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My suggestion is to follow that electrical conduit back to see where it is coming from. It looks like water inside the connector on the box as well as wet just under the connector which would indicate the water is coming in through the conduit. Likely to find another box or two that is "leaking" along the way. Follow all the conduits from any other box that one in the photo is going to.
My BWAG (best wild ass guess) from 30 years as an Electrician is that you have a conduit going to an outside box, the snow is covering the face of that outside outlet and the small amount of heat that is coming out of the conduit into the outside box is melting the snow, which in turn is running from the outside box, down the conduit, and ending up in your basement light. Sounds crazy, but I have seen it happen several times over the course of many years working in snowy areas. Generally happens in an unusually snowy winter when the snow is deeper than usual,and covering a box it normally doesn't reach.
I agree with Bydand. Judging by the photo, I'd guess the water is come through the conduit. The joist above it is a little wet but that looks like transfer wetness. No visible line of water flowing.
Follow the line where the conduit runs and you'll likely find the source. It's amazing how water travels.
You have a watermark on the copper water pipe right next to the conduit and electrical box. I can't tell for sure from the photos, but it does appear that there may even be a slight spray coming from the water pipe (that would account for the mist in the area). In any case, turn off the electricity to that location. Don't just turn it off at the switch--also flip the circuit breaker (assuming you have circuit breakers) which feeds this area.
Also, never hang a bucket to collect water from conduit or water lines. Put the bucket on the floor so you don't have to climb a ladder. A heavy(!) bucket could also potentially cause some damage, you don't need that. If you can determine that the watermark area is the source of the leak, see if you can find a shutoff valve to that line in the plumbing. You'd need to drain the water out of the line--otherwise the pressure could continue the leak for hours.
If you can't fix it yourself, call a plumber.
EDIT: Since the conduit connects to another light fixture only 5 feet away, which isn't wet, I doubt the water is coming through the conduit unless it is picking up water within that short span. Since it appears to run alongside the water line, that's a possibility, too, but it seems more likely that your problem is in the water line right at the electrical box.
I'll add that the apparent spray seems to be shooting to the top of the electrical box, and is directly in line with the wet area on the floor joist.
Last edited by jackmichigan; 02-26-2014 at 11:15 AM..
The joist is dry between the copper and the box. The side of the box toward the copper appears to be dry on the outside.
Shut off the power to that circuit at the panel (not just the switch) and run your hand ( or a piece of cardboard) between the copper line and the box to see if there is water spraying on it from the copper line.
I'm embarrassed to admit that the spray IS coming directly from a water line right next to that fixture NOT from the copper pipe, but the pinhole is in a flexible hose that connects to an old reverse osmosis system that had been turned off a year and a half ago. The spray is coming from right next to where the hose connector connects TO the copper pipe. I'd imagine that if I took a better picture of the whole area the first time instead of just the fixture, maybe I would of spotted it on the picture, but the spray line is what I originally thought was just a spider web string. duh!
Now how can I patch that up? I have mighty putty here....would that work?
When we moved into this house, there was an aquativa water softener and reverse osmosis system set up, but after learning that I have to pay someone to come and change the filters, at $300. each time (usually every 8 months) AND if the filters weren't changed like clockwork our water pressure was horrendous, so I asked my husband to disconnect it, and he did. HE would of known what to do in this situation and how to fix it, but he died of a massive heart attack, actually the next day after disconnecting this whole stupid system. My brother-in-law took the water softener system, but left the reverse osmosis system sitting there. I have NO idea how to unhook the rest of the reverse osmosis system, or to remove that connector with the knob and patch up that copper pipe (where that connecter is), so I guess I'm going to have to call a plumber for that, but until I can afford that, for now I just need to patch up that pin hole and stop that spray. PLEASE tell me there's an easy way to do this by myself!
AHA! So there actually was a spray of water near the watermark on the copper pipe...but it was coming from a point out of the photo. Looking more closely, I can now see that in the original photos.
In your latest photo, the "T" on the bottom may be a shut-off valve, I'm not sure. If that doesn't shut off the flow of water into the plastic tube, you should try to shut off the water to THAT copper water line and drain the water, if possible. You could disconnect the plastic tube and try to find a cap which would cover the opening (as long as that line is not being used). I wouldn't try to disconnect the tap into the water line--that would only leave you with a bigger hole to deal with. (However, if you're certain you will never use that line again, you might want to remove the saddle valve entirely and repair that part of the pipe. But...you likely can get by without doing so.)
Last edited by jackmichigan; 02-26-2014 at 12:53 PM..
The correct way to repair it is to cut the copper right where the saddle valve needle penetrated the pipe. Then you slip a repair coupling on and sweat(solder) it.
If that's not your ball-of-wax, call a plumber to repair it.
Turn the little bar clockwise to close off the water flow, then do what you can to relieve the pressure in the plastic pipe. If the leak is in the saddle itself, you'll need a plumber to replace that section of pipe. There is a self-sealing rubber tape that might fix it temporarily, but you have to pull and tug properly to get it to seal and it still sometimes drips.
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