[FoxNews]A small town's sudden power surge fried tech gear i

[Mr. Man-wai Chang]

A small town's sudden power surge fried tech gear in hundreds of homes

Full story:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/01/31/small-town-sudden-power-surge-fried-tech-gear-in-hundreds-homes.html


Residents in the small Pennsylvania town of Brookville must've wondered
what on earth was going on earlier this month when a sudden power surge
caused electrical appliances and gizmos in up to 1,000 homes to fry,
explode, or simply conk out.

What may have momentarily seemed like some kind of weird supernatural
happening was actually an electrical surge caused by a failed power line
component, according to an AP report. Local media said that "damage
ranged from residents losing a refrigerator to losing all appliances in
the kitchen or losing everything in the house."

Up to a quarter of the town's 4,000 residents were thought to have been
affected by the incident, with many reporting fried computers, burned
electrical meters, and damaged power strips. Some even spoke of
fluorescent lights suddenly exploding.

When the surge occurred, the high volume of calls flooding into the
emergency services forced the local fire department to call for extra
help from three nearby facilities.

As for the local cops, the incident tripped its main office radio,
causing them to miss the first emergency calls. The first they knew
something was up was when they heard the fire trucks roaring through the
town.

"We were fortunate that nobody was hurt," Tracy Zents, the director of
Jefferson County's Department of Emergency Services, told AP.

--
@~@ Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch! Live long and prosper!!
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty!
/( _ )\ May the Force and farces be with you!
^ ^ (x86_64 Ubuntu 9.10) Linux 2.6.39.3
不借貸! 不詐騙! 不援交! 不打交! 不打劫! 不自殺! 請考慮綜援 (CSSA):
http://www.swd.gov.hk/tc/index/site_pubsvc/page_socsecu/sub_addressesa

 

[Jon Elson]

Had two circuit breakers do something odd at home. One tripped, and I
assumed somebody had a space heater and a hair dryer on at the same time or
something. Then, a breaker for my computer room tripped when I turned on a
laser printer. No unusual loads that I haven't done a hundred times before.
I unplugged the laser printer, thinking it might have given up the ghost.
When I reset the breaker, it was noticeably warm, which seemed odd, as it
was not feeding a heavy load. The laser printer and everything else was
just fine.
It took a couple hours for the breaker to cool. I can't remember for sure
if the breaker that tripped earlier had also been warm, but it might have.

So, anyway, it seems these breakers developed poor contact after just
staying turned on for several years, and needed the contacts cycled to wipe
them clean. I have some other breakers in the shop that are used as
shutoffs for various machines, and they never do this, I guess because the
contacts are exercised routinely.

Jon

 

[Ralph Mowery]

In article <8IOdnWLPLNJPmwjFnZ2dnUU7-LvNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
jmelson@wustl.edu says...

Had two circuit breakers do something odd at home. One tripped, and I
assumed somebody had a space heater and a hair dryer on at the same time or
something. Then, a breaker for my computer room tripped when I turned on a
laser printer. No unusual loads that I haven't done a hundred times before.
I unplugged the laser printer, thinking it might have given up the ghost.
When I reset the breaker, it was noticeably warm, which seemed odd, as it
was not feeding a heavy load. The laser printer and everything else was
just fine.
It took a couple hours for the breaker to cool. I can't remember for sure
if the breaker that tripped earlier had also been warm, but it might have.

So, anyway, it seems these breakers developed poor contact after just
staying turned on for several years, and needed the contacts cycled to wipe
them clean. I have some other breakers in the shop that are used as
shutoffs for various machines, and they never do this, I guess because the
contacts are exercised routinely.

Jon

Can't help with the hot breakers.

Are the ones you are sing to cut off the machines designed to be used as
breakers and switches ? Some are and some are not. Then may become weak
and trip below he ratings if not over the years.

 

[Dave Platt]

In article <8IOdnWLPLNJPmwjFnZ2dnUU7-LvNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
Jon Elson <jmelson@wustl.edu> wrote:

Had two circuit breakers do something odd at home. One tripped, and I
assumed somebody had a space heater and a hair dryer on at the same time or
something. Then, a breaker for my computer room tripped when I turned on a
laser printer. No unusual loads that I haven't done a hundred times before.
I unplugged the laser printer, thinking it might have given up the ghost.
When I reset the breaker, it was noticeably warm, which seemed odd, as it
was not feeding a heavy load. The laser printer and everything else was
just fine.
It took a couple hours for the breaker to cool. I can't remember for sure
if the breaker that tripped earlier had also been warm, but it might have.

