I've lost power (briefly) at my new home about 5 times in the two
months I've been living there. At my previous home, I lost power that
many times in 10 years. This appears to be a utility problem, not a
problem with the home itself.

These brief losses reset the clocks on my microwave and other devices,
as well as down my computers (I will get a UPS.)

My question: is this frequency of power loss unusual?

wrote in message
ups.com...
I've lost power (briefly) at my new home about 5 times in the two
months I've been living there. At my previous home, I lost power
that
many times in 10 years. This appears to be a utility problem, not a
problem with the home itself.

These brief losses reset the clocks on my microwave and other
devices,
as well as down my computers (I will get a UPS.)

My question: is this frequency of power loss unusual?


All depends-is it just happening to your house or the neighbors, too?

More to the point is it acceptable ?

Ask your neighbors if they have the same problem.

Make sure your alarm clock has a good battery in it.

Report this to your power company and see if they can tell you what the
cause was. It might be an under rated transformer that should be
upgraded.

Call the power co, when my service was hooked up they forgot to tighten
the the main feed to the house, my power did the same thing. They will
also give a look over your set up, something may not be safe.

All depends-is it just happening to your house or the neighbors, too?


Not sure in all instances. A couple of times, I heard a transformer
blow, so I'm sure that others were affected. Other times I was either
asleep or it only lasted 30 seconds or so.

More to the point is it acceptable ?

No, but I may be spoiled. Where I grew up, we were just a stone's
throw from a major utilty substation; we lost power once in 20 years.

Make sure your alarm clock has a good battery in it.

Amazingly, it does. Haven't changed it in years.

Report this to your power company and see if they can tell you what
the
cause was. It might be an under rated transformer that should be
upgraded.

I was thinking about it, but was looking for some ammo before I talked
with anyone.

Thanks

You mentioned it being a new home. I know the power company here
is having problems in some of the new areas. The power draw
exceeds the supply. So many new homes, such heavy usage. Yes,
the new substation(s) is under construction. I always wonder what
affect those glitches are having on the microwave/tv/computer/etc.
I sure know they wreak havoc on 3 phase buildings in the
neighborhood. A $1000 pump motor can fry mighty quick if it gets
single phased. Control boards let the magic smoke out. Not
pretty.

--

(top posted for your convenience)
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Keep the whole world singing . . . .
DanG (remove the sevens)




wrote in message
ups.com...
I've lost power (briefly) at my new home about 5 times in the
two
months I've been living there. At my previous home, I lost
power that
many times in 10 years. This appears to be a utility problem,
not a
problem with the home itself.

These brief losses reset the clocks on my microwave and other
devices,
as well as down my computers (I will get a UPS.)

My question: is this frequency of power loss unusual?

wrote in message
ups.com...
I've lost power (briefly) at my new home about 5 times in the two
months I've been living there. At my previous home, I lost power that
many times in 10 years. This appears to be a utility problem, not a
problem with the home itself.

These brief losses reset the clocks on my microwave and other devices,
as well as down my computers (I will get a UPS.)

My question: is this frequency of power loss unusual?

Guess it could depend on where you are . I don't remember now if it was
once every weekend or once every day the power company was doing something
that cut the power off for a split second for about a month.
If you are in an area that has lots of ice on the trees or could be traffic
accidents that are taking out the power.

wrote:
I've lost power (briefly) at my new home about 5 times in the two
months I've been living there. At my previous home, I lost power that
many times in 10 years. This appears to be a utility problem, not a
problem with the home itself.

These brief losses reset the clocks on my microwave and other devices,
as well as down my computers (I will get a UPS.)

My question: is this frequency of power loss unusual?

Hi,
You bet.
In 11 years in this house since new, I lost power once for about 2 minutes.
Tony

DanG wrote:

You mentioned it being a new home. I know the power company here
is having problems in some of the new areas. The power draw
exceeds the supply. So many new homes, such heavy usage. Yes,
the new substation(s) is under construction. I always wonder what
affect those glitches are having on the microwave/tv/computer/etc.
I sure know they wreak havoc on 3 phase buildings in the
neighborhood. A $1000 pump motor can fry mighty quick if it gets
single phased. Control boards let the magic smoke out. Not
pretty.

Hi,
It's highly unlikely residential homes would have 3 phase power.
Tony

wrote:
I've lost power (briefly) at my new home about 5 times in the two
months I've been living there. At my previous home, I lost power that
many times in 10 years. This appears to be a utility problem, not a
problem with the home itself.

These brief losses reset the clocks on my microwave and other devices,
as well as down my computers (I will get a UPS.)

My question: is this frequency of power loss unusual?

It is not normal in most areas. However very new areas often have
growing pains so if it is a new home that could be it. Also as noted, check
with your neighbors and make sure it is not just your home. Call the power
company and see what they have to say. If it appears to be a ongoing issue
and not something they are really fixing, consider going to the regulatory
agency and ask them to take a look.

