power flickering

[buzzard]

so the power is flickering this morning and i went outside after checking service panel. the meter socket ( old round kind) is making sizzling sound and its fogged up inside. so im thinking the socket has water in it, which would make sense cause the wire is terribly old and has almost no insulation left and the meter socket top waterproofing/gasketry is almost gone.the thing is though, the flickering is being biased in the house. there are a few rooms/breakers which are not flickering. the ones not flickering are random, like the second to last breaker on the right side and a couple on the left. i removed all the breakers just to check the panel itself and averything looks fine. and i switched a couple breakers that are flickering from their spot to a non flicker spot and they worked fine. so its not the breakers. i know, call an electrician, but for the sake of theory gimme some thoughts/ideas.

[jimbo]

Honestly, the best idea is to get an electrician or the power compant out there right away. It does not sound like something you even want to think about doing yourself, and it could be serious.

I suspect the power company would send someone right away. This may result in being without power for a while, so I would line up some ice for the refrigerator, flashlights, etc. Depending on whether it is something the company may fix, they might just make it safe, and then you are in the dark....literally....until you can get an electrician out there. You may or may not want to pay weekend rates for this! The power company should not charge for their visit.

Do something right away!

[hj]

the meter belongs to the power company and if it is sizzling, there is a loose, or weak, contact inside the housing.

[BigLou]

I believe this very same thing started a fire at my neighbors house get it looked at yesterday

[r_2016]

It could also be the socket that the meter plugs into, eitherway it needs to be addressed asap! I would also recommend shutting off the main breaker or shutting down as many electrical circuits in your house as possible to keep the load down until the power company or an electrician looks at it. Good Luck