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#144679 - 08/19/08 01:00 AM Re: Finally a power failure in my house [Re: firefly99]
Am_Fear_Liath_Mor Offline
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 08/03/07
Posts: 3078
Quote:
The electrican took 3 hours to reach my house from the time I called. He had one of those big 6V Everready flashlight with a weak beam that he was about to use to check my circuit breaker. To assist him, I switch on my modded Mag 2C with 3x CR123. His immediate comment was my light was very bright and switch off his EVerready. He found loose electrical cables which cause 2 circuit breaker to melt a little. It took him close to an hour to replace both burnt circuit breakers and ensure all cables are correctly wired and tighten.


It would probably be a good idea to have the rest of your domestic electrical wiring checked out as well. Shoddy workmanship at the circuit breaker probably indicates other safety issues for your domestic wiring. The US domestic wiring will be different to the UK standards but a socket tester such as this one at

http://www.martindale-electric.co.uk/sockets.htm

will test for the correct socket polarity and earth leakage problems. There should be a US equivalent tester to test for wall socket wiring problems.

Having a Residual Current Circuit Breaker RCCB installed is highly desirable as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual-current_device

They are known life savers protecting against lethal electrocution.

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#144701 - 08/19/08 04:28 AM Re: Finally a power failure in my house [Re: Arney]
firefly99 Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 05/28/06
Posts: 58
Originally Posted By: Arney
Originally Posted By: firefly99
For the past few days, I noticed a smell of something burning.

A few days? Maybe I'm over-reacting to this story, but that's a long time to notice the smell of something burning in your house without figuring out the source. I think lesson #1 would be to not ignore a burning smell inside your house. I can't imagine going to sleep knowing that something could be burning in my house and not knowing where, especially with a child. The burning smell could've been something far more dangerous than loose breakers.

Sorry, it seem that I had given the impression that there is a continuous burning smell for a few days. What I meant was my family members and myself noticed a very faint smell of burning in the evening for the past few days. Each time we would go around searching for the smell. But the smell would disappear within 10 minutes. During day time, none of us can detect any burning smell.

I had triple checked that there is no more burning smell or open flame in / around my house before going to sleep.

Originally Posted By: Arney
Do you have smoke detectors and regularly check those batteries?

I will get some smoke detectors installed and properly have to try out the existing fire extinguishers and topup too.

Originally Posted By: Rodion
At the risk of being tortured with extra bright LEDs, I think you ought to get back to the basics of home preparedness.
Yes, I do have those stuff you mentioned and a plan to handle the potential risks impacting my house or region. There was no need to deploy those items so I did not mentioned them.

This incident show the differences between what I imagine is need for a power failure situation and what is actually needed.

Originally Posted By: samhain
Originally Posted By: NightHiker
I've always been a little leary of rechargeable batteries, they seem to always need recharging whenever I need them. They're ok for my kids' game systems but for an emergency situation (or semi-ememergency) I want dependable power immediately.
I agree.

The rechargeable batteries are for everyday use DD's cd player, clocks, remotes,etc.

I keep a stash of alkaline batteries for emergency use.
I had the same view too. My rechargeable batteries are solely for my kid's toys. For emergency kits, I would prefer primary battery. It just happen that I had spend the time & effort to recharge all the batteries and it fail me less than 7 days later when I need them.





Edited by firefly99 (08/19/08 05:08 AM)

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#144702 - 08/19/08 05:02 AM Re: Finally a power failure in my house [Re: firefly99]
Tjin Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 04/08/02
Posts: 1821
Originally Posted By: firefly99


I will get some smoke detectors installed and properly have to try out the existing fire extinguishers and topup too.



most small fireextinguishers can not be "tryed". You can buy another one to train with, since the small domestic models tend to be single use. Check the pressure and when i doubt, buy a new one. Generally not worth to service them.
_________________________


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#144704 - 08/19/08 05:12 AM Re: Finally a power failure in my house [Re: Tjin]
firefly99 Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 05/28/06
Posts: 58
Originally Posted By: PC2K
Originally Posted By: firefly99
I will get some smoke detectors installed and properly have to try out the existing fire extinguishers and topup too.

most small fireextinguishers can not be "tryed". You can buy another one to train with, since the small domestic models tend to be single use. Check the pressure and when i doubt, buy a new one. Generally not worth to service them.

Thanks for the information. This is new to me. Anyway, my current fire extinguishers had been with me for several years. Guess it is time to replace them.

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#144705 - 08/19/08 05:22 AM Re: Finally a power failure in my house [Re: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor]
firefly99 Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 05/28/06
Posts: 58
Originally Posted By: Am_Fear_Liath_Mor
It would probably be a good idea to have the rest of your domestic electrical wiring checked out as well. Shoddy workmanship at the circuit breaker probably indicates other safety issues for your domestic wiring. The US domestic wiring will be different to the UK standards but a socket tester such as this one at

http://www.martindale-electric.co.uk/sockets.htm

will test for the correct socket polarity and earth leakage problems. There should be a US equivalent tester to test for wall socket wiring problems.

