electrical service help desperately needed,pro or anectdotal welcome

Heres the story.house 1935,60 amp service,three 15 amp circuits.Power went out,i flipped the disconnect a few times,no power.Everyone in neighbor hood out.My switch was difficult to turn.Power comes on,my power surges and out it goes.Open box,the disconnect switch has melted.This setup is power meter,wires straight to disconnect,then straight to the fuse holders.Old screw in type fuses.One straight line,an integral unit as in whole setup is on big box.Power company comes up,turns off power at meter.Nephew wires from meter to a 100 amp fused disconnect,then to the fuse bars that the fuses power off of.Electric company inspects,approves,and turns on power.

OK,heres the problem,Im now having variable power voltages in house,usually 116-118 volts and all is well,then POOF,power dumps to about 108 volts.I can turn on dryer,and power will come to 118,USUALLY,sometimes it just browns out,though I have no voltage reading for that.

Today wife says she got shocked when bathing and touched the cold water tap.So I get my meter,house is 118 volts,check with 1 probe to tap,other to water in tub,it reads 1 volt.Thought thats odd,1 volt and she got zapped,so I had her turn on electric heater ,volts at outlet 108 and checked tub again.14 volts!!

So this is what I think,either the nuetral to the house was damaged,or the meter or something,or the house has a ground to water pipes or ???? thats perhaps faulty?Years ago my niece said she felt a tingle from tub,though old man me couldnt feel it.

So,a ground problem?What do you know as a pro or homeowner thats experienced such a thing??? This is the advice I need.

What should replacing service to 200 amp, with just three 15 amp house circuits and 12 outlets total cost in Socal,high cost area?Wires travel through metal flexible conduit.It is an outdoor style service box.

Thanks for the help and advice.
BooBoo

 

2 excellent answers so far,I WILL have it fixed by a pro,agree 1000% this is a time to bite the bullet on expense,just want to go into it not looking like a total dummy.This is a serious life threatening problem,nothing to mess around with.Definitely this time it will be an electrician who does the work.

I have done a servicebox replacement many years ago,really nothing to it,got it inspected by the county and was up and running,but it was done on a home I was refurbashing before i moved in,so i had a week to dilly dalley around with it,not the case this time.

Thanks gentlemen.
More answers and stories gratefully appreciated
BooBoo

 

Does have copper wire.I wont be checking any live voltages at the meter after seeing the damage done when it shorted( Im not qualified to do THAT! ),I imagine i wouldnt be here,meltdown!I will check it at the disconnect,its a clean box,easily accessed,lots of room,I feel 'safe' looking in there,not the meter.The voltages were equal at 118 volts both sides(to meter and to circuit fuses) of disconnect fuses(2 fuses,100 amps each if that matters) if that means anything.Even the SCE guy was leery of it(Old meter setup),and came back next day to show it to a young fella as its so old!
BooBoo

 

Still more great advice! Will do that.
BooBoo

 

OK,we dont have copper pipes,and dont have 240.Im going to look today for those grounds.We also dont have any sub panels.Im glad to see you all are thinking its a ground problem,sounds like I should be able to get repaired without too great an expense,esp. if i can find a shoody ground hookup on my own.Are you saying if its not copper,I wont have a water pipe ground?What do you mean 'jumper' cable at meter..to water pipe or ground rod?

 

Will try that

 

If its bad nuetral,i cant fix that(not touching anything thats near hot wires,not qualified in any way to go near anything like that),I will look at the grounds.If thats not it,I will have electric comp. check their nuetral,then call the electrician to look at it.
I really appreciate the knowledge!

 

Yep,power guy already told me to get a new 'drop' if upgrading to 200 amp when he came out.Gas for hot water.

Would like to thank you ALL,great advice,and I feel better having an idea on whats up.I will let you know as it progresses,will try to get SCE out on Monday,see if i can schedule em ASAP,will be in touch with the resolution.
You all got it right,this is a dangerous thing that must get fixed fast.
BooBoo

 

1 question not answered yet,any one know what an upgrade to 200 amp with outdoor box should run?
BooBoo

 

Did get under house today,found a couple should I say junction boxes,that had a flexible conduit from main panel,then 2 0r 3 conduits running from that to what appeaers to be my wall plugs.Didnt like the looks of those boxes,and I didnt see what I suspect is ground (the solid conduit from bottom of panel) as its way under house behind floor joist? and wasnt interested in going that far back today.
Im thinking,looking at this,that i can fish new romex to each wall plug(only 12) upgrade to a new panel,and I can do this myself in a day or so after pulling a permit and having SCE pull the power.I will research this a bit and get back to you.It may be feasible to just rewire this thing completely,gotta think a bit about this.Do my ceiling lights run from a wall plug,to wall switch ,then to lights,is that how that works?They seem to be on same circuits as floor plugs.
BooBoo

 

Still havent been able to even get someone to come out and look at it.With the residential boom on out here,they are booked solid doing housing tracts!
Soo.....if you are an underworked electrician,apparently Socal has a job for you.Will update again when I find someone who can actually find the time to stop by.Called and talked to a couple more answering machines today.
BooBoo