Electricians in Pembroke Park, FL

If you live in a mobile or manufactured home and part of it has lost power, check two places: the panel inside the home and the breaker or disconnect on the post or pedestal outside that feeds it. If either has tripped, reset it once. If it trips again, or if you ever feel a tingle touching the metal siding, the steps, a door frame or a tap, stop and keep everyone away from it. That is a fault that needs a licensed professional, and a tingle from the outside of the home is an emergency. For electricians in Pembroke Park, One Call Home Pros arranges it in one call. One Call is a connector, not a contractor: we match you with a vetted local pro who is licensed and insured for the work, and we stay with the job until it is done.

How power reaches a manufactured home

Understanding the path of the power helps you describe a fault and know who is responsible for it.

1. The utility brings power to a meter, usually on a post or pedestal on the lot or on a bank of meters serving several lots.
2. A disconnect or breaker at the pedestal protects the feeder that runs to the home.
3. The feeder runs from the pedestal to the home, often underground or in a short run of conduit beneath the home.
4. The home’s own panel, inside the home, divides the power into circuits.

In a park, responsibility for the pedestal and the lines leading to it can sit with the park rather than with you. The arrangement varies, so check with the park’s management before work starts on anything outside the home. Inside the home, and usually the feeder from the pedestal, is the homeowner’s. When you call, tell us whether the home is in a park, and if management has to be informed, say so; if they ask for proof of the pro’s insurance, tell us that too.

Grounding, bonding and the warning signs

In a manufactured home, the metal frame, the metal siding where there is any, and the plumbing must be bonded and properly grounded. The feeder should carry a separate ground and neutral, kept apart in the home’s panel. When any of that is missing, damaged or wrongly connected, the metal parts of the home can become live. People describe it as a tingle from the siding, the steps, the door frame or a tap.

That condition is dangerous. If you feel it:

• Do not touch the metal part again, and keep others and pets away.
• Switch off the home’s power at the pedestal if you can do so without touching the home.
• Call for a licensed electrician, and tell us it is a shock from the outside of the home.

The usual causes are a loose or broken ground in the feeder, a failed connection at the pedestal, or a fault on a circuit added later, such as a light on a carport or an outlet in a shed.

Wiring inside a manufactured home

Manufactured homes are wired in the factory, and the wiring runs through walls that are thinner than in a site-built house. Outlets and switches in many are a type made specifically for manufactured housing, which clamp to the wall panel rather than screwing into a box. They work well when they are in good condition and are replaced with the right parts.

Problems arise when a worn device is replaced with an ordinary one that does not fit the wall properly, or when connections are made in ways the original design did not allow. The common symptoms are outlets that are loose in the wall, outlets that are warm, and circuits that work intermittently. A pro familiar with manufactured homes will know which replacement parts suit your home.

Aluminium wiring in older mobile homes

Many mobile homes from the late 1960s and the 1970s were wired with aluminium for ordinary circuits. Aluminium expands and contracts more than copper, and connections at outlets and switches can loosen and overheat. In a home with thin walls and less space around each device, that matters even more.

Signs of trouble include warm cover plates, flickering lights, outlets that stop working and then work again, and a smell of hot plastic. The fixes range from approved copper connections at each device, using connectors made for the purpose, to replacing the wiring. Insurers sometimes ask about aluminium wiring in older homes, and a pro can describe what is there. Tell us the approximate age of the home when you call.

Additions, carports and sheds

Carports, screened rooms, utility sheds and laundry rooms are often added to a manufactured home after it is placed. Each needs power, and over the years that power is sometimes run from the nearest outlet, or by extension cord, rather than from a proper circuit.

That leads to overloaded circuits, outlets outdoors without ground fault protection and connections exposed to the weather. A shed with a freezer, a washer and a light on an extension cord from the home is a common sight. A proper circuit to the shed, protected as the location requires, is the safer answer. Tell the pro what has been added and where its power comes from.

Air conditioning on a manufactured home

Manufactured homes are cooled by central systems, package units beside the home or window and wall units. Each larger unit needs a dedicated circuit sized for it. When a unit is replaced with a larger one, the circuit may need to change too. When a window unit is plugged into an ordinary outlet shared with other things, tripping breakers and warm outlets follow.

The air conditioning disconnect beside an outdoor unit is exposed to sun and rain, and it corrodes. If the unit will not start and its breaker has not tripped, the disconnect is one of the first things a pro checks.

Storms and a manufactured home

Strong winds can shift a manufactured home slightly on its supports, strain the feeder where it enters the home, and damage the pedestal, carport wiring and outdoor fixtures. After a storm, look from a safe distance before restoring power:

1. Look for damage at the pedestal, the feeder and where it enters the home.
2. Check for water in outdoor boxes, the pedestal and any outlets on the carport.
3. Leave the power off if anything looks damaged or wet, or if the home has visibly moved.
4. Call and describe what you can see.

