[Elecraft] Items you think you can depend on

[Bill Frantz]

We had the power company lose the neutral connection in the 
service to our house in New Hampshire. This meant that the 110 
equipment on one side of the power system was acting as the 
return for the 110 equipment on the other side. When my cousin 
started using a big shop vac, the power strip on the other side 
of the line started smoking as the surge suppressors tried to 
handle the overvoltage situation. It didn't help that he has 
always been taught that electricity is dangerous and you should 
unplug all appliances, including clocks, whenever you leave the 
house for any amount of time. Now he unplugs the religiously.

73 Bill AE6JV

On 9/4/17 at 10:32 AM, elecraft at mailman.qth.net (Mel Farrer via 
Elecraft) wrote:

>Funny you posted this.
>I monitor BOTH sides of the 110/220 VAC service and have alarms set to trigger either line >125 or
>>250 VAC. Being in the country THINGS happen.
>Always expect the unusual.
>Mel, K6KBE
>
>
>From: David Robertson <kd1na363 at gmail.com>
>To: Elecraft <elecraft at mailman.qth.net> Sent: Monday, September 
>4, 2017 9:39 AM
>Subject: [Elecraft] Items you think you can depend on
>
>Everyone,
>
>Over time we can grow complacent on many service items such as electrical
>power, water and other services over time. Well that can be concerning as
>many hidden changes can result in damage to your home and equipment.
>
>Late late night I came in to my den and was closing down my ham station
>when I notice my fault light on my KPA500 linear was on. I powered it down
>and retired for the evening. This morning I powered up the linear (KPA500)
>and at once I got a fault light and had a high voltage alert. I powered
>down the linear and checked my input line voltage. It was 137 volts RMS! To
>be sure it wasn't my imagination I rechecked the voltage with a different
>meter with the same result. In checking the 220 volt outlet I measured 274
>volts! My linear is set up for 220 volts operation and it was getting over
>90 volts HV.
>
>I alerted the neighbors and cut the main breaker to the house. I then
>called the power company's service number and reported the problem. A short
>time later they called me back and reported that a regulator in the local
>sub station had "Stuck" and was reset. In rechecking my line voltage it was
>118 volts on the low side and 236 volts on the high side.
>
>In the 12 years we have been at this qth we found that our town's locally
>run power company has been very reliable but this experience showed me that
>it is not a bad idea to check your line voltage every once in a while.
>73
>
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