Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more than
a few minutes?

MM

On 01/12/2012 08:16, MM wrote:
Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more than
a few minutes?

MM

Well I always know because the clock on both the cooker and the
microwave are off. However that does not say how long it was off for. I
guess an mains electric clock would show that by time lost.

--
Remember the early bird may catch the worm but the second mouse gets the
cheese.

On Sat, 01 Dec 2012 08:26:57 +0000, Broadback
wrote:

On 01/12/2012 08:16, MM wrote:
Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more than
a few minutes?

MM

Well I always know because the clock on both the cooker and the
microwave are off. However that does not say how long it was off for. I
guess an mains electric clock would show that by time lost.

Assuming that it self-restarts :-)

--
Frank Erskine

On 01/12/2012 08:26, Broadback wrote:
On 01/12/2012 08:16, MM wrote:
Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more than
a few minutes?

MM

Well I always know because the clock on both the cooker and the
microwave are off. However that does not say how long it was off for. I
guess an mains electric clock would show that by time lost.

Got back a couple of weeks ago from 11 weeks away. Cooker and microwave
lights flashing but the freezer contents showed no signs of thawing and
re-freezing.
A neighbour might know but if only one phase went it might be necessary
to ask a few. (A landscape gardener once hit our underground power cable
and ISTR one phase was out for quite a while and caused conndusion
between neighbours)

On 01/12/12 08:16, MM wrote:
Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more than
a few minutes?

MM
The easy way to tell is that your dont reboot on power up server is dead
and cold.



--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On Sat, 01 Dec 2012 08:57:42 +0000, Hugh - in either England or Spain
wrote:

On 01/12/2012 08:26, Broadback wrote:
On 01/12/2012 08:16, MM wrote:
Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more than
a few minutes?

MM

Well I always know because the clock on both the cooker and the
microwave are off. However that does not say how long it was off for. I
guess an mains electric clock would show that by time lost.

Got back a couple of weeks ago from 11 weeks away. Cooker and microwave
lights flashing but the freezer contents showed no signs of thawing and
re-freezing.
A neighbour might know but if only one phase went it might be necessary
to ask a few. (A landscape gardener once hit our underground power cable
and ISTR one phase was out for quite a while and caused conndusion
between neighbours)

The UPS logs tell me.



--
Use the BIG mirror service in the UK:
http://www.mirrorservice.org

*lightning protection* - a w_tom conductor

What has annoyed me lately are the power cuts that last for seconds and
seem to have very rough power as they fail. These scramble devices with
digital circuitry I often find, like set top boxes and radios.
I think the best way one can tell if there has been a cut is to have a good
old fashioned electric clock run from the mains. If its wrong by an
appreciable amount then you know its been off. I have a relay operated set
of sockets for the stereo via a timer, and if the mains drops out it will
just go off and await my return.
Brian

--
From the Sofa of Brian Gaff Reply address is active
"MM" wrote in message
...
Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more than
a few minutes?

MM

On Dec 1, 8:57 am, Hugh - in either England or Spain
wrote:
On 01/12/2012 08:26, Broadback wrote: On 01/12/2012 08:16, MM wrote:
Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more than
a few minutes?

MM

Well I always know because the clock on both the cooker and the
microwave are off. However that does not say how long it was off for. I
guess an mains electric clock would show that by time lost.

Got back a couple of weeks ago from 11 weeks away. Cooker and microwave
lights flashing but the freezer contents showed no signs of thawing and
re-freezing.
A neighbour might know but if only one phase went it might be necessary
to ask a few. (A landscape gardener once hit our underground power cable
and ISTR one phase was out for quite a while and caused conndusion
between neighbour

ah the trials of the tax exile ;)

Jim K

In message , at 10:02:37 on Sat, 1 Dec 2012,
Brian Gaff remarked:
What has annoyed me lately are the power cuts that last for seconds and
seem to have very rough power as they fail.

I've had a few of those the last couple of weeks, plus some others where
the lights dimmed and the fridge compressor audibly slowed down but all
the PCs etc carried on OK.