Is this a plug-in breaker, or one that's wired in?

In either case, it seems possible that its connection to the wiring
has deteriorated (oxidized, worked loose, etc.) and it might be
heating up at that point. If your home has any aluminum wiring, I'd
be _very_ concerned about this possibility.

I'd recommend a full re-check, with the mains power entirely
disconnected.

 

[Mr. Man-wai Chang]

On 4/02/2017 6:41 AM, Jon Elson wrote:

It took a couple hours for the breaker to cool. I can't remember for sure
if the breaker that tripped earlier had also been warm, but it might have.

So, anyway, it seems these breakers developed poor contact after just
staying turned on for several years, and needed the contacts cycled to wipe
them clean. I have some other breakers in the shop that are used as
shutoffs for various machines, and they never do this, I guess because the
contacts are exercised routinely.

Thank you for sharing.


--
@~@ Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch! Live long and prosper!!
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty!
/( _ )\ May the Force and farces be with you!
^ ^ (x86_64 Ubuntu 9.10) Linux 2.6.39.3
不借貸! 不詐騙! 不援交! 不打交! 不打劫! 不自殺! 請考慮綜援 (CSSA):
http://www.swd.gov.hk/tc/index/site_pubsvc/page_socsecu/sub_addressesa

 

In article <8IOdnWLPLNJPmwjFnZ2dnUU7-LvNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
jme...@wustl.edu says...
- hide quoted text -

Had two circuit breakers do something odd at home. One tripped, and I
assumed somebody had a space heater and a hair dryer on at the same time or
something. Then, a breaker for my computer room tripped when I turned on a
laser printer. No unusual loads that I haven't done a hundred times before.
I unplugged the laser printer, thinking it might have given up the ghost.
When I reset the breaker, it was noticeably warm, which seemed odd, as it
was not feeding a heavy load. The laser printer and everything else was
just fine.
It took a couple hours for the breaker to cool. I can't remember for sure
if the breaker that tripped earlier had also been warm, but it might have.

So, anyway, it seems these breakers developed poor contact after just
staying turned on for several years, and needed the contacts cycled to wipe
them clean. I have some other breakers in the shop that are used as
shutoffs for various machines, and they never do this, I guess because the
contacts are exercised routinely.

Maybe you could've taken them to the scrap yard, but since you decided to keep them, how did you cycle them to make their connects better?

 

[Jon Elson]

Dave Platt wrote:

In article <8IOdnWLPLNJPmwjFnZ2dnUU7-LvNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
Jon Elson <jmelson@wustl.edu> wrote:


Is this a plug-in breaker, or one that's wired in?

It is a GE "snap in" breaker in a GE breaker panel (load center).
The breakers have fingers that grip a bus bar in the panel, and a screw
terminal that holds the wire.

In either case, it seems possible that its connection to the wiring
has deteriorated (oxidized, worked loose, etc.) and it might be
heating up at that point. If your home has any aluminum wiring, I'd
be _very_ concerned about this possibility.

No, NO aluminum wiring! I checked before buying!

I'd recommend a full re-check, with the mains power entirely
disconnected.

The fact that after resetting, the breakers are now running cool tells me
the contacts have been cleaned by cycling them, and should be OK for the
next 10 years or so.

Jon

 

On Sat, 04 Feb 2017 14:20:34 -0600, Jon Elson <elson@pico-systems.com>
wrote:

Dave Platt wrote:

In article <8IOdnWLPLNJPmwjFnZ2dnUU7-LvNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
Jon Elson <jmelson@wustl.edu> wrote:


Is this a plug-in breaker, or one that's wired in?
It is a GE "snap in" breaker in a GE breaker panel (load center).
The breakers have fingers that grip a bus bar in the panel, and a screw
terminal that holds the wire.

