitude - and I'm sure it will happen, too. 

When I encounter people like that, I always think: "I'm so glad I'm not living inside your skin."


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## JasontheMason

That is a lot of pot!! My friends house had this mystery panel in his attic under all this stuff, so he had a electrican come in and check it out and apperently it looked like evything was fine, so he ran some circits and then his e bill dropped alot. That went on for like 3 years and he moved.

Then when the new owner came in, he was a electrican and found that it was tapped from the transformer or something like that. Apperintly the guy who owned the house before him worked for PSEG.

And isnt it illegal to have a panel up there with preety much no way to get to it?


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## mdshunk

JasontheMason said:


> And isnt it illegal to have a panel up there with preety much no way to get to it?


Yup.


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