What's causing this, is it the old "overhead wires banging together in
the gales"?
--
Roland Perry

On 01/12/12 10:02, Brian Gaff wrote:
What has annoyed me lately are the power cuts that last for seconds and
seem to have very rough power as they fail. These scramble devices with
digital circuitry I often find, like set top boxes and radios.
I think the best way one can tell if there has been a cut is to have a good
old fashioned electric clock run from the mains. If its wrong by an
appreciable amount then you know its been off. I have a relay operated set
of sockets for the stereo via a timer, and if the mains drops out it will
just go off and await my return.
Brian

That unfortunately is what lines banging together or against tree parts
do, in high wind.

Since a lot of 11KV and 33KV is in fact up poles, that is what you get..

The alternative is a few percent more on the leccy bill. And underground it.



--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

In message , Broadback
writes
On 01/12/2012 08:16, MM wrote:
Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more than
a few minutes?

MM

Well I always know because the clock on both the cooker and the
microwave are off. However that does not say how long it was off for. I
guess an mains electric clock would show that by time lost.

Our oven restarts the clock at 00:00.

--
Simon

12) The Second Rule of Expectations
An EXPECTATION is a Premeditated resentment.

In article , MM
scribeth thus
Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more than
a few minutes?

MM

Not generally . They might not know of smaller events on their networks
they still rely in someone to phone them and complain...

--
Tony Sayer

In article , Roland Perry
scribeth thus
In message , at 10:02:37 on Sat, 1 Dec 2012,
Brian Gaff remarked:
What has annoyed me lately are the power cuts that last for seconds and
seem to have very rough power as they fail.

I've had a few of those the last couple of weeks, plus some others where
the lights dimmed and the fridge compressor audibly slowed down but all
the PCs etc carried on OK.

What's causing this, is it the old "overhead wires banging together in
the gales"?

The national grid it came to pas.
It's wires were made of Brass..

In windy weather they'd bang together,
and spark's flew out of its arse!..

--
Tony Sayer

On 01/12/12 10:36, Roland Perry wrote:
In message , at 10:02:37 on Sat, 1 Dec 2012,
Brian Gaff remarked:
What has annoyed me lately are the power cuts that last for seconds and
seem to have very rough power as they fail.

I've had a few of those the last couple of weeks, plus some others where
the lights dimmed and the fridge compressor audibly slowed down but all
the PCs etc carried on OK.

What's causing this, is it the old "overhead wires banging together in
the gales"?
yes. Or branches falling on em

More common outside of town


--
Ineptocracy

(in-ep-toc-ra-cy) €“ a system of government where the least capable to
lead are elected by the least capable of producing, and where the
members of society least likely to sustain themselves or succeed, are
rewarded with goods and services paid for by the confiscated wealth of a
diminishing number of producers.

On Sat, 01 Dec 2012 08:57:42 +0000, Hugh - in either England or Spain
wrote:

caused conndusion between neighbours)

Confused conductive concussion?

On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 11:48:20 +0000, tony sayer
wrote:

The national grid it came to pas.
It's wires were made of Brass..

In windy weather they'd bang together,
and spark's flew out of its arse!..

Ah, it's easy to confuse sparks with low-flying apostrophes.
They tend to lodge everywhere, the little blighters.

In article , Grimly
Curmudgeon scribeth thus
On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 11:48:20 +0000, tony sayer
wrote:

The national grid it came to pas.
It's wires were made of Brass..

In windy weather they'd bang together,
and spark's flew out of its arse!..

Ah, it's easy to confuse sparks with low-flying apostrophes.
They tend to lodge everywhere, the little blighters.

Well the real reason is 99 times outa 100 tree branches clouting the
lines causing automatic line reclosers to be activated.

And the trees are not cut back from the lines as much as they ought
be....
--
Tony Sayer

tony sayer wrote:
In article , MM
scribeth thus
Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more
than a few minutes?

MM

Not generally . They might not know of smaller events on their
networks they still rely in someone to phone them and complain...

