Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

Skip to comments.

Power outage fries appliances[Glendale, California]
glendalenewspress ^ | August 3, 2010 | Melanie Hicken,

Posted on 08/03/2010 4:53:34 PM PDT by BenLurkin

Glendale Water & Power officials say they are investigating the cause of a Sunday power outage that left hundreds of homes without power and damaged some appliances and electric meters.

The approximately two-hour power outage started shortly after 4 p.m. and affected 600 homes and businesses, said city spokesman Ritch Wells.

Residents on Grange Street reported a loud explosion that damaged appliances, officials said.

"It is still under investigation," Wells said. "We know we blew some fuses on a transformer, but are still investigating what caused this whole thing."

The outage was bordered by Graynold Avenue, South Street, Columbus Avenue and Alexander Street, Wells said.

Grange Street resident Jolene Taylor said the explosion was accompanied by a bright flash and very loud booming sound that caused most of the street's residents to run outside.

"I almost fell from the couch to the floor," she said.

When the power came back on several hours later, Taylor's air conditioning and heating unit no longer worked, and her television was fried. Her electrical meter also had to be replaced, she said.

Other residents on the street reported similar damage, prompting Glendale Water & Power officials to bring claim forms to the street first thing Monday morning.

Residents can fill out the forms and request reimbursement by the city, Wells said.

"It's very unusual for an outage to impact homes like this," Wells said. "We will expedite the processing of any of these claims."

(Excerpt) Read more at glendalenewspress.com ...


TOPICS: Local News
KEYWORDS:
Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

1 posted on 08/03/2010 4:53:36 PM PDT by BenLurkin
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Arizona’s fault ... that’s where they get their power from, right?


2 posted on 08/03/2010 4:56:12 PM PDT by SkyDancer ( “Guns Don’t Kill Poeple. Abortion Clinics Kill People.” and I'm still " Molly Norris")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Wasn’t there supposed to be some sort of sun spot or other phenomenon to hit us today?


3 posted on 08/03/2010 4:59:58 PM PDT by basil (It's time to rid the country of "Gun Free Zones" aka "Killing Fields")
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Power outage? Sounds more like a power surge. Blowed it up real good, too.


4 posted on 08/03/2010 5:02:36 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Maybe some DIY’er tried to tie his solar panels to the grid and things didn’t go as planned.


5 posted on 08/03/2010 5:02:36 PM PDT by IAMIUBU
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: basil; TaraP; KevinDavis; blam; SunkenCiv

There is a video report with more information at this link — you’ll have to lool for it: “Violent power outage rocks Glendale neighborhood”

The video report was first posted at about 1600 hours PST. Even Water and Power officials are calling strange.

http://cbs2.com/video/?cid=211


6 posted on 08/03/2010 5:04:26 PM PDT by BenLurkin (Will must be the harder, courage the bolder, spirit must be the more, as our might lessens.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: RegulatorCountry

Try to find teh video linked from post 6 — you’ll find it interesting.


7 posted on 08/03/2010 5:05:28 PM PDT by BenLurkin (Will must be the harder, courage the bolder, spirit must be the more, as our might lessens.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 4 | View Replies]

To: DoughtyOne
Screwed, blewed and tattood...or just zotted? You may be OK, living up in hills. I remember Columbus, because I apartmented there, but not Graynold nor South street.

Back in '02 when we were packing up to move from Newhall out here to the Coachella Valley, we had a "yellow brownout" on the morning of moving day - the voltage was all over the place; the flourescent kitchen lights wouldn't turn on, but the fridge made a horrible humming sound.....got to the desert, plugged it in and it was scalding hot - I called Edison, and even though I'd cancelled service because of the move, they sent me a check immediately for a new one.

8 posted on 08/03/2010 5:06:02 PM PDT by ErnBatavia (It's not the Obama Administration....it's the "Obama Regime".)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

How does an “outage” fry equipment? A power surge will ruin equipment but how does no power fry something?


9 posted on 08/03/2010 5:16:43 PM PDT by raybbr (Someone who invades another country is NOT an immigrant - illegal or otherwise.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: basil
Wasn’t there supposed to be some sort of sun spot or other phenomenon to hit us today?

Other phenomena.

Free Image Hosting

10 posted on 08/03/2010 5:17:33 PM PDT by RegulatorCountry
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 3 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

The great sharp up and down spike, low voltage high amperage.


11 posted on 08/03/2010 5:19:10 PM PDT by Little Bill (Harry Browne is a poofter)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin

Sounds like they need to get better separation between their high and low voltage lines. Whole house surge suppressors are cheap.


12 posted on 08/03/2010 5:22:14 PM PDT by PA Engineer (Liberate America from the occupation media. There are Wars and Rumors of War.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: BenLurkin
Obviously the gerbils aren't rotating fast enough to produce CA electricity.

