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Power outage fries appliances[Glendale, California]
glendalenewspress ^
| August 3, 2010
| Melanie Hicken,
Posted on 08/03/2010 4:53:34 PM PDT by BenLurkin
click here to read article
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1
posted on
08/03/2010 4:53:36 PM PDT
by
BenLurkin
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")
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")
To: BenLurkin
Power outage? Sounds more like a power surge. Blowed it up real good, too.
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
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.)
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.)
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".)
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.)
To: basil
Wasnt there supposed to be some sort of sun spot or other phenomenon to hit us today? Other phenomena.
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)
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.)
To: BenLurkin
Obviously the gerbils aren't rotating fast enough to produce CA electricity.
(Cracks whip) "He-yah! He-yah!"
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.)
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!)
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!)
To: windcliff
17
posted on
08/03/2010 7:23:35 PM PDT
by
stylecouncilor
(What Would Jim Thompson Do?)
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.)
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.)
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.)
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