A long time ago (at least 2-3 years) I availed myself of a set of powerline networking adapters (netgear brand, not too different from the unit featured in the current teardown) to combat whatever bizarre construction materials used in my home that kept the wifi signal from reaching the second floor. They served me ably until about 2 weeks ago. Then, there were a couple of days of hard rain and 2 things happened;

1) the gfci in one of the kitchen outlets tripped

2) the powerline adapters stopped working.

Today, I paid a visit to Best Buy and picked up the leatest model (Netgear PL100). This unit works, after a fashion. As described here,

https://kb.netgear.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1096?cid=wmt_netgear_organic

the powerline indicator is red ( datarate <50 mb/s). Consequently speed tests I run report subpar results.

The paper quickstart guide that came in the box claims that the issue arises from any motors plugged into the same circuit. There are in fact a dryer and washing machine on that breaker, but they have never caused issues before.

Possibly useful additional info;

1) House wiring is pre-code (like, monolithic period - ceramic insulation).

2) There is an external generator disconnect that is not super ultra secured from the elements. Currently nothing is connected to it.

My hope is that there is some more-or-less simple repair I can do that will allow me to return the new units for a refund. Alternately, perhaps I may have accidentally discovered an electrical safety hazard.

Many thanks in advance for any info

Joe

 

Not sure what the question is that that can be answered.

Is your house in the USA? Was it built early in the transition from wood lath and plaster to drywall? During that transition, a metal backing (often a wire mesh) in place of wood lath with plaster was used. I have a 1950 house that was built that way. In other words, the walls look like regular hand-applied plaster, but a screw may run into steel. That could be part of your reception problem.

As for power available, the house just mentioned was originally "knob and tube" wiring (which is what I suspect you mean by ceramic insulation). Originally, it had a maximum of 50 amp service and 15 amp fuses. There were only 4 fuses for the entire house (2 story colonial). Of course, there have been several additions to that wiring over the years to accommodate dryers, washers, electric ranges and so forth. On the other hand, the wall outlets are pretty much wired as original, which is 2-wire with no separate ground and all fed by two circuit breakers. Your problem may be absence of ground, inadequate current, and/or some leakage. The solution is to find the problem in your house and update the wiring as needed.

John

 

The question is, why did things take a drastic turn for the worse after the rainstorm? Could the rainstorm have damaged the wiring in some way?

You say "a screw may run into steel". Is is too much to hope for to find said screw and extract it?

 

Well, moisture increases conductivity / reduces resistance in certain common materials, including porous ones, concrete, salts, certain minerals, etc..

A GFCI will trip if detecting current on the order of 5mA.

It's actually the contaminants in water which are conductive. Pure H2O is non-conductive, but you'll never find any outside a lab.

As far as the storm itself damaging "the wiring" goes, well, yes, particularly if there were nearby lightning strikes. Otherwise, indirectly by introducing moisture to materials contacting energized parts and other conductive surfaces, whether energized or grounded. Also by swelling or movement of structural members or other building materials, and pressures being exerted against electrical equipment or cables and conductors.

 

Thanks so much for the info

I pretty much had all that theoretical background to begin with; my concerns are a bit more practical.

How badly is it possible that the wiring was damaged? Do I need to prioritize this as a safety hazard? If it is unclear, how can I find out? Where would I start looking?

 

Donovan, firstly, Happy Thanksgiving!

Theories get developed from observation of real situations and looking for root causes, as you most likely realize. Then these theories can be used to reverse that process, and predict or detect failures, or in your case impending failures, or undetected damages, again something you probably realize. But to do it, close observation of conditions is critical. For anyone here in the forum to predict a problem, observation or intimate knowledge of your electrical wiring and apparatus, AND the structure and environment it is installed in, would be necessary. Of course that's not possible.

Lightning SHOULD do no damage, unless of course your house, or attached wiring or apparatus was "struck". Wet wood in the attic or walls SHOULD be evident and cause obvious structural damage / failures before attached wiring/apparatus becomes damaged. But that doesn't mean much to you, you realize that. Neither you nor any of us know what has happened to the power grid in your area. I can say that it is very unlikely that you have had or will have any surge or spike events that could damage your wiring/apparatus, and something like a TV or the "surge suppressor" device you plug it into would be the item damaged/affected. (As opposed to a circuit breaker or wiring).

The greatest threats to your wiring/apparatus are:
1-moisture
2-physical (like driving a nail into a concealed cable unwittingly when hanging a picture, or shelf, or TV screen)
3-mistakes or shoddy installation or service practices. (loose connections, aluminum wiring, staples pounded too deep, insulation damages)
4- catastrophic (a flood, a large tree falling on the house, Armageddon......)