Bob F wrote:

"Nate Nagel" wrote in message
...
Hi all,

I was awakened last night shortly after going to bed by what I assume was the
sound of a transformer exploding, followed shortly thereafter by the gentle
beeping of every UPS in my house. Power was restored about half an hour ago,
after I returned home from work, and I found that several items were not
working. I found three tripped breakers; one for the general basement
receptacles for which I have no explanation (the only items plugged into that
circuit was a surge suppressor for the stereo and TV, which I'd switched off
last night, and a lamp.) That one reset OK. Another was a utility circuit in
the basement; it would not reset. I unplugged all devices and reset it.
Everything went back online OK except for of course the most expensive device
plugged into it; an electrostatic air filter for the furnace. Attempting to
start that back up resulted in an alarming blue flash and a tripped breaker. I
assume it's fux0red. Last was the upstairs circuit, same procedure, found
everything OK save for a surge strip in the bedroom. Don't have a spare to
reconnect everything but the odd thing is that it had one of those Ionic
Breeze things plugged into it. (yes, I know they're somewhat useless, but I
didn't buy it, and I can't throw it out.) The surge strip itself smells
suspiciously like smoked electronics. Finally, I had a Siemens TVSS breaker
installed in my breaker panel; it did not trip but the "protected" light for
one leg is now completely out.

Two questions; first, are electrostatic devices especially susceptible to
power surges, or is it just coincidence that I happened to have two problems
directly related to electrostatic devices? Secondly, has anyone had any luck
with going through the power company to pay for some of this damage (the air
filter is maybe 6 mos. old) or is homeowner's insurance the place to start?
If the latter, I might be tempted to pay out of pocket to avoid a rate
increase.

Fortunately, my (laptop) computer seems to have survived OK, and I assume that
SWMBO's did as well as it was plugged into a UPS which was switched off. Also
fortunately, my basement appears to be dry even though it's been raining for
several days and last night's storm was somewhat torrential (the road to my
office was flooded this AM if that gives you any idea.)


I have heard of power utilities accepting responsibility for such damage in the
past. It's probably best to get in touch with yours.

I've seen that firsthand in CT when I worked a summer at a friends
electronics repair business, and we repaired a stereo and VCR that had
an argument with a utility transformer that lost it's neutral
connection. In both cases the damage was pretty minimal, limited to a
couple blown caps and a transformer at the input of the power supply
sections. Certainly the first place to start is documenting everything
and then contacting the utility.