Phil Hobbs
Wed, 08 Feb 2017
21:55:06 GMT in alt.home.repair, 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
wrote:

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

Full story:
http://www.foxnews.com/tech/2017/01/...udden-power-su
rge-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.

I've been onsite a few times when the MOVs have kicked in and done
their job. It greatly reduces harm to the electrical system and
devices attached inside the home. However, if the surge is strong
enough, it'll momentarily arc across the now opened lines and temp
energize the home. It's still better than maintaining a direct (but
burning) link, though.



--
Sarcasm, because beating the living **** out of deserving people is
illegal.