Having a Residual Current Circuit Breaker RCCB installed is highly desirable as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Residual-current_device

They are known life savers protecting against lethal electrocution.
Yes, it is an excellent idea. But I did strip out all cablings including the circuit breakers, switches and recable the whole house when I move in 10 years ago. It would be a nightmare to recable the whole house now.


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#144706 - 08/19/08 05:55 AM Re: Finally a power failure in my house [Re: Arney]
firefly99 Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 05/28/06
Posts: 58
Originally Posted By: Arney
Firefly's post was originally written as a post over at Candlepower Forums, so that's why all the specific details about flashlights. I'm curious to see how the responses from the CPF crowd differs from the ETS crowd to the same post. I'm a little surprised that we're mostly just commenting on the batteries angle so far rather than the fire danger angle.
I post over Candlepower forum to share what flashlights that I had used in this incident and found useful. So that other folks will not be struck in an extended power failure with a super bright flashlight that last less than half an hour and having to sit in the dark for the rest of the duration.

My objective of repeating the post here is for discussion on the emergency preparedness aspect. I had always believe that I am quite well prepare to handle crisis such as a power failure. I had imagine what the need for a power failure will be and prepare accordingly. But was a little surprise to realise there is some shortcoming on my preparedness.

I had always assume that the cause of power failure will be external to my house, such as grid issue, tree fell on transmission line, etc. Never realise a circuit breaker melted down, will cause a power failure as well as the threat of fire.

I wish I can foresee what is my family first aid requirements are? For I would hate to break the seal on my first aid kit then realise that I had insufficient quantity of cotton wool or lack certain lotion, etc.

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#144707 - 08/19/08 05:58 AM Re: Finally a power failure in my house [Re: firefly99]
Grouch Offline
Enthusiast

Registered: 07/02/08
Posts: 395
Loc: Ohio
Originally Posted By: firefly99
Thanks for the information. This is new to me. Anyway, my current fire extinguishers had been with me for several years. Guess it is time to replace them.

If you plan to replace your extinguishers, the old ones might still be suitable for training your family on proper use and to get an idea of their effectiveness. I think many people place too much faith in small extinguishers which are suitable only for small fires that are detected almost immediately after ignition.

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#144708 - 08/19/08 06:49 AM Re: Finally a power failure in my house [Re: Grouch]
adam2 Offline
Addict

Registered: 05/23/08
Posts: 483
Loc: Somerset UK
I would certainly agree that a store of alkaline cells is prudent in case of power failure, in this case the probem was only in the OPs home and batteries could be readily purchased. in the event of a general blackout it is probable that the store would either close or run out.

As regards the cause of the problem, in addition to installing smoke detectors in the recomended places in your home, I would suggest an additional smoke detector close above the electrical panel, this could give valuable early warning of any overheating.

In the UK the use of RCDs is to be recomended, in the USA these are known as GFCIs and are already in widespread use.
Such devices protect against leakage of current to earth/ground which can kill or start fires, they do not in general protect against overheating caused by loose connections or overloading.

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#144709 - 08/19/08 06:50 AM Re: Finally a power failure in my house [Re: Grouch]
firefly99 Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 05/28/06
Posts: 58
Originally Posted By: Grouch
Originally Posted By: firefly99
Thanks for the information. This is new to me. Anyway, my current fire extinguishers had been with me for several years. Guess it is time to replace them.

If you plan to replace your extinguishers, the old ones might still be suitable for training your family on proper use and to get an idea of their effectiveness. I think many people place too much faith in small extinguishers which are suitable only for small fires that are detected almost immediately after ignition.
Yes, I intend to use the old ones for training purposes. But I am more curious to find out their lifespan, whether it would still work after 5 years in storage.

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#144710 - 08/19/08 06:53 AM Re: Finally a power failure in my house [Re: adam2]
firefly99 Offline
Journeyman

Registered: 05/28/06
Posts: 58
Originally Posted By: adam2
I would certainly agree that a store of alkaline cells is prudent in case of power failure, in this case the probem was only in the OPs home and batteries could be readily purchased. in the event of a general blackout it is probable that the store would either close or run out.

As regards the cause of the problem, in addition to installing smoke detectors in the recomended places in your home, I would suggest an additional smoke detector close above the electrical panel, this could give valuable early warning of any overheating.

In the UK the use of RCDs is to be recomended, in the USA these are known as GFCIs and are already in widespread use.
Such devices protect against leakage of current to earth/ground which can kill or start fires, they do not in general protect against overheating caused by loose connections or overloading.
Good idea.

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