On Tue, 25 Aug 2015 01:12:46 -0400, J Burns
wrote:
On 8/24/15 10:29 PM, Arnie Goetchius wrote:
J Burns wrote:
On 8/24/15 8:41 PM, Arnie Goetchius wrote:
J Burns wrote:
What if you lost power for 1/2 second from a squirrel playing on the line of a
train hitting a utility tower? Maybe the noise you heard was not the condenser
fan but the compressor trying to resume operation against too much pressure. In
a couple of minutes, a protection device shut off the compressor because of heat
or pressure.
It seemed like something like that might have happened BUT the noise and
vibration started exactly when the A/C started. The noise I hard was probably
from the compressor trying to start after being off for at least a couple of
hours. I had set the thermostat up a couple of degrees in the morning because it
was a nice day and we opened the doors. In the afternoon, it got hot so I closed
the doors and lowered the thermostat and that's when the lights blinked at the
same time as the compressor tried to start.
I've had my refrigerator compressor overheat and shut off because of a power
interruption, but the interruption occurred after it was running.
I don't know how many amps it take to trip a momentary interrupter on a power
line. Maybe there happened to be an exceptional load on the line at that
instant. Your compressor was enough to trip the power company's device, and your
lights flickered.
In our neighborhood, we have drop down fuses that will disconnect the
transformer if there is a high current problem. Then you have to call the
utility to come out and close the fuse. No momentary interrupters that I know of
unless there is something at the sub-station (2 miles from my house) that does a
momentary interruption.
http://www.oncor.com/EN/Pages/Common-Utility-Terms.aspx
This says a fuse must be replaced if it disconnects the circuit. It
says the small circuit breaker on a distribution lines is a recloser.
When a pecan limb fell onto bare distribution wires behind my house,
lights in the neighborhood blinked. I imagine that was the recloser
across the street. If the limb had kept the lines pressed together, the
lever on the recloser would have popped down and a guy with a long pole
would have had to come to reset it.
Reclosers usually reset themselves (AKA automatic recloser).
That is why you may see it come on a couple times before it stays off.