Not sure what a small event is - but the substation in my garden is remotely
monitored at an office in Leeds 20 miles away.

Any self resetting breaker that fails to reset does not need a phone call to
tell them that the power is down. I only phone them to tell them that they
have locked my cat in the substation and could they come back and let it
out.

--
Adam

In message , tony sayer
writes
In article , Grimly
Curmudgeon scribeth thus
On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 11:48:20 +0000, tony sayer
wrote:

The national grid it came to pas.
It's wires were made of Brass..

In windy weather they'd bang together,
and spark's flew out of its arse!..

Ah, it's easy to confuse sparks with low-flying apostrophes.
They tend to lodge everywhere, the little blighters.

Well the real reason is 99 times outa 100 tree branches clouting the
lines causing automatic line reclosers to be activated.

And the trees are not cut back from the lines as much as they ought
be....

EDF sent a team to fell a diseased Ash here a few weeks back. The usable
wood should see my log burner through this winter:-)

--
Tim Lamb

On 01/12/2012 15:03, tony sayer wrote:
Well the real reason is 99 times outa 100 tree branches clouting the
lines causing automatic line reclosers to be activated.

The hundredth being some scrote with a bike frame...

Andy

On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 15:03:50 +0000, tony sayer wrote:

Well the real reason is 99 times outa 100 tree branches clouting the
lines causing automatic line reclosers to be activated.

Which for here at least produces pretty clean off/on switching. If it's a
more than just a small bit of tree that survives the intial contact/blast
it'll switch cleaning for two off cycles at about 0.5Hz before locking
out. This on/off'ing can certainly confuse some digital stuff.

The only times we have had poor quality power have been when icing
brought down the lines in about dozen places locally and the sudden shock
loading on some poles snapped 'em. We had roughly half volts until they
isolated the supply a few hours later, it was then off for 36hrs until
they replaced a pole. Some kit objected to the half volts some didn't.

The other occasion was last month. When they restored the supply after a
pole transformer nearer town exploded, they didn't whack an air switch
back in hard enough so once it was supposed to be carrying the load it
was arcing.

As for monitoring and logs, they quite often already know when I ring up
about a power loss but wether that is just from other reports or the
recloser automagically reporting in that it has locked out is hard to
tell. They didn't on the one above though and I could hear another call
in the background "there was a loud bang and smoke started coming from
the pole"... I did get verification from the engineers that the reason
for our outage was a pole transformer fire. The power just went off in
this case though no retry from the recloser so presumably that was an
overload trip not phase(s) to earth trip.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 18:22:32 +0000, Tim Lamb wrote:

EDF sent a team to fell a diseased Ash here a few weeks back. The
usable wood should see my log burner through this winter:-)

Not diseased with chalara I hope. Though at this time of year it ain't
going to spread I still think such a tree ought to be disposed of quickly
to destroy as much of the fungus as possible and not give it a chance.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sat, 01 Dec 2012 21:04:46 +0000, Andy Champ wrote:

Well the real reason is 99 times outa 100 tree branches clouting the
lines causing automatic line reclosers to be activated.

The hundredth being some scrote with a bike frame...

Then a ladder and bolt cutters...

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Dec 1, 8:16*am, MM wrote:

Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more than
a few minutes?

My microwave cooker does. Or at least, one of the events per night.
Quite a frequent occurrence thanks to Maggie. The morons running the
grid obviously get paid peanuts.

In message o.uk, Dave
Liquorice writes
On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 18:22:32 +0000, Tim Lamb wrote:

EDF sent a team to fell a diseased Ash here a few weeks back. The
usable wood should see my log burner through this winter:-)

Not diseased with chalara I hope. Though at this time of year it ain't
going to spread I still think such a tree ought to be disposed of quickly
to destroy as much of the fungus as possible and not give it a chance.

Unlikely. This was a mature Ash with the core rotted. Bark and sapwood
still supporting sound branches.

Had it fallen as seemed likely, it would have reached the 11kV overheads
supplying the village.

