"Frogleg" wrote in message
...
Power went out here in a very odd way the other day, and I can't get
through to power co. for an explanation. Flourescent lights in one
room flickered, dimmed, and went out. Radio lost volume and then went
out. Computer stayed on (with CRT monitor) quite happily until I shut
it down. 'Fridge stayed on. Some incandescent lights would switch on
normally; others wouldn't. Little clock radio quit; light plugged into
same outlet worked. Flourescent in another room remained on.

Electric co. said problem was a neighborhood transformer, and a couple
of blocks were affected, not just my house. So what kind of a failure
is it when some electricity works and some doesn't? I've always
thought of it as an on/off situation.

The simple explanation is that power is supplied to homes with 2 hot wires
and one neutral wire. Half (an over-simplification) of the stuff in your
home uses one of the hots and the other half uses the other. Stoves,
electric heat and AC units use both hots.

If one leg (one of the hots) is not working some of your stuff will work
and the rest of it won't.


Colbyt