In either case, it seems possible that its connection to the wiring
has deteriorated (oxidized, worked loose, etc.) and it might be
heating up at that point. If your home has any aluminum wiring, I'd
be _very_ concerned about this possibility.

No, NO aluminum wiring! I checked before buying!

I'd recommend a full re-check, with the mains power entirely
disconnected.
The fact that after resetting, the breakers are now running cool tells me
the contacts have been cleaned by cycling them, and should be OK for the
next 10 years or so.

Jon

I think I'd buy a spare breaker. They always fail in the middle of the
night on a weekend. They only cost $5 to $10.

I'd unplug them one at a time, and clean the contacts where they plug
into the bussbar on all of them. Also make sure you dont have some
device such as a refrigerator, sump pump etc, that may be cycling and/or
jammed. Probably would not hurt to remove and inspect every outlet on
that circuit to make sure there are no burnt wires or loose connections.

 

[John Robertson]

On 2017/02/04 2:54 PM, oldschool@tubes.com wrote:

On Sat, 04 Feb 2017 14:20:34 -0600, Jon Elson <elson@pico-systems.com
wrote:

Dave Platt wrote:

In article <8IOdnWLPLNJPmwjFnZ2dnUU7-LvNnZ2d@giganews.com>,
Jon Elson <jmelson@wustl.edu> wrote:


Is this a plug-in breaker, or one that's wired in?
It is a GE "snap in" breaker in a GE breaker panel (load center).
The breakers have fingers that grip a bus bar in the panel, and a screw
terminal that holds the wire.

In either case, it seems possible that its connection to the wiring
has deteriorated (oxidized, worked loose, etc.) and it might be
heating up at that point. If your home has any aluminum wiring, I'd
be _very_ concerned about this possibility.

No, NO aluminum wiring! I checked before buying!

I'd recommend a full re-check, with the mains power entirely
disconnected.
The fact that after resetting, the breakers are now running cool tells me
the contacts have been cleaned by cycling them, and should be OK for the
next 10 years or so.

Jon

I think I'd buy a spare breaker. They always fail in the middle of the
night on a weekend. They only cost $5 to $10.

I'd unplug them one at a time, and clean the contacts where they plug
into the bussbar on all of them. Also make sure you dont have some
device such as a refrigerator, sump pump etc, that may be cycling and/or
jammed. Probably would not hurt to remove and inspect every outlet on
that circuit to make sure there are no burnt wires or loose connections.

I'd recommend pulling the breaker that was overheating and replace it
with a new one, moving it to an unused nockout spot. Chances are the bus
bar has been damaged as well as the breaker at the spot where the hot
breaker was put and you can't trust connections at that point on the bus
line any more.

Had this happen to a friends breaker box - burnt connection on the
breaker also damaged the bus bar at that point. New breaker in a new
spot and all was well. It probably hadn't been seated properly and just
gradually corroded enough to be noticeable.

John :-#)#
--
(Please post followups or tech inquiries to the USENET newsgroup)
John's Jukes Ltd. 2343 Main St., Vancouver, BC, Canada V5T 3C9
(604)872-5757 or Fax 872-2010 (Pinballs, Jukes, Video Games)
www.flippers.com
"Old pinballers never die, they just flip out."

 

[Michael Moroney]

"Mr. Man-wai Chang" <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> writes:

A small town's sudden power surge fried tech gear in hundreds of homes

Full story:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/01/31/small-town-sudden-power-surge-fried-tech-gear-in-hundreds-homes.html

Residents in the small Pennsylvania town of Brookville must've wondered
what on earth was going on earlier this month when a sudden power surge
caused electrical appliances and gizmos in up to 1,000 homes to fry,
explode, or simply conk out.

What may have momentarily seemed like some kind of weird supernatural
happening was actually an electrical surge caused by a failed power line
component, according to an AP report. Local media said that "damage
ranged from residents losing a refrigerator to losing all appliances in
the kitchen or losing everything in the house."

Interesting how a failed insulator could have caused this. How often are
distribution circuits of different voltages connected together but
separated by only a single insulator?

