A hot-plastic smell, a loud buzz, crackling, or heat at the panel. That is a connection arcing at the one place in the house that carries everything. Do not open the cover. Call.
In this order. None of it needs tools.
The dead-front cover is held on by screws for a reason. Behind it are the main lugs, which are live even with the main breaker off. Opening it tells you nothing you can act on.
If the panel is dry, the floor is dry, and you can reach the main without touching anything else, push it OFF. If it is sizzling, smoking, or wet, do not touch it. Step away.
Rust streaks, drips or a wet floor under the panel mean the enclosure is live and wet. Keep everyone away and call. We shut it off from the outside.
We answer 24/7. A hot or crackling panel goes to the front of the line, ahead of everything else.
We would rather tell you it can wait than sell you a night call.
Licensed, bonded and insured electricians. Background-checked crew.
Say what you see. Burning, sparks, shock or no power goes to the front of the line; a technician reaches out within 1 business hour, usually much sooner.
The first job is to stop the danger: circuit off, fault isolated, nothing left live that should not be. You get the exact price before any repair, and you approve it first.
Repaired with the right parts, tested under load, the next connection checked so it does not come back next week.
Emergency calls across both counties south of I-90, from our shop in Covington.
Covington, Kent, Maple Valley, Black Diamond, Auburn, Enumclaw, Renton, Federal Way, Des Moines, Burien, SeaTac, Tukwila, Issaquah, Pacific, Algona
Puyallup, Tacoma, Bonney Lake, Lake Tapps, Sumner, Orting, Buckley, Graham, Spanaway, Lakewood
A loose or corroded connection at a breaker, a lug or the bus bar is arcing and heating the plastic around it. It gets worse with load, and it does not fix itself.
If the main went off cleanly and the smell stopped, you can wait for first thing in the morning with the power off. If the smell is still there with the main off, call now: the lugs ahead of the main are still live.
Not always. Often it is one breaker, one lug or one wire. We tell you honestly whether the panel is safe to keep. Federal Pacific and Zinsco panels usually are not.
Yes. A hot, buzzing or smelling panel is the first call we take. We answer 24/7.
Exact price once we see what has overheated, before any work starts, and you approve it first.
Exact price before any work starts, approved by you first, any hour.