Surge Electrical LLC

🚨 New Panel… Questionable Installation

A lot of homeowners assume that if a panel looks new, everything must be safe.

Not necessarily.

This panel was only a few years old, but when we traced the feeder conductors, we found a questionable installation that would raise serious concerns during an inspection.

The scary part?

Most homeowners would never know. The lights work. The breakers work. Everything appears normal.

That’s why permits, inspections, and hiring qualified electricians matter.

A new panel doesn’t automatically mean a safe installation.

⚡ Trust, but verify.

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⚡ I sent electricity into the earth through an 8-foot ground rod… and the breaker never tripped.

In this test, my meter showed about 0.7 amps (700 milliamps) flowing through the ground rod.

For comparison, a GFCI typically trips at just 4–6 milliamps.

That’s over 100 times less current than what was flowing in this experiment.

The lesson? Just because electricity is going into the ground doesn’t mean a breaker will automatically shut off. Breakers are designed to protect wiring from overheating, while GFCIs are designed to help protect people from dangerous electric shocks.

Electrical safety is often very different from what most homeowners assume.

Have you ever seen a test like this before?

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This homeowner had to pay twice for the same hot tub disconnect.

The original disconnect was installed too close to the hot tub, creating a code violation that had to be corrected. Electrical codes require the disconnect to be at least 5 feet away from the inside wall of the spa to help protect people from electrical hazards.

Unfortunately, when electrical work isn’t done correctly the first time, homeowners often end up paying again to fix mistakes.

That’s why hiring a licensed electrician matters. It’s not just about getting power working—it’s about getting the job done safely, correctly, and up to code the first time.

Have you ever had to pay twice because a contractor did something wrong?

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Most people think water automatically trips a GFCI.

Not quite.

In this experiment, I connected a cucumber to hot and neutral while it was sitting in water and plugged into a GFCI-protected outlet.

Current was flowing, but the GFCI didn’t trip.

Why?

Because the electricity leaving on the hot wire was returning on the neutral wire.

The GFCI only trips when it detects an imbalance between the current leaving and returning. Once a ground fault is introduced, the GFCI reacts and trips.

This is exactly why GFCI protection is required in bathrooms, kitchens, garages, outdoors, and other wet locations.

Electricity and water can be a dangerous combination. Always use proper GFCI protection where required by code.

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