TAP Electric

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T.A.P. Electric- We are here to provide electrical services to customers in South East Iowa and surr We also offer financing as low as 0% upon Pre-Qualification!

We provide a range of electrical services that are personalized to cater to a customer’s needs. Talk to our skilled team of electrical contractors for electrical wiring, outlets and fixtures installation, panels, main panel upgrade and remodeling services. For all your electrical installations, replacements and repairs, we have the tools and skills to offer quality work. Our company is committed to providing superior services at competitive prices. You can count on T.A.P. Electric for all your electrical needs in Burlington, IA. Call us to get a professional electrician that knows the ins and outs of electrical work. Get a free quote today. We also offer Virtual estimates via Facetime and Zoom.

10/30/2026

Today we were in Fort Madison adding a dedicated circuit for a new sump pump. While working in the panel, we found a loose neutral connection that had been arcing and melting the wire.

The home was built in the 1970s and still has its original panel. Connections like this can loosen over the years, build heat, and go unnoticed until they cause a bigger problem. We let the homeowner know, got it fixed, and took care of a few other small things while we were there.

If your home has an older panel and it's never been looked at, it's worth having someone check it out. Happy to help if you have questions. Call or text 309-333-3912.

T.A.P. Electric | West Burlington, IA

10/26/2026

The main breaker was off. The bathroom light was still on.

That makes an electrician stop and think, because it usually means power is getting in from somewhere it shouldn’t. A line from another building. A generator hooked up wrong. Something feeding that fixture.

So Troy tested it. No voltage. No current. Nothing coming down the line.

Then he swapped the bulb. The new one went dark like it should. The old one was the whole story.

Watch the video. Grab the metal base, it lights. Let go, it goes out.

It’s a rechargeable emergency bulb. There’s a small battery inside that charges whenever the light has power. When the power quits, the bulb checks whether a tiny bit of current can flow from one contact to the other. In a socket, the house wiring gives it that path, so it stays on. In your hand, your skin does the same job. That’s the trick. Clever in a storm. Pretty spooky if nobody told you one was up there!

Troy’s advice: if something stays lit with the power off, don’t guess. Test it. Most of the time it’s something simple like this. But, once in a while it’s power feeding back from somewhere, and that one can hurt somebody.

10/16/2026

When a storm takes out the power lines to your house, you need someone who picks up the phone, shows up and gets your power back on.

That’s what John T. got, and he took the time to tell everyone about it. Here’s his full review, since the screenshot is a little hard to read:

“I called TAP Electric after a storm took out the power lines to my house, Troy was the person you want on your side. He responded quickly, communicated clearly from the start, and showed up ready to solve the problem.

His knowledge and professionalism really stood out. He took the time to explain what had happened, what needed to be repaired, and why, without making the situation more confusing or stressful. His pricing was very fair, his work was efficient, and he treated my home with care and urgency.

Getting power restored after a storm can be overwhelming, but Troy made the entire process feel manageable. He got my house safely up and running again within a few hours when I truly needed it. It’s rare to find someone this responsive, honest, skilled, and easy to work with. I would absolutely recommend TAP Electric to anyone who needs electrical work done right, especially when it’s urgent.”
⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ John T., Google review

Thank you, John. Reviews like this are why we’re proud of where we stand: 87 Google reviews and still a perfect 5.0.

A perfect score isn’t easy to keep. It takes every job, every call and every customer, one at a time. One bad day shows up for everyone to see. So we don’t take a single one of those stars for granted.

If the lights go out in southeast Iowa or west-central Illinois, call T.A.P. Electric. We’ll answer.

09/29/2026

Quick question before we get to the point: how many things are charging at your house right now? Go ahead and count. Phones, the tablet, the kids' games, the drill batteries in the garage, maybe an e-bike. It adds up fast.

That's exactly why Fire Prevention Week, which starts Sunday, is all about charging this year. Nearly all of that stuff runs on lithium-ion batteries, and the fire safety folks have a short list for them. Look for a UL, ETL or CSA mark when you buy a charger. Use the cord that came with it. Charge on a counter or a table, not on the bed or the couch. Unplug it when it's full. And when a battery is done, take it to a drop-off instead of the trash can.

Here's our two cents as electricians. The battery is only half the story. The other half is the outlet it's plugged into.

That power strip behind the nightstand gives you more places to plug in, but it doesn't give you any more power. Three chargers, a lamp and a space heater on one strip are all leaning on one outlet in the wall. Space heaters belong straight in the wall anyway, and it won't be long before they come out of the closet.

While you're at it, take a peek at the garage outlet where everything charges overnight. Scorch marks, a cracked cover or a plug that slides out on its own all mean it's worth having looked at.

