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When you get a transformer failure the voltage goes up by x60 or so and stays there until something melts.

A meter based suppressor is suppose to clamp and blow the pole fuse at the transformer. I do not have the ramp times at my fingertips. Hasn't happened yet, but will let you know (after I change my pants) when it does happen. ;-)

Did a substantial amount of patent work with electric companies years ago regarding cable faults. No matter what the protection, the noise and smoke was unnerving when failures happened. We used combos of airpax breakers, fuses, gas arrestors and MOVs. All but the breakers would have to be replaced. We never had damage to equipment, but operator nerves were occasionally shot.

A meter based suppressor is suppose to clamp and blow the pole fuse at the transformer. I do not have the ramp times at my fingertips. Hasn't happened yet, but will let you know (after I change my pants) when it does happen. ;-)

Last summer my wife and I were working in the garden when we were startled by what sounded like a 12 gauge fired at close range. It was the pole fuse on a transformer at the end of my driveway. When WEPCO came to look into the problem there was no obvious fault. They said it was probably a squirrel or bird that departed in a blaze of glory (no evidence left behind!). Sure made one hell of a bang though.

Regards,
GtG

PS A few years before that they had modernized the distribution grid and raised the line voltage from 440 to 14,400. That really cuts into the squirrel population!