Up the street from me, they upgraded a MV distribution circuit from a lower
voltage to a higher one (13,800V I believe). But a portion of it they
decided to leave at the lower voltage, probably because there are a bunch
of pad-mounted transformers feeding businesses there they didn't want to
replace. They decided to feed that section from the far end through a
bank of transformers, but where that section was once connected to the
now upgraded section, they put in multiple breaks so that a single failed
insulator or a lineman doing the wrong thing won't connect the two
circuits. An underground feeder had its fuses removed, wires connecting
the fuse holders were removed and the line from the pole with the
underground feeder to the next pole had insulators spliced in the middle.
At least 3 breaks.

I've also seen the results of that type of surge. The top of a pole broke
in a storm and the 4800V MV distribution wires made contact with the
120V/240V feed to houses. Two of them burned to the ground.

 

[Mr. Man-wai Chang]

On 9/02/2017 1:11 AM, Michael Moroney wrote:

....
I've also seen the results of that type of surge. The top of a pole broke
in a storm and the 4800V MV distribution wires made contact with the
120V/240V feed to houses. Two of them burned to the ground.

Thank you for sharing!

--
@~@ Remain silent! Drink, Blink, Stretch! Live long and prosper!!
/ v \ Simplicity is Beauty!
/( _ )\ May the Force and farces be with you!
^ ^ (x86_64 Ubuntu 9.10) Linux 2.6.39.3
不借貸! 不詐騙! 不援交! 不打交! 不打劫! 不自殺! 請考慮綜援 (CSSA):
http://www.swd.gov.hk/tc/index/site_pubsvc/page_socsecu/sub_addressesa

 

[James Wilkinson Sword]

On Wed, 01 Feb 2017 17:31:50 -0000, Mr. Man-wai Chang <toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:

A small town's sudden power surge fried tech gear in hundreds of homes

Full story:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/01/31/small-town-sudden-power-surge-fried-tech-gear-in-hundreds-homes.html


Residents in the small Pennsylvania town of Brookville must've wondered
what on earth was going on earlier this month when a sudden power surge
caused electrical appliances and gizmos in up to 1,000 homes to fry,
explode, or simply conk out.

What may have momentarily seemed like some kind of weird supernatural
happening was actually an electrical surge caused by a failed power line
component, according to an AP report. Local media said that "damage
ranged from residents losing a refrigerator to losing all appliances in
the kitchen or losing everything in the house."

Up to a quarter of the town's 4,000 residents were thought to have been
affected by the incident, with many reporting fried computers, burned
electrical meters, and damaged power strips. Some even spoke of
fluorescent lights suddenly exploding.

When the surge occurred, the high volume of calls flooding into the
emergency services forced the local fire department to call for extra
help from three nearby facilities.

As for the local cops, the incident tripped its main office radio,
causing them to miss the first emergency calls. The first they knew
something was up was when they heard the fire trucks roaring through the
town.

"We were fortunate that nobody was hurt," Tracy Zents, the director of
Jefferson County's Department of Emergency Services, told AP.

You should have anything expensive in a UPS.

--
A highway patrolman pulled alongside a speeding car on the freeway. Glancing at the car, he was astounded to see that the blonde behind the wheel was knitting!
Realizing that she was oblivious to his flashing lights and siren, the trooper cranked down his window, turned on his bullhorn and yelled, "PULL OVER!"
"NO!" the blonde yelled back, "IT'S A SCARF!"

 

[The Peeler]

On Wed, 08 Feb 2017 19:46:14 -0000, Birdbrain Macaw (now "James Wilkinson"),
the pathological attention whore of all the uk ngs, blathered again:

As for the local cops, the incident tripped its main office radio,
causing them to miss the first emergency calls. The first they knew
something was up was when they heard the fire trucks roaring through the
town.

"We were fortunate that nobody was hurt," Tracy Zents, the director of
Jefferson County's Department of Emergency Services, told AP.

You should have anything expensive in a UPS.

UPS, in your case, means You Pile of Shit!

--
Birdbrain Macaw (now "James Wilkinson") about himself:
"I can sleep outside in a temperature of -20C wearing only shorts".
"I once took a dump behind some bushes and slid down a hill to wipe my
arse".
(Courtesy of Mr Pounder)

 

[Phil Hobbs]

On 02/08/2017 02:46 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:

On Wed, 01 Feb 2017 17:31:50 -0000, Mr. Man-wai Chang
toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:

A small town's sudden power surge fried tech gear in hundreds of homes

Full story:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/01/31/small-town-sudden-power-surge-fried-tech-gear-in-hundreds-homes.html



Residents in the small Pennsylvania town of Brookville must've wondered
what on earth was going on earlier this month when a sudden power surge
caused electrical appliances and gizmos in up to 1,000 homes to fry,
explode, or simply conk out.

