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Need Help > Strange Power Surges

pradeep1

pradeep1

Golden Member
My neighbor came over today to check if our house was experiencing strange power surges. He told me that over the past year or so, his iron had melted, his sprinkler system electric control panel burnt out, his toaster got fried, a few clocks and other plugged in electronics broke, and that his electric oven had to be replaced. He called in our local power company and they checked it out and could not find anything wrong. He then called in a licensed electrician and he said the house was 100% okay and that the grounding and everything else checked out.

His house is about 20 years old and we are all on the same block transformer for this side of the street. His power went out or sagged today since he said all his clocks were blinking when he came back from work today, although none of ours were.

Any thoughts on this strange electrical problem?

Also, regarding his iron, he said that the plugged in iron got so hot that the face of the iron started to warp and melt. He thought it was something to do with a faulty iron, but now he suspects the electrical system.

 
1- Call the electrical company.
2- If it's not their fault call a electrician.

Please tell him to do one of the above before his house burns down.
 
Originally posted by: ZzZGuy
1- Call the electrical company.
2- If it's not their fault call a electrician.

Please tell him to do one of the above before his house burns down.
Click to expand...

Re-read the part where he already did both of those.
 
i'd say the iron is a faulty iron..

put the rest of the stuff on surge protectors

the electrical in my neighborhood dips a lot.. happens when people turn on their AC or some other high current app on the 110v circuit. causes it to dip significantly, makes comps go over to battery backup, etc. reason is electrical company is too cheap to put in a proper sized transformer. (seriously.. the previous one burnt out due to load, and they replaced it with the same capacity one.)
 
Tell him to complain with the utility until they install a monitor.
It could be a transient type thing where it isn't measurable unless its happening.
The monitor is a device that is installed at the meter and they leave it there for a few days -week and then check the data.

He can buy one himself , but they are about $1200 for a good one.


 
Modelworks,

Why would he be experiencing this and not me, who lives next door and closer to the transformer box?

 
A loose neutral connection can create havoc.
That connection is made in several places from the pole to the panel board and as such can fail and create voltage surges within a house, yet seem ok during voltage checks.
 
Originally posted by: AlienCraft
A loose neutral connection can create havoc.
That connection is made in several places from the pole to the panel board and as such can fail and create voltage surges within a house, yet seem ok during voltage checks.
Click to expand...

Thanks Alien for this response. I'll make sure he gets this advice and has his house checked out.

Pradeep
 
The iron story sounds fishy.

They have overheat protection, usually in the form of a one shot thermal fuse.

So that would have had to fail as well.
 
Originally posted by: LTC8K6
The iron story sounds fishy.

They have overheat protection, usually in the form of a one shot thermal fuse.

So that would have had to fail as well.
Click to expand...

Not really because if teh neutral floats and raises the voltage significantly the thermal protection engages but it's designed to interupt 120V not 180V or more so it welds closed. Then the iron goes critical.
 
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