Such things are no longer considered accidents/acts of god and might
have given my insurers/premiums a nasty moment.


--
Tim Lamb

On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 15:39:50 -0800 (PST), Weatherlawyer wrote:

My microwave cooker does. Or at least, one of the events per night.
Quite a frequent occurrence thanks to Maggie. The morons running the
grid obviously get paid peanuts.

If you are getting one outage per night I'd complain. In fact I'd
complain at one per month. Our power is very reliable and that is all
overhead from the power station(s) to the side of our house. With some of
that overhead on an exposed ridge at 2,000'.

It won't be "the grid" though but your local distributer that has the
problem and probably fairly local to you.

--
Cheers
Dave.

In message o.uk, Dave
Liquorice writes
If you are getting one outage per night I'd complain. In fact I'd
complain at one per month. Our power is very reliable and that is all
overhead from the power station(s) to the side of our house. With some of
that overhead on an exposed ridge at 2,000'.


A few year back the supply around here was very unreliable (to the
extent that I'd started to keep a log of the outages). I eventually
found out where the "complaints department" was, and did. I
subsequently got a phone call from them, and the lady on the other end
of the phone informed me that my service was more reliable than hers was
(with the unspoken "so stop complaining"). To be fair it has markedly
improved since then.


Adrian
--
To Reply :
replace "bulleid" with "adrian" - all mail to bulleid is rejected
Sorry for the rigmarole, If I want spam, I'll go to the shops
Every time someone says "I don't believe in trolls", another one dies.

On Sun, 2 Dec 2012 09:53:58 +0000, Tim Lamb wrote:

Not diseased with chalara I hope.

Unlikely. This was a mature Ash with the core rotted. Bark and sapwood
still supporting sound branches.

To far gone to be chalara then as that hasn't been in the country long
enough to rot out a core.

Had it fallen as seemed likely, it would have reached the 11kV
overheads supplying the village.

Such things are no longer considered accidents/acts of god and might
have given my insurers/premiums a nasty moment.

Yes, they'd have said lack of maintenance and you'd have been landed with
the bill from EDF in repairing the line and any claims from the
villagers. Good to see some proactive work going on, though a winters
supply of ash for the fire has some value, especially if some one else
does most of the work.

--
Cheers
Dave.

"Dave Liquorice" wrote:
On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 18:22:32 +0000, Tim Lamb wrote:

EDF sent a team to fell a diseased Ash here a few weeks back. The
usable wood should see my log burner through this winter:-)

Not diseased with chalara I hope. Though at this time of year it ain't
going to spread I still think such a tree ought to be disposed of quickly
to destroy as much of the fungus as possible and not give it a chance.

Isn't it a case of bolting stable doors etc.? Okay, it's probably not a
good idea to move diseased wood large distances but it's becoming obvious
that the infection in this country is already pretty widespread (and
probably has been for a year or two).

Tim

On Dec 1, 8:26*am, Broadback wrote:
On 01/12/2012 08:16, MM wrote: Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more than
a few minutes?

MM

Well I always know because the clock on both the cooker and the
microwave are off.

Off? Our come back on and some simple maths indicates how long since
the last power up,but not if it wen off more than once.

MBQ

On Dec 2, 1:14*pm, Tim+ wrote:
"Dave Liquorice" wrote:
On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 18:22:32 +0000, Tim Lamb wrote:

EDF sent a team to fell a diseased Ash here a few weeks back. The
usable wood should see my log burner through this winter:-)

Not diseased with chalara I hope. Though at this time of year it ain't
going to spread I still think such a tree ought to be disposed of quickly
to destroy as much of the fungus as possible and not give it a chance.

Isn't it a case of bolting stable doors etc.? *Okay, it's probably not a
good idea to move diseased wood large distances but it's becoming obvious
that the infection in this country is already pretty widespread (and
probably has been for a year or two).

Were only finding it's "spreading rapidly" as we've only just started
lucking for it. Most of the "thousands" of "trees" being destroyed are
newly planted saplings. It's bad, but the media just make it far worse
than it really is at the moment.