A licensed electrician checks the feeder and connections before the home is re-energised.

Under the home: rodents, water and the feeder

The space beneath a manufactured home, behind the skirting, is where the feeder enters, where the ground connections are made and where some of the home’s wiring runs. It is also where rodents shelter and where water collects after heavy rain. Chewed insulation and corroded connections under the home are a frequent cause of circuits that fail for no visible reason.

If skirting panels are missing or damaged, animals get in more easily. If water stands beneath the home after storms, connections there corrode faster. Neither is an electrical job in itself, but both affect the wiring. When a pro inspects a fault, they may need to get under the home, so clear access to the skirting panel nearest the feeder entry before the visit.

Laundry and water heater circuits

An electric dryer and an electric water heater are two of the largest loads in a manufactured home. Each needs its own circuit, sized for it, from the home’s panel. The water heater in many manufactured homes sits in a closet reached from outside, where heat and damp take a toll on its wiring connections.

If the water runs cold and the water heater’s breaker has tripped, reset it once. If it trips again, leave it off and call. A dryer that runs but does not heat may be a failed element or one half of its circuit lost at the breaker, and the pro can tell which.

Smoke alarms in a manufactured home

Fire spreads quickly in a home with lightweight construction, so working smoke alarms matter even more. Many older homes have only battery alarms, some long past their date. Hard-wired alarms, linked so that one sounding sets off the rest, are the better standard. A pro can fit them and check the circuit they share. Test each alarm regularly, and replace any past the date on the back.

Replacing or moving a home on a lot

When an older home is removed and a newer one placed on the same lot, the electrical connection is not simply plugged back in. The pedestal and feeder have to suit the new home’s service, the grounding and bonding have to be made afresh, and the work is permitted and inspected before power goes on. If you are planning a replacement, involve the park and a licensed pro early. Electricians in Pembroke Park who work on manufactured housing can tell you what the lot’s existing supply allows.

Conventional houses in town

The site-built houses here are generally older and modest. Their electrical work follows the familiar pattern for houses of their age: original panels short of space, ungrounded two-prong outlets, ground fault protection missing in kitchens and bathrooms, and sometimes aluminium branch wiring. Electricians in Pembroke Park see both kinds of home, and the pro One Call matches will suit the one you live in. Tell us which it is.

Ground fault protection

Kitchens, bathrooms, laundry areas and anywhere outdoors need GFCI protection under current code. Many older mobile homes and older houses have little or none. Adding it is one of the most useful small jobs, and it can be done with GFCI outlets or GFCI breakers. Outdoor outlets on carports and porches also need covers that stay closed with a cord plugged in.

Lighting and ceiling fans

Ceilings in manufactured homes are lighter than in site-built houses, and a ceiling fan must be fixed to framing that can carry it, not just to the ceiling panel. A fan that wobbles or has worked loose is a hazard. A pro can mount it properly or tell you where in the room it can safely go.

Carport and porch lights add security and are a common request. Outdoor fixtures need ratings for wet or damp locations, and motion sensors or photocells save leaving lights on all night.

Chargers and surge protection

A car charger needs a dedicated circuit with enough capacity behind it. In a manufactured home, the feeder and the pedestal may limit what is possible, and a park may have its own rules. The pro can tell you whether a charger is practical at your lot and what it would take. Ask management about rules first.

A surge protector at the home’s panel protects the air conditioning, refrigerator and electronics from surges caused by lightning and by the grid. It is a modest job when the panel has room.

Before the visit

A little preparation makes the visit quicker. Know where the pedestal for your home is and whether it is locked. Clear the way to the panel inside, which in many manufactured homes is in a bedroom closet or a hallway. Note which outlets and lights are affected and what was running when the trouble started. If the home has had additions, say what they are and roughly when they were built. If park management needs to be told about the visit, let them know or tell us when you call. Keep pets inside and away from the skirting while the pro works underneath.

Permits and the park

Electrical work that adds circuits, replaces a panel or changes the feeder generally needs a permit and an inspection, for a manufactured home as for any other. The licensed pro applies for the permit and books the inspection. Where the home is in a park, management may also need to know before work starts outside the home.

How One Call handles it

When you call, we ask whether the home is manufactured or site-built, roughly how old it is, whether it is in a park and what is happening. Electricians in Pembroke Park with the right experience are matched to your home, vetted and licensed and insured for the work. The pro tests, finds the cause and explains it. Smaller repairs are often done on the visit; for larger work, you hear what is needed first. Ask what the price covers. You pay One Call, and One Call pays the pro. For larger work such as a new panel or feeder, financing is available; ask about it when you call.

Make the call

Tell us about the home and what is happening, and One Call arranges a pro who knows that kind of home. Nearby, we also arrange electrical work in West Park and Hallandale Beach. The Coral Springs electrical page covers the trade in more depth.