Holy Crap! Big time power failure.. explosion!

[ke7trp]

Was on the radio and decided to take a break.. Walked outside in the backyard with the dog and the entire hood went dark.. I mean dark.. PITCH black.. Then I heard the loudest BUZZZZZZZZZZ  I have ever heard followed by a HUGE explosion..  So loud I jumped back and took cover..   The power came up and down twice and then went out again.  Breakers blown. TV wont come on, Mixing board dead, Desk Amp is toast.  Icom pro and astron came right back on. So did the dual bander. Tube gear was all shut off. 

Some transformer in the area must have exploded. Half the people in the hood are all standing outside wondering what the hell happend.

It rattled the windows in the house it was so loud.   I got my back up battery, lantern ready in case it goes out again. Tomorrow I am going to have to take inventory on what got damaged.

Clark

[flintstone mop]

And you know the electric company will weasel out of any claims that it was their fault.,
Probably some real dumb ASS H*%$ stealing copper from a substation.

Fred

[ke7trp]

The TV is fixed. It was the Power strip. It must have done its job.   I have not ventured out to see what the heck happend.

C

[ke7trp]

LOL..  It was a transformer.  25 years old.  I figured this would happen one day.  They used 25s on this block and some are in a culdsac.  It got a bit chilly and I bet lots of people put on the heat. 

The Surge protector saved the HD TV.. Replaced the power strip and its all good now.   The AMP needed a fuse and came right back on. The thing that did not survive was the power back to the mixing console.  No biggie. Dug through a box in the storage room and found another 12 volter.

I am a real believer in Surge protectors for home electronics.  It would have been a mess to replace that 60 inch TV. Its out of warranty!


C

[WQ9E]

I am in a rural area with a lot of thunderstorm activity.  Shortly after buying this place a nearby lightning strike took out two computers, the cordless phone system, the well pump, and some other small items.  I then installed ICE mains protectors at the main junction box from the meter and the house, barn, and both garages have additional protectors installed at the panels.  Since installing these in 1991 I have not had any damage from power surges including an event 10 years ago when a substation problem created a major voltage surge.  In this case the power company did cover a lot of damage expenses in the area but the only thing that happened at our place was the main 200 amp breaker on the distribution panel tripped (probably due to all 5 of the suppressors simultaneously shunting the voltage to ground).

Putting a suppressor at the panel protects all of the circuits and these are in fireproof metal boxes.  Back in 1990, the plug in suppressor I had in the ham shack did protect the gear (antennas were disconnected) but it was blackened as was the outlet cover-fortunately nothing caught on fire. 

I have no financial connection with ICE but I am a satisfied customer.  I believe these are still available direct from ICE and also via Array Solutions.

Rodger WQ9E

[Opcom]

I've learned that the sound of a running generator in an otherwise de-powered neighborhood attracts zombies.

[The Slab Bacon]

I've learned that the sound of a running generator in an otherwise de-powered neighborhood attracts zombies.

In mine, it means fresh hot coffee at Franks place 

[W2PFY]

When surge protectors do their job??

[W3RSW]

Gruesome story.
Three MOV's across the AC line sure save things.

I am a real believer in Surge protectors for home electronics.  It would have been a mess to replace that 60 inch TV. Its out of warranty!

The AC end of a lot of transformerless, modern TV's has safety circuitry of some sort. I wonder if your 60 inch has MOV's, etc.?

[K9PNP]

I've learned that the sound of a running generator in an otherwise de-powered neighborhood attracts zombies.

I can attest to that.  Couple of years ago during the winter a windstorm took out power to most of the town.  Ours was down for a few days due to a limb across the transformer and was the last square block to get power back.  There were 2 generators running in the block; both of us work for the county in public safety jobs.  Actually, initially there were 3 but the third was not secured as well as our 2 and miraculously took legs and wandered off one night.  I guess something about the fencing and the firepower kept our 2 safe.

