Frequently asked questions

We serve the Quad Cities on both sides of the river: Bettendorf and Davenport in Iowa, and Moline, Rock Island and East Moline in Illinois.

Yes. QCA Electric is licensed, bonded and insured in both Iowa and Illinois.

Yes. We run 24-hour emergency service, and most emergency calls in the Quad Cities are reached in under an hour.

Yes. Our workmanship carries a lifetime warranty.

QCA Electric has served the Quad Cities for more than 35 years and is locally and family-owned.

Yes. We work on residential, commercial and industrial electrical systems, from a single outlet to 480-volt three-phase equipment.

A breaker that trips repeatedly is doing its job. Either the circuit is carrying more load than it was wired for, or there is a fault on it. We measure the actual draw before deciding which.

Most residential panel upgrades are completed in one day. Power is off for part of that day while the panel is swapped and the utility reconnects the service.

Mostly, yes. We fish new cable through existing bays and chases and open small access holes at plates and corners. Balloon framing, plaster and fire blocking add openings, and we point those out before cutting.

You can, for a lamp and a refrigerator. Anything hard-wired, such as a furnace or a sump pump, needs an inlet and a transfer switch to be connected safely.

In most rooms, yes. Wafer fixtures fit through a small hole and the cable is fished from an existing switch or fixture. Joist direction and insulation decide how many openings it takes.

Deep enough to clear edging and aeration, and deeper where a bed gets dug every year. We use direct-burial cable and run conduit under driveways and walkways.

Most spas call for a dedicated 240-volt circuit, commonly 50 amps, but the answer comes off the nameplate. Plug-in models run on a 120-volt GFCI receptacle of their own.

No. Nothing fitted at a panel handles a direct strike. It handles the far more common events: nearby strikes, utility switching, and the surges your own motors create.

Call the utility to report it and stay well away from the wire. Once it is safe, an electrician has to repair the mast and the entrance before the drop can be reconnected.

Before the drywall is ordered, and ideally before framing is finished. Moving a door or a window changes the box layout, and it is far cheaper to hear about it at that point.

Not safely, and not for anything permanent. A cord across the yard has no overcurrent protection at the garage end, and it fails the first time a mower or a plow finds it.

No. A general home inspector notes what is visible across the whole house. We look only at the electrical system, open the panel and test devices, so the findings are far more specific.

For most calls in the Quad Cities we are on site in under an hour. Tell whoever answers what has stopped and what it feeds, and we bring the right parts the first time.

Often, yes, because the maintenance goes away as much as the consumption does. Fixtures that need a lift every time a lamp fails make the strongest case for changing them.

Look at the main panel. Three hot legs and a much larger disconnect usually mean three-phase. A photo of the panel label and the meter tells us for certain.

The disconnect and reconnect is usually hours rather than days, because the new feeders are in place before the machine moves. Rigging and mechanical setting normally take longer than the wiring.

The signs are a full panel, repeated main trips, subpanels fed from subpanels, and voltage sag when large equipment starts. A load recording over a week settles the question.

Yes. Emergency calls are answered around the clock, including weekends and holidays, and in most cases you get the owner rather than an answering service.

No. The bore passes well below the slab and the surface is never opened. The only excavation is the small pit at each end of the run.

We work on the electrical side: feeds, disconnects, motor circuits, starters and controls for dryers, augers, legs and fans. Mechanical repair stays with your equipment dealer.

At 2140 Devils Glen Rd. It is a working shop rather than a showroom, so call before you stop by and we will make sure someone is there.

No. Davenport is part of our core service area and a short drive from the shop, so you are paying for the work rather than the windshield time.

Yes. We are licensed, bonded and insured in Illinois as well as Iowa, and we register and pull permits with the city the same way for every job.

The city asks for 24 hours, with a 2pm cut-off for next-day inspections. We book it as soon as the work is ready so the job is not sitting open.

Yes. The city requires contractor registration on its own bond form before permits can be applied for, and ours is in place.