MBQ

On Dec 1, 11:39*pm, Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Dec 1, 8:16*am, MM wrote:



Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more than
a few minutes?

My microwave cooker does. Or at least, one of the events per night.
Quite a frequent occurrence thanks to Maggie.

All Maggies fault, yeah right. ****wit. Labour didn't seem to do much
about anything, did they?

MBA

Man at B&Q wrote:
On Dec 1, 11:39 pm, Weatherlawyer wrote:
On Dec 1, 8:16 am, MM wrote:



Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more
than a few minutes?

My microwave cooker does. Or at least, one of the events per night.
Quite a frequent occurrence thanks to Maggie.

All Maggies fault, yeah right. ****wit. Labour didn't seem to do much
about anything, did they?

She gets the blame for everything.


--
Adam

On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 10:02:37 -0000, "Brian Gaff"
wrote:

What has annoyed me lately are the power cuts that last for seconds and
seem to have very rough power as they fail. These scramble devices with
digital circuitry I often find, like set top boxes and radios.

Hey, tell me about it! I recently rearranged the cabling to my UPS so
as to include the ADSL modem and D-Link switch on the protected
circuit, because the other day we got a brown-out that lasted, as you
say, just for a few seconds and both units were caught.

Even switching them on and off failed to get back my internet
connection. The PC of course, being the primary component for the UPS,
sat there in blissful ignorance, however I had eventually to power
EVERYthing down - PC, modem, switch - before it all worked again.

Course, since I did that we haven't had another power cut!

The actual reason I posted the original message, however, was because
I suspected that my PoS known as a Wallstar 15/20 had its control box
lock out after a power cut, necessitating going out in the freezing
cold to remove the cover and press the reset button. So I wondered,
after it happened a second time, whether we'd had another power cut.
According to the control box spec sheet, if the mains voltage drops
below 140, it locks out.

MM

In article ,
MM wrote:
On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 10:02:37 -0000, "Brian Gaff"
wrote:

What has annoyed me lately are the power cuts that last for seconds and
seem to have very rough power as they fail. These scramble devices with
digital circuitry I often find, like set top boxes and radios.

Hey, tell me about it! I recently rearranged the cabling to my UPS so
as to include the ADSL modem and D-Link switch on the protected
circuit, because the other day we got a brown-out that lasted, as you
say, just for a few seconds and both units were caught.

The reason I got a UPS a few years ago. These brown-outs may have been
happening for years, but passed unnoticed in the night until we all went
out and bought ADSL modems.

--
From KT24

Using a RISC OS computer running v5.18

On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 10:36:43 +0000, Roland Perry
wrote:

In message , at 10:02:37 on Sat, 1 Dec 2012,
Brian Gaff remarked:
What has annoyed me lately are the power cuts that last for seconds and
seem to have very rough power as they fail.

I've had a few of those the last couple of weeks, plus some others where
the lights dimmed and the fridge compressor audibly slowed down but all
the PCs etc carried on OK.

What's causing this, is it the old "overhead wires banging together in
the gales"?

I think the word is simply "old". The water companies often use their
"Victorian" pipework as an excuse for the leaks. Much of Britain's
infrastructure is clapped out. The country resembles East Germany in
many respects. Plenty of dosh, though, for Trident and for foreign
wars.

MM

On Sat, 1 Dec 2012 17:37:25 -0000, "ARW"
wrote:

tony sayer wrote:
In article , MM
scribeth thus
Do the power companies keep online logs of power failures of more
than a few minutes?

MM

Not generally . They might not know of smaller events on their
networks they still rely in someone to phone them and complain...

Not sure what a small event is - but the substation in my garden is remotely
monitored at an office in Leeds 20 miles away.

Any self resetting breaker that fails to reset does not need a phone call to
tell them that the power is down. I only phone them to tell them that they
have locked my cat in the substation and could they come back and let it
out.

