Blackened Grounds

[Marc D. Shunk]

I see that in basement panels all the time when the house has sewer problems. Whatever the weird gas is that comes out of a sewer line will turn the exposed copper black/blue like that. Does the same thing to the copper pipes in the basement.

[Richard W. Washington]

ok. so do we have a consensus yet? i've read salt, sewage issues, meth lab.

[Speedy Petey]

Originally Posted by rwashington

ok. so do we have a consensus yet? i've read salt, sewage issues, meth lab.

I vote yes.

[Greg Fretwell]

The chemical is probably sulfur, where it is coming from is still up in the air.
It could be sewer gas (hydrogen sulfide), sulfer from water treatment (well water) or some customer generated chemical activity (meth lab)

[sradabaugh]

Jeff,

I vote for sulfur/copper reaction. Unoccupied could mean dry plumbing traps that would allow sewage gas back into the property. Vacant property means the gas was concentrated during periods of no one entering. hydrogen sulfide in sewage gas oxidized the copper. How did the water lines look? I was in a house about a year ago where everything(plumbing and electrical) in the basement was blackened like this.

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

I found the same condition today (although not as severe) in a house only a few blocks from the one where the original pictures were taken. This home is still occupied, 2005 build.

[Bruce A. King]

I agree with the sewer gas etc. but it could also be from nearby lightening, a cable guy told me that the cable coax connectors get blackish looking from lightening.

Lightening does not have to actually strike something to cause problems. The electromagnetic field can be strong enough to trip breakers and arc from a grounded washer cabinet to a grounded dryer cabinet. This actually occured at my Dad's house. It left black marks on both pieces and they were 4 inches apart.

[Larry F. Rollins]

I lived on a 40 foot sailboat on the ocean for 8 years and never saw blackened wires from salt. Bluish-green corrosion sometimes if it there was direct contact with salt water. I vote for sulfer corrosion either from sewer or other sources. Anything that smells like rotten eggs is most likely a source of sulfer. It can be found in well water and in the air around paper mills etc.

[Joe Funderburk, CMI]

Chinese Drywall symptoms "Exposed copper wiring appears dark and corroded"

http://www.nachi.org/chinese-drywall.htm

Did you look at copper piping at the evaporator coil?

[Jeffrey R. Pope]

This turned out to be contaminated drywall. Notice the date of the original post. . .

[Mathew Hawley]

Chinese drywall will make copper black. Did you look and see if the ground wires were black at the outlets as well? Homes built in 2005 are at higher risk for imported drywall. Look at the AC high and low presure lines at the air handler unit. If they are black as well you "May" have some imported drywall in the home. We see it a lot here in Florida. Anyways just a thought.