What may have momentarily seemed like some kind of weird supernatural
happening was actually an electrical surge caused by a failed power line
component, according to an AP report. Local media said that "damage
ranged from residents losing a refrigerator to losing all appliances in
the kitchen or losing everything in the house."

Up to a quarter of the town's 4,000 residents were thought to have been
affected by the incident, with many reporting fried computers, burned
electrical meters, and damaged power strips. Some even spoke of
fluorescent lights suddenly exploding.

When the surge occurred, the high volume of calls flooding into the
emergency services forced the local fire department to call for extra
help from three nearby facilities.

As for the local cops, the incident tripped its main office radio,
causing them to miss the first emergency calls. The first they knew
something was up was when they heard the fire trucks roaring through the
town.

"We were fortunate that nobody was hurt," Tracy Zents, the director of
Jefferson County's Department of Emergency Services, told AP.

You should have anything expensive in a UPS.

Big help if the house burns down.

I've heard of folks getting MOVs put in right at the meter, outside the
house. In that sort of super nasty surge, they explode and isolate the
house from the line. Never had the urge to do it myself, but it might
be good insurance.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

 

[James Wilkinson Sword]

On Wed, 08 Feb 2017 21:55:06 -0000, Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 02/08/2017 02:46 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 01 Feb 2017 17:31:50 -0000, Mr. Man-wai Chang
toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:

A small town's sudden power surge fried tech gear in hundreds of homes

Full story:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/01/31/small-town-sudden-power-surge-fried-tech-gear-in-hundreds-homes.html



Residents in the small Pennsylvania town of Brookville must've wondered
what on earth was going on earlier this month when a sudden power surge
caused electrical appliances and gizmos in up to 1,000 homes to fry,
explode, or simply conk out.

What may have momentarily seemed like some kind of weird supernatural
happening was actually an electrical surge caused by a failed power line
component, according to an AP report. Local media said that "damage
ranged from residents losing a refrigerator to losing all appliances in
the kitchen or losing everything in the house."

Up to a quarter of the town's 4,000 residents were thought to have been
affected by the incident, with many reporting fried computers, burned
electrical meters, and damaged power strips. Some even spoke of
fluorescent lights suddenly exploding.

When the surge occurred, the high volume of calls flooding into the
emergency services forced the local fire department to call for extra
help from three nearby facilities.

As for the local cops, the incident tripped its main office radio,
causing them to miss the first emergency calls. The first they knew
something was up was when they heard the fire trucks roaring through the
town.

"We were fortunate that nobody was hurt," Tracy Zents, the director of
Jefferson County's Department of Emergency Services, told AP.

You should have anything expensive in a UPS.


Big help if the house burns down.

I've heard of folks getting MOVs put in right at the meter, outside the
house. In that sort of super nasty surge, they explode and isolate the
house from the line. Never had the urge to do it myself, but it might
be good insurance.

Wouldn't a really big surge destroy the first thing it hits, i.e. the main fuse, meter, etc?

--
What's the difference between PMS and Mad Cow Disease?
The number of tits.

 

[The Peeler]

On Wed, 08 Feb 2017 22:00:24 -0000, Birdbrain Macaw (now "James Wilkinson"),
the pathological attention whore of all the uk ngs, blathered again:

Big help if the house burns down.

I've heard of folks getting MOVs put in right at the meter, outside the
house. In that sort of super nasty surge, they explode and isolate the
house from the line. Never had the urge to do it myself, but it might
be good insurance.

Wouldn't a really big surge destroy the first thing it hits, i.e. the main fuse, meter, etc?

Your "fuse" in your "brain obviously blew already long time ago, Birdbrain!