What, a 40 mile round trip! That cat must think it's great fun hiding
from the engineer. I love cats, though not illegally.

MM

On Sun, 2 Dec 2012 06:21:09 -0800 (PST), Man at B&Q wrote:

Isn't it a case of bolting stable doors etc.?

Possibly but it still makes sense. I don't think the full extent is known
yet as no body really started looking until the autumn. Our ashes had
shutdown for the winter by the time all the fuss started.

that the infection in this country is already pretty widespread (and
probably has been for a year or two).

I don't think it's been here that long. It has been found in 5 or 6 year
old saplings that have been planted out but I'm not sure when those
saplings came into the country or when they where planted out from the
nurseries.

Were only finding it's "spreading rapidly" as we've only just started
lucking for it. Most of the "thousands" of "trees" being destroyed are
newly planted saplings.

And most of those in nurseries that have been close to infected imports.
Most cases "in the wild" are in young trees planted out fairly recenty.
Though there have been cases in older trees.

--
Cheers
Dave.

On Sun, 2 Dec 2012 11:51:01 +0000, Adrian
wrote:

In message o.uk, Dave
Liquorice writes
If you are getting one outage per night I'd complain. In fact I'd
complain at one per month. Our power is very reliable and that is all
overhead from the power station(s) to the side of our house. With some of
that overhead on an exposed ridge at 2,000'.


A few year back the supply around here was very unreliable (to the
extent that I'd started to keep a log of the outages). I eventually
found out where the "complaints department" was, and did. I
subsequently got a phone call from them, and the lady on the other end
of the phone informed me that my service was more reliable than hers was
(with the unspoken "so stop complaining"). To be fair it has markedly
improved since then.

When I moved in to this brand-new house a few years ago (all the
properties on the estate were new) and established beyond all shadow
of a doubt that "my" stop cock in the pavement was actually the
neighbour's and vice versa. I couldn't understand why I'd been sent
this massive bill and had only been there a few days, you see.

The two stop cocks - mine and neighbour's - are physically quite close
together, but it so happens that each is the one further away from its
assigned property. Someone at Anglian Water had simply looked at the
two locations without checking the meter serial numbers.

Having established, through switching my kitchen tap on and the stop
cock I knew had to be mine off, I lifted the stop cock round lid, got
a torch and wrote down the magic number on the top of the meter. Then
I called Anglian Water and told them they'd "cocked" up.

The lady in the call centre flatly refused to believe me! She insisted
that the company could never get something as basic as that wrong. So
*I* insisted on speaking to her manager. After much umming and ahhing
they agreed, reluctantly (because it probably meant a not
insignificant round trip for them), to send an engineer round and he
turned up the next day. I switched on my kitchen cold tap and asked
him to turn my actual stop cock in the pavement off. Prepare for red
face and grovveling look as my kitchen tap stopped flowing. Then I
showed him the wrong bill, which was clearly the one assigned to the
*neigbour's* supply.

A few days later and I got the correct bill with the correct meter
number. I then wrote a letter to the CEO of Anglian Water and
complained about the attitude of the stupid woman in the call centre
and received another grovelling response.

Jobsworths, eh! Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em.

MM

On 2 Dec 2012 12:04:23 GMT, Huge wrote:

On 2012-12-02, Adrian wrote:
In message o.uk, Dave
Liquorice writes
If you are getting one outage per night I'd complain. In fact I'd
complain at one per month. Our power is very reliable and that is all
overhead from the power station(s) to the side of our house. With some of
that overhead on an exposed ridge at 2,000'.


A few year back the supply around here was very unreliable (to the
extent that I'd started to keep a log of the outages). I eventually
found out where the "complaints department" was, and did. I
subsequently got a phone call from them, and the lady on the other end
of the phone informed me that my service was more reliable than hers was
(with the unspoken "so stop complaining").

I managed to get to speak to an actually techie, following 5 cuts in
one day, who said "I'll walk the line..."(!). He never called back, but
the cuts stopped.

Maybe his mates found him later and got the insulation tape out of the
van...

MM