[KB2WIG]

 " I guess something about the fencing and the firepower kept our 2 safe. "

Somewhere in my book pile is a delightfull little book about the US Navy Seals.  One of the seals was lent to the British SAS, a common practice among various mil and NATO orgs. Anyway, there was a problem in Somalia  where the locals were breaking into the Brits fenced in compounds, and liberating things. So, the SAS sat outside the perimiter at nigh and solved the problem. They left the bodies in the wire for a few days. No more problem.


klc

[Opcom]

" I guess something about the fencing and the firepower kept our 2 safe. "

Somewhere in my book pile is a delightfull little book about the US Navy Seals.  One of the seals was lent to the British SAS, a common practice among various mil and NATO orgs. Anyway, there was a problem in Somalia  where the locals were breaking into the Brits fenced in compounds, and liberating things. So, the SAS sat outside the perimiter at nigh and solved the problem. They left the bodies in the wire for a few days. No more problem.


klc

My generator weighs 2000 lbs but I like the SAS/Seal solution. Swift stoppage of the imminent activity and very kindly providing a warning to others. I never had to shoot anyone but I have a reputation for being ready to defend my property. Unfortunately it has been a few years and reps wear off like word on the street so who knows what could happen in the future. Hope no blood will be necessary.

[w5kcm]

When surge protectors do their job??

Glad the MOV's did their job. Several years ago, I had the MOV in my power strip short out and burned my ham shack down. Sometimes when MOV's do their job, they will spew out molten metal setting things on fire! Be careful., 73, Randy, w5kcm

[W2PFY]

I had the MOV in my power strip short out and burned my ham shack down.

That's horrible Randy, There must be a better way to have use of them so they will not be in a position to cause a fire. As illustrated in my picture above with the plug in 6 way outlet, the cure could be worst than the original problem. Luckily, I had nothing plugged in at the time of the fault. This is at my cabin where I generate my own power.

   

[WQ9E]

The fire hazard is a good reason to use an ICE or a similar product: 

http://www.iceradioproducts.com/impulse2.html#6

The case is metal and burst proof and should be mounted near the panel where it is easy to keep it away from combustible materials.   

The UL listing used to mean something but the fact that these plastic strips get a nod doesn't say much good for the organization.

Rodger WQ9E

[W2PFY]

ICE

Nice stuff, too bad they don't have better pictures of their products.

[WQ9E]

Their marketing leaves something to be desired but the products are good.  If I had to choose between the two I much prefer good products over good marketing.

[Opcom]

This got me thinking "whole house" because I get surges here and the lighning frequently causes me to unplug certain items.

The Littlefuse V131HA40 MOV is rated 130VAC continuous, peak current of 40kA. Wouldn't a pair of these in their own outdoor box, connected to the house side of the 200A breaker (maybe though a 100A breaker of their own) do the job? I believe the breaker box is grounded right there, and so these things should be grounded as well, same ground? What about neutral? They cost $16 each from digikey but none are in stock. Mouser has them for $14 in stock.

A while back, someone showed their array of MOVs used this way.

[WQ9E]

Patrick,

Those would probably work pretty well.  You need to make sure the ground for the box is a good one and multiple ground rods are probably a good idea.

The boxes from ICE use both MOV and gas discharge tubes along with RFI filters to remove some of the crud on the line.  You can hear the RFI filter in the box in my barn "singing" when the high pressure sodium security light is on.  For the price they are hard to beat.

[KB2WIG]

The following may be of interest.

http://www.statefarm.com/learning/loss_prevent/surge_protection.asp


klc


wire go BOOM !!!

[W1RKW]

Had a power outage lastnight. Without power for about 10 hours. we just got it back.  interior temp got down to 56. Only a couple of flushes before pressure tank empties. Fired up the genset at 530 this morning to get the heat back up. It was 26 outside.  Figured power wouldn't be up anytime soon and interior temp would go lower only to make the boiler run even longer and harder. Power came back on a few minutes ago.  Not sure why it tripped off.  Went down the road to where the polepig is and all was fine, no busted up utility poles.  Figured it was maybe a car accident but no. A breaker must have tripped off.