--
More of Birdbrain Macaw's (now "James Wilkinson" LOL) sociopathic "wisdom":
"No ginger is ever sexy. They are faulty people, like albinos. Put them
all in the sun and watch them burn!"
MID: <op.yuhmrboijs98qf@red.lan>

 

[Phil Hobbs]

On 02/08/2017 05:00 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:

On Wed, 08 Feb 2017 21:55:06 -0000, Phil Hobbs
pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 02/08/2017 02:46 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 01 Feb 2017 17:31:50 -0000, Mr. Man-wai Chang
toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:

A small town's sudden power surge fried tech gear in hundreds of homes

Full story:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/01/31/small-town-sudden-power-surge-fried-tech-gear-in-hundreds-homes.html




Residents in the small Pennsylvania town of Brookville must've wondered
what on earth was going on earlier this month when a sudden power surge
caused electrical appliances and gizmos in up to 1,000 homes to fry,
explode, or simply conk out.

What may have momentarily seemed like some kind of weird supernatural
happening was actually an electrical surge caused by a failed power
line
component, according to an AP report. Local media said that "damage
ranged from residents losing a refrigerator to losing all appliances in
the kitchen or losing everything in the house."

Up to a quarter of the town's 4,000 residents were thought to have been
affected by the incident, with many reporting fried computers, burned
electrical meters, and damaged power strips. Some even spoke of
fluorescent lights suddenly exploding.

When the surge occurred, the high volume of calls flooding into the
emergency services forced the local fire department to call for extra
help from three nearby facilities.

As for the local cops, the incident tripped its main office radio,
causing them to miss the first emergency calls. The first they knew
something was up was when they heard the fire trucks roaring through
the
town.

"We were fortunate that nobody was hurt," Tracy Zents, the director of
Jefferson County's Department of Emergency Services, told AP.

You should have anything expensive in a UPS.


Big help if the house burns down.

I've heard of folks getting MOVs put in right at the meter, outside the
house. In that sort of super nasty surge, they explode and isolate the
house from the line. Never had the urge to do it myself, but it might
be good insurance.

Wouldn't a really big surge destroy the first thing it hits, i.e. the
main fuse, meter, etc?

It matters where the big arc happens, though. You don't clear a high
energy 1600-4800V circuit with a domestic 240V breaker, that's for sure.
The result is an _arc flash_, which you do _not_ want in your
vicinity, trust me. (Youtube has a lot of examples if you doubt this.)

Having a major league arc flash on a cinderblock foundation outside the
house is a very different proposition from having one in a breaker box
mounted to a wooden stud wall inside, for one thing, but I'm outside my
experience here, so I'll happily defer to any actual power engineering
types who want to chime in.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

--
Dr Philip C D Hobbs
Principal Consultant
ElectroOptical Innovations LLC
Optics, Electro-optics, Photonics, Analog Electronics

160 North State Road #203
Briarcliff Manor NY 10510

hobbs at electrooptical dot net
http://electrooptical.net

 

[James Wilkinson Sword]

On Wed, 08 Feb 2017 22:13:00 -0000, Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 02/08/2017 05:00 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 08 Feb 2017 21:55:06 -0000, Phil Hobbs
pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 02/08/2017 02:46 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 01 Feb 2017 17:31:50 -0000, Mr. Man-wai Chang
toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:

A small town's sudden power surge fried tech gear in hundreds of homes

Full story:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/01/31/small-town-sudden-power-surge-fried-tech-gear-in-hundreds-homes.html




Residents in the small Pennsylvania town of Brookville must've wondered
what on earth was going on earlier this month when a sudden power surge
caused electrical appliances and gizmos in up to 1,000 homes to fry,
explode, or simply conk out.

What may have momentarily seemed like some kind of weird supernatural
happening was actually an electrical surge caused by a failed power
line
component, according to an AP report. Local media said that "damage
ranged from residents losing a refrigerator to losing all appliances in
the kitchen or losing everything in the house."

Up to a quarter of the town's 4,000 residents were thought to have been
affected by the incident, with many reporting fried computers, burned
electrical meters, and damaged power strips. Some even spoke of
fluorescent lights suddenly exploding.

When the surge occurred, the high volume of calls flooding into the
emergency services forced the local fire department to call for extra
help from three nearby facilities.

As for the local cops, the incident tripped its main office radio,
causing them to miss the first emergency calls. The first they knew
something was up was when they heard the fire trucks roaring through
the
town.

