# Electricians....Grrrrrr!



## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

Sewage lift station in a new restaurant. First evening they're open they get an awful smell in the back hallway (above the ejector tank). I come out the next morning and can't smell a thing. I know these sort of things don't fix themselves, so I set up to do a smoke test this morning before they open. Things didn't go too well with the test because my smoke bombs are a little past their freshness date. Anyway, I get a little smoke in the system but not enough to show a leak. While I'm packing up to go, by coincidence the alarm on the pump controller goes off. First thing I do is open the panel to shut off the pumps (forgetting to just push the alarm toggle on the side of the box). A fortuitous, if unnecessary, move on my part. As soon as I swing open the controller door I detect the unmistakable odor of my smoke bomb. Bingo! The sewer gas is escaping thought the electrical junction box inside the tank, up through the conduit, into the controller and out into the hallway. The question of why is it intermittent is simple when one thinks about it. They notice the smell exactly when the kitchen and bar get busy (as do the drains that lead into the grease interceptor and from there into the tank). So, as water pours into the tank, the pressure inside increases until it's strong enough to force air through the box, the conduit, the controller and into the hallway. All the electrician had to do was use the gasket that came with the junction box cover supplied by my pump station supplier. Instead, I get to waste my time chasing ghosts. Phac! 
I'll save you from the explanation for the alarm that was responsible for my Eureka moment except to say that it was a direct result of another boner dealt by this electrical genius and that it will cost someone (not I) a new pump.


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## Tommy plumber (Feb 19, 2010)

Any pictures?


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## Plumbus (Aug 4, 2008)

No pictures. Was back there this morning. yesterday after I left, they caulked the electrical conduit at the control panel but did not open the tank and properly caulk the electrical line leaving the tank or the box cover. We also figured out why the alarm keeps going off. When we tested the pumps with the controls set to automatic by lifting the lead and lag floats, nothing happened. They only work when the switches are in the on position. The bone head electrician wired the panel wrong. His company will be out first of the week to rectify the situation. In the mean time, the restaurant manager will have to go to the panel every couple of hours and switch the toggles to manual for a half an hour. Otherwise, the alarm will go off when the top float engages.
We'll see if the smell has been eliminated by our efforts today.
I hate it when this kind of stuff happens that's out of my control but I still have to face the music with the customer.


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## rjbphd (Feb 5, 2010)

That reminds of one job... water leak behind a false wall.. only when its rains.. after many other plumbers and handyhacks was there.... 5 mins later, told the owner , its the parking lot light fixture causing the leak... just before he was going to throw me out for smoking... explained to him that the pole cover is missing and leading in a perfect pitch, sending rainwater into the opening and draining back inside conduit to the wall of basement 75 ft away..


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