--
Joseph Meehan

Dia duit

wrote:

I've lost power (briefly) at my new home about 5 times in the two
months I've been living there. At my previous home, I lost power that
many times in 10 years. This appears to be a utility problem, not a
problem with the home itself.

These brief losses reset the clocks on my microwave and other devices,
as well as down my computers (I will get a UPS.)

My question: is this frequency of power loss unusual?

I would say not in a new neighborhood. But in an established
neighborhood it would be surprising (to me).

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form .

On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 01:14:48 GMT, CJT wrote:

wrote:

I've lost power (briefly) at my new home about 5 times in the two
months I've been living there. At my previous home, I lost power that
many times in 10 years. This appears to be a utility problem, not a
problem with the home itself.

These brief losses reset the clocks on my microwave and other devices,
as well as down my computers (I will get a UPS.)

My question: is this frequency of power loss unusual?

I would say not in a new neighborhood. But in an established
neighborhood it would be surprising (to me).



Actual service performance results vary by location, and, to a certain
extent, luck. For example, if you are served by the same substation
as a hospital or police station (which are considered mission critical
facilities by most utilities), you might well have the benefit of
multiple source feeders that switch over in a fraction of a second if
there is any significant fault.

If, on the other hand, you live way out in the country at the end of
the electric lines, you may not be so lucky. If you've ever seen
your lights flash during an electrical storm before going out, you may
be downstream from what the utilities call an automatic recloser.
The automatic recloser may open the line for one second or so, one,
two, or even three times... Downstream switches may be set to shed
load at any of these intervals in an attempt to clear the fault. If
you are in the first group to be shed, you will be out-of-luck and in
the dark.

Bottom line, certain customers (mostly at the end of the line and in
isolated locations) are connected with few or no redundant
connections. It is not economical for the utility to do so. But if
it matters enough to you, you always have the options of backup
generators and UPS's.

Also, to the person who suggested that 3 phase power is not supplied
to residences... not true at all. Many condominiums and apartment
buildings are supplied with 3 phase power. The actual dwelling units
may have only single phase service equipment, but often the common
area electrical equipment (elevators, blowers, pumps, air
conditioners, etc.) are 3 phase.

Beachcomber

You mentioned it being a new home.

Sorry, new to me. Not new construction.

Thanks to everyone who replied. Sounds like this problem shouldn't be
happening in a well-established neighborhood. I'll call my power
company.

Thank you!

On 21 Dec 2005 15:26:38 -0800, wrote:

I've lost power (briefly) at my new home about 5 times in the two
months I've been living there. At my previous home, I lost power that
many times in 10 years. This appears to be a utility problem, not a
problem with the home itself.

These brief losses reset the clocks on my microwave and other devices,
as well as down my computers (I will get a UPS.)

My question: is this frequency of power loss unusual?

Well, I've lost power here 6 times in 15 minutes. Other times once
a month.

Something happened to my burglar alarm and when there is even the
shortest power loss, the alarm would go off, even though it wasn't
armed. Can't use it anymore.

I think better appliances last longer without losing track of the
time. But price is not always what determines these things, and
maybe you should test them before you buy anymore in your case.

I have two vcr's and two alarm clocks on the same shelf, all digital.
And I can practically measure the outage by the number of them which
lose the time. One never does, and gives good FM but bad AM.
Another clock has a backup batter, 9v.
Both vcr's same brand, Magnavox, but one a couple years newer. The
old one loses the time in a split second. The newer one rarely loses
anything.

Some vcrr's have a memory capacitor. One of mine broke I guess, and
after I replace the cap with what they sold as a memory cap, it didn't
forget again.

Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.

On Thu, 22 Dec 2005 00:53:26 -0500, mm
wrote:

I should have said that what I posted below is from suburban
Baltimore.

When I lived in Brooklyn NY, there was probably not more than one
power loss in 12 years, and that was the black-out that made news all
over the country.


Well, I've lost power here 6 times in 15 minutes. Other times once
a month.

Something happened to my burglar alarm and when there is even the
shortest power loss, the alarm would go off, even though it wasn't
armed. Can't use it anymore.

I think better appliances last longer without losing track of the
time. But price is not always what determines these things, and
maybe you should test them before you buy anymore in your case.

I have two vcr's and two alarm clocks on the same shelf, all digital.
And I can practically measure the outage by the number of them which
lose the time. One never does, and gives good FM but bad AM.
Another clock has a backup batter, 9v.
Both vcr's same brand, Magnavox, but one a couple years newer. The
old one loses the time in a split second. The newer one rarely loses
anything.

Some vcrr's have a memory capacitor. One of mine broke I guess, and
after I replace the cap with what they sold as a memory cap, it didn't
forget again.


Remove NOPSAM to email me. Please let
me know if you have posted also.