"We were fortunate that nobody was hurt," Tracy Zents, the director of
Jefferson County's Department of Emergency Services, told AP.

You should have anything expensive in a UPS.


Big help if the house burns down.

I've heard of folks getting MOVs put in right at the meter, outside the
house. In that sort of super nasty surge, they explode and isolate the
house from the line. Never had the urge to do it myself, but it might
be good insurance.

Wouldn't a really big surge destroy the first thing it hits, i.e. the
main fuse, meter, etc?


It matters where the big arc happens, though. You don't clear a high
energy 1600-4800V circuit with a domestic 240V breaker, that's for sure.
The result is an _arc flash_, which you do _not_ want in your
vicinity, trust me. (Youtube has a lot of examples if you doubt this.)

Having a major league arc flash on a cinderblock foundation outside the
house is a very different proposition from having one in a breaker box
mounted to a wooden stud wall inside, for one thing, but I'm outside my
experience here, so I'll happily defer to any actual power engineering
types who want to chime in.

I can't believe it's that likely for 4800V to get onto a 240V line. Possible, but so rare it's not worth bothering to install protection. I protect against little spikes, or voltages about 30V under/over what they should be. My UPS frequently adjusts the voltage, and sometimes gives up and runs the house on batteries for 5 seconds.

--
If the English language made any sense, lackadaisical would have something to do with a shortage of flowers.

 

[Phil Hobbs]

On 02/08/2017 05:18 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:

On Wed, 08 Feb 2017 22:13:00 -0000, Phil Hobbs
pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 02/08/2017 05:00 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 08 Feb 2017 21:55:06 -0000, Phil Hobbs
pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 02/08/2017 02:46 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 01 Feb 2017 17:31:50 -0000, Mr. Man-wai Chang
toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:

A small town's sudden power surge fried tech gear in hundreds of
homes

Full story:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/01/31/small-town-sudden-power-surge-fried-tech-gear-in-hundreds-homes.html





Residents in the small Pennsylvania town of Brookville must've
wondered
what on earth was going on earlier this month when a sudden power
surge
caused electrical appliances and gizmos in up to 1,000 homes to fry,
explode, or simply conk out.

What may have momentarily seemed like some kind of weird supernatural
happening was actually an electrical surge caused by a failed power
line
component, according to an AP report. Local media said that "damage
ranged from residents losing a refrigerator to losing all
appliances in
the kitchen or losing everything in the house."

Up to a quarter of the town's 4,000 residents were thought to have
been
affected by the incident, with many reporting fried computers, burned
electrical meters, and damaged power strips. Some even spoke of
fluorescent lights suddenly exploding.

When the surge occurred, the high volume of calls flooding into the
emergency services forced the local fire department to call for extra
help from three nearby facilities.

As for the local cops, the incident tripped its main office radio,
causing them to miss the first emergency calls. The first they knew
something was up was when they heard the fire trucks roaring through
the
town.

"We were fortunate that nobody was hurt," Tracy Zents, the
director of
Jefferson County's Department of Emergency Services, told AP.

You should have anything expensive in a UPS.


Big help if the house burns down.

I've heard of folks getting MOVs put in right at the meter, outside the
house. In that sort of super nasty surge, they explode and isolate the
house from the line. Never had the urge to do it myself, but it might
be good insurance.

Wouldn't a really big surge destroy the first thing it hits, i.e. the
main fuse, meter, etc?


It matters where the big arc happens, though. You don't clear a high
energy 1600-4800V circuit with a domestic 240V breaker, that's for sure.
The result is an _arc flash_, which you do _not_ want in your
vicinity, trust me. (Youtube has a lot of examples if you doubt this.)

Having a major league arc flash on a cinderblock foundation outside the
house is a very different proposition from having one in a breaker box
mounted to a wooden stud wall inside, for one thing, but I'm outside my
experience here, so I'll happily defer to any actual power engineering
types who want to chime in.

I can't believe it's that likely for 4800V to get onto a 240V line.
Possible, but so rare it's not worth bothering to install protection. I
protect against little spikes, or voltages about 30V under/over what
they should be. My UPS frequently adjusts the voltage, and sometimes
gives up and runs the house on batteries for 5 seconds.