(Cracks whip) "He-yah! He-yah!"

13 posted on 08/03/2010 5:38:56 PM PDT by Extremely Extreme Extremist (Mexico is the U.S. version of Hamas)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: raybbr
How does an “outage” fry equipment? A power surge will ruin equipment but how does no power fry something?

Electric motors are rather sensitive to under voltage conditions and "brown outs" below 10% can and do damage air conditioners, refrigerators, freezers, well pumps, sump pumps, door openers, &c. As the voltage drops the motors slow down which limits the air cooling and the current rises which adds to the heat loading, too much of that and the motor is toast.

This incident however, sounds more like they (power company) had a short between the primary and secondary coils of a pole transformer. In my neighborhood that means the distribution side (14,400 Vac) gets applied to your house wiring which should be 240 Vac split into two 120 Vac legs phased 180° apart.

That happened to a friend of mine a few years ago and it wiped out all the electronics in his house (& neighbors connected to the same transformer). He had surge protectors on most of the computer/TV lines but they didn't help at all as they vaporized instantly. Typical surges on a power grid are caused by switching transients and lightning and may be thousands of volts but only last for a few milliseconds, therefore they represent relatively low power in total. When you get a transformer failure the voltage goes up by x60 or so and stays there until something melts. If your real lucky, your house may not catch fire.

Regards,
GtG

PS I've also seen it happen in an industrial plant. About four hundred yards of buss bars and several hundred motor starter boxes blew. It took several weeks to get the shop back up and running.

14 posted on 08/03/2010 6:02:37 PM PDT by Gandalf_The_Gray (I live in my own little world, I like it 'cuz they know me here.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 9 | View Replies]

To: PA Engineer

Where do you buy house suppressors?


15 posted on 08/03/2010 6:11:01 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: PA Engineer

Where do you buy house surge suppressors? What will they generally run in price?


16 posted on 08/03/2010 6:11:30 PM PDT by Jack Hydrazine (It's the end of the world as we know it and I feel fine!)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 12 | View Replies]

To: windcliff

ping


17 posted on 08/03/2010 7:23:35 PM PDT by stylecouncilor (What Would Jim Thompson Do?)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]

To: Gandalf_The_Gray
Yeah, I know all that - I have been doing industrial electrical maintenance for almost thirty years.

The story states "outage" which, as we both know, was not the cause of the failures. It was a surge.

I have had all three phases of 480V pass through my body, the 577V output of a VHO ballast and hundreds of shocks by 220 and 110. I never needed a suppressor. :)

18 posted on 08/03/2010 8:06:59 PM PDT by raybbr (Someone who invades another country is NOT an immigrant - illegal or otherwise.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 14 | View Replies]

To: Jack Hydrazine
Where do you buy house surge suppressors? What will they generally run in price?

Last time I looked into whole house surge suppressors, they were in the $70 to $100 range but that was several years back. As to where you get them, I would recommend going with a licensed electrical contractor. They would represent a real hazard if the installation was DIY, as you need to get behind the front panel on your breaker box. You also need two, one for each side of the 240 to neutral to give you proper protection. Remember also that a surge greater then the suppressors' energy dissipation rating will cause it to fuse, requiring replacement (not cheap!)

Regards,
GtG

19 posted on 08/03/2010 8:41:07 PM PDT by Gandalf_The_Gray (I live in my own little world, I like it 'cuz they know me here.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]

To: Jack Hydrazine
There are two types of surge protectors. The first is a meter surge protector. These are mounted on the power meter at the service entrance. Your power company may provide this service or registered electrician.

The second is an electrical panel surge protector. These are installed in the breaker boxes and protect all of the appliances from outside surges.

The meter unit can be installed by an electrician however I do not have the price for that. We pay $7 a month for the electric company service. They are responsible for replacing it and insure all major appliances from damage. These units also degrade (with multiple hits and dirty power) and the electric company is responsible (with continued calls and phone pressure) to replace them.

The service panel unit I installed for about $150 because of my backup generator bypasses the electric meter by transfer switch.

One other place that can hurt your electronics is the incoming phone lines. These are more difficult to protect against if you are using DSL. The filters will attenuate your signal and may disrupt the higher speed DSL services. I always figured that one phone, DSL modem and router will be toast. I keep backups for those.

Hope this helps.
20 posted on 08/03/2010 8:47:27 PM PDT by PA Engineer (Liberate America from the occupation media. There are Wars and Rumors of War.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 16 | View Replies]


Navigation: use the links below to view more comments.
first 1-2021-24 next last

Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.

Free Republic
Browse · Search
General/Chat
Topics · Post Article

FreeRepublic, LLC, PO BOX 9771, FRESNO, CA 93794
FreeRepublic.com is powered by software copyright 2000-2008 John Robinson