So, what was your count?

09/24/2026

A homeowner called us last week. He had just moved in, heard a pop in the bedroom, and then the outlets, the ceiling fan and the bathroom light all quit.

Troy talked him through it over the phone. This is the order he checks things in, and you can do the first two yourself.

Check the breaker panel. A tripped breaker usually sits in the middle instead of fully on or off. Push it all the way to OFF, then back to ON.
Look for a GFCI outlet. That's the ground fault circuit interrupter, the outlet with the TEST and RESET buttons. It shuts off power when it senses electricity leaking where it shouldn't. One GFCI can protect outlets and lights in other rooms, so the one that tripped might be in a bathroom, the garage or outside. Press RESET.
If both of those look fine, the pop was probably one outlet or connection giving out. Power often runs through one outlet to get to the next, so one bad connection can take out everything past it.

That third one is not something most homeowners should attempt to fix. If you smell something hot or see black marks on a cover plate, turn that breaker off and give us a call.

He got his sorted out. Most of these calls end that way.

09/18/2026

Every older house we walk into has had more than one person working on the wiring over the years, and not all of them had a license.

That's not a knock on anybody. A house built in 1920 has seen a lot of life. One owner put in a basement outlet, the next added a circuit for a window AC unit, and somebody tied a ceiling fan into whatever wire was closest. Some of that old work is solid. Some of it went in on a Saturday afternoon with scrap wire from the garage and a whole lot of hope.

You can often read that history right at the panel. Pop the door and look at the directory, the faded card that's supposed to tell you which breaker runs what. Three different handwritings, a few scratched-out blanks, and a label that just says "kitchen?" usually mean decades of add-ons by different hands. A messy card doesn't mean something is wrong, and a neat one doesn't mean everything is right. It's a good reason to have someone look behind it.

At some point it makes more sense to start over than to keep adding on. That's where a whole home rewire comes in: one clean plan, one crew doing it right from top to bottom, and a directory that finally tells the truth.

What's the craziest wiring you've ever found in your own house? Tell us yours.

09/09/2026

SERVICE CALL FINDINGS

A homeowner called us after plugging in their vacuum and seeing sparks fly from the receptacle, causing half of the kitchen to lose power.

The receptacle was severely worn. The plug was able to shift enough for the wider neutral blade to enter the hot-side opening. This allowed the energized contact to touch the grounded metal inside the receptacle, creating a ground fault and tripping the breaker.

Homeowner safety check:
If your plugs feel loose, fall out, or don't fit tightly, or if you notice burning, discoloration, buzzing, or excessive sparking, have the receptacle inspected.

A worn receptacle may seem minor, but it can become a serious safety hazard.

09/04/2026

Customer has a meter base fail on this underground service. Due to clearance concerns with Alliant Energy and the City we had to relocate the meter. Electricity is back up and customer is happy.

09/01/2026

If an outlet on your wall feels warm, pay attention to it—that’s your house trying to tell you something.

Nine times out of ten, it’s just how the thing was wired years ago. Back in the day, a lot of folks took the shortcut and just shoved the wires into those quick-stab holes in the back instead of taking the time to wrap them nice and tight around the terminal screws. Over the years, those little spring clips weaken, the wire works loose, and loose electrical connections make heat. Leave it alone long enough, and it’ll melt the plastic face right off the wall or knock out every other plug down the line.

If you’ve got an outlet that feels warm, looks a little scorched, or has a buzz to it, go ahead and unplug whatever’s in there. Seriously, don’t play the wait-and-see game with that stuff.

Same deal with those old two-prong outlets you see in houses around here. A lot of them are sitting in old metal boxes without a real ground wire anywhere in sight. If you just try to swap in a new three-prong yourself without knowing what’s in the box, that’s usually how folks get a nasty bite.

Troy has had to pull plenty of these out over the years. Getting it sorted out doesn't take long, but the thing folks regret is waiting until it sparks to call somebody in. Better safe than sorry, kiddo.

08/27/2026

FYI

This panel is full. Every space taken, and a couple of the slots got doubled up to buy room.

It happens slowly. A window unit, then a freezer in the garage, then somebody finishes the basement. Eventually the lights dip when the AC compressor kicks on, and there is one breaker you have quietly gotten used to resetting.

A panel upgrade and a service upgrade get mixed up constantly, and they are not the same job. A panel upgrade means replacing the panelboard and the breakers inside it. A service upgrade means raising the amprage of the whole electrical service, usually 100 amps to 200, and that pulls in the meter socket, the service mast, the service entrance conductors and the grounding electrode system.

Address

400 West Burlington Avenue, Suite 2
West Burlington, IA
52655

Telephone

+13093333912

Website

https://tap-electric.com/

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