Well, I bought my house in 1990, and still haven't done that, so I guess
you can say I agree.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

 

[James Wilkinson Sword]

On Wed, 08 Feb 2017 22:22:27 -0000, Phil Hobbs <pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 02/08/2017 05:18 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 08 Feb 2017 22:13:00 -0000, Phil Hobbs
pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 02/08/2017 05:00 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 08 Feb 2017 21:55:06 -0000, Phil Hobbs
pcdhSpamMeSenseless@electrooptical.net> wrote:

On 02/08/2017 02:46 PM, James Wilkinson Sword wrote:
On Wed, 01 Feb 2017 17:31:50 -0000, Mr. Man-wai Chang
toylet.toylet@gmail.com> wrote:

A small town's sudden power surge fried tech gear in hundreds of
homes

Full story:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/01/31/small-town-sudden-power-surge-fried-tech-gear-in-hundreds-homes.html





Residents in the small Pennsylvania town of Brookville must've
wondered
what on earth was going on earlier this month when a sudden power
surge
caused electrical appliances and gizmos in up to 1,000 homes to fry,
explode, or simply conk out.

What may have momentarily seemed like some kind of weird supernatural
happening was actually an electrical surge caused by a failed power
line
component, according to an AP report. Local media said that "damage
ranged from residents losing a refrigerator to losing all
appliances in
the kitchen or losing everything in the house."

Up to a quarter of the town's 4,000 residents were thought to have
been
affected by the incident, with many reporting fried computers, burned
electrical meters, and damaged power strips. Some even spoke of
fluorescent lights suddenly exploding.

When the surge occurred, the high volume of calls flooding into the
emergency services forced the local fire department to call for extra
help from three nearby facilities.

As for the local cops, the incident tripped its main office radio,
causing them to miss the first emergency calls. The first they knew
something was up was when they heard the fire trucks roaring through
the
town.

"We were fortunate that nobody was hurt," Tracy Zents, the
director of
Jefferson County's Department of Emergency Services, told AP.

You should have anything expensive in a UPS.


Big help if the house burns down.

I've heard of folks getting MOVs put in right at the meter, outside the
house. In that sort of super nasty surge, they explode and isolate the
house from the line. Never had the urge to do it myself, but it might
be good insurance.

Wouldn't a really big surge destroy the first thing it hits, i.e. the
main fuse, meter, etc?


It matters where the big arc happens, though. You don't clear a high
energy 1600-4800V circuit with a domestic 240V breaker, that's for sure.
The result is an _arc flash_, which you do _not_ want in your
vicinity, trust me. (Youtube has a lot of examples if you doubt this.)

Having a major league arc flash on a cinderblock foundation outside the
house is a very different proposition from having one in a breaker box
mounted to a wooden stud wall inside, for one thing, but I'm outside my
experience here, so I'll happily defer to any actual power engineering
types who want to chime in.

I can't believe it's that likely for 4800V to get onto a 240V line.
Possible, but so rare it's not worth bothering to install protection. I
protect against little spikes, or voltages about 30V under/over what
they should be. My UPS frequently adjusts the voltage, and sometimes
gives up and runs the house on batteries for 5 seconds.


Well, I bought my house in 1990, and still haven't done that, so I guess
you can say I agree.

I got my house in 2000. I got a UPS for the computer to keep it from crashing and corrupting the hard disk with 5 second powercuts. But when I got some LED lighting and it kept failing, I paid more attention to the UPS and noticed it was frequently reporting overvoltage. Connecting all the house lighting to the UPS prevented the LEDs from failing so often. The overvoltage takes the 230V up to about 256V, but apparently this is within specs, so the power company refuses to fix it. It started happening when they renewed the street's transformer (substation). They did send an electrician round, but he said there was nothing he could do, although he did comment that the guy responsible for voltage regulation in my area wasn't as fussy as he was. He claimed he liked to set things to precisely 230V, and the new guy just let it go if it was within the 10% legally allowed. I kept a close eye on the voltage, and it never gets below (or even down to) 230V, so clearly it's not
averaging the correct value, and should be adjusted more accurately, but the power company doesn't give a shit.