HELP !
Can an electrical panel be "dryed out"?
THe home that I want to buy was shut down..dewinterized. But when I went to look at the electrical Panel it had ice condensation on it. Is that going to causse me to replace the whole panel?? Can I dry it out? HOW? I can't turn on the electric or can I? If it DOES dry out...will it be okay?
The home was supposed to be winterized. all the pipes have been drained and everything looks good..except the electric panel...WHat do I do?
I REALLY want to buy this home.

You need to have the house inspected by a qualified home inspector.

The panel should not have ice on it, because without any one living their and no water there should not have been enough moisture to condense on the panel. So I suspect some other problems with the house.

There is a good chance that the panel is OK after drying out. But the fact that it happened make be conscerned about water leaking in the area and that the panel might be corroded.

Depending the details of the home inpsection you might also want to get an electricain to do a more detailed inspect of the panel and other parts of the electrical system.

The home was supposed to be winterized..everything that we looked at was dry...the only thing that I can think of..is when the owner vacated...it was forclosed on he didnt open the windows to allow the cold air in to "stabilize" the humity in the house. It was vacated...locked up....and winterized. but what from I can see..the moisture from the humity in the home it has caused ice crystals to form in the box. also t ice cryles around windows. we inspected the home really well and thats the only problem that we could find...Everything is dry except where moisture could condense like windows the box..slider. So do you think that when the panel is "dryed out" it would be okay? Or should I replace the electrical panel?

Not haveing seen it there no way that I could even give a guess as to the condition of the panel.

I still STRONGLY RECOMMEND a home inspector. There are many, many different things that they look for.

And based on your comments here and in the other thread you are not experienced in home construction and the equipment in them.

And the fact that it was foreclosed on most likely there have been lack of maintainace and existing problems. Some might have been their for years.

It might be well htat there was a problem with water dripping out of the panel for years.

I am planning to hire a home inspector...
Your right as far as home ownership goes !
The next door nieghbors uncle lived there and reported that they had no problems..but who knows !
Thank you

After you hire the inspector and you solve the water entry point, Auto parts stores sell Wire dryer. it's designed for older car wiring but it works for flooded outlets as well.

Good luck.

Troy

www.EnoceanWireless.com

The Ice condisation on the panel is NOT from a water coming in thru the panel,when the people left(they were ordered to vacate) they did not keep the windows opened a bit to allow for the humidity to leave the house,instead they shut the windows and with the humidity in the house Ice formed around the windows because it was so cold with the humity. The rest of the house is dry. no leakage anywhere. just ice considation around the panel..windows. I am going to try and get a Generator and a Heat monitor so I can plug in the monitor to heat the house up and dy out the panel . The house in Maine. and it has been freezing up there.