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#281714 - 08/16/16 02:05 AM Re: "Massive" Power Outage in DC Last Night [Re: Dagny]
Teslinhiker Offline
Veteran

Registered: 12/14/09
Posts: 1418
Loc: Nothern Ontario
Contrary to popular belief of the "squeaky wheels get the grease", power companies have established procedures for restoring from power outages. Typically they try to first focus on areas that have critical facilities such as hospitals and other public emergency and health facilities such as police, fire and ambulance to name a few.

Almost every power company website explains these procedures in detail, including Pepco

A Google of your "power company" power restoration process will show that most companies have similar processes.

Some random examples:

PPL Electric

Duke Electric

First Energy Corp

Consumers Energy

BGE

My power company. In Canada, the term ""Hydro" is more common then "power"
BC Hydro


Last year, we had a 30 hour+ outage which affected more then 700,00 hydro customers. Our neighborhood was one of the last restored and I can why. It is a small neighborhood with few customers on the power subsystem and no critical facilities that would take priority. Less then 2 blocks away, a residential area that also has 2 elderly care homes in it's midst, had power restored within hours. The same goes for the area around the nearest fire hall about 6 blocks away.

After this outage and a couple more, but much shorter duration outages, we purchased a 2000 watt generator to at least keep the fridge and freezer running and also to run a portable heater in the winter. Probably one of the best purchases we made in the last few years.
_________________________
Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.

John Lubbock

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#281716 - 08/16/16 02:30 AM Re: "Massive" Power Outage in DC Last Night [Re: Mark_R]
Dagny Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 11/25/08
Posts: 1918
Loc: Washington, DC
Originally Posted By: Mark_R
Originally Posted By: Ian
In a city near here three or so years ag,o a couple of streets lost power for a few days. Everybody was complaining to each other, but it continued. Eventually someone called the DNO to find out how much longer, to discover nobody had told them! It was a simple fault fixable in a few minutes. Always call the power supplier.

I am intrigued that your stove and fridge still worked. Why?


My high school was fed by two different grid circuits. The second circuit was part of the measures associated with being an emergency evacuation center. I'm assuming it was the same type of thing that prevents hospitals and other critical facilities from losing power in an outage. It's possible that the fridge and stove was wired to an oddball second circuit instead of the main grid.



This is the second time that my block has had this partial outage effect while others around us are completely blacked out.

In 2008 (also on the hottest day of that year), about half the homes on my block were affected and we all lost most, but not all, of our electricity. We all lost a/c. In that partial outage, I lost everything but some ceiling lights and electrical outlets in the living room -- which allowed me to plug my refrigerator into the living room which was a great blessing because it took 13 hours to get the full power back.

This last Saturday night some homes which were not affected in '08 were this time and we were all impacted differently. This time, as I mentioned previously, my fridge stayed on and the stovetop light stayed on. Everything else was off.

My house was built in 1989 but most of these homes are 80-100 years old, or older.

All are rowhouses.


.

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#281717 - 08/16/16 02:44 AM Re: "Massive" Power Outage in DC Last Night [Re: Dagny]
Teslinhiker Offline
Veteran

Registered: 12/14/09
Posts: 1418
Loc: Nothern Ontario
Originally Posted By: Dagny
.

This last Saturday night some homes which were not affected in '08 were this time and we were all impacted differently. This time, as I mentioned previously, my fridge stayed on and the stovetop light stayed on. Everything else was off.

My house was built in 1989 but most of these homes are 80-100 years old, or older.

All are rowhouses.


According to this webpage you may have an electrical problem in your home which is why you are experiencing some outlets still having power. The explanation is very technical but I am sure if you called a local electrician, they could explain it much better.

Some more info.


Edited by Teslinhiker (08/16/16 02:51 AM)
Edit Reason: Added another link
_________________________
Earth and sky, woods and fields, lakes and rivers, the mountain and the sea, are excellent schoolmasters, and teach some of us more than we can ever learn from books.

John Lubbock

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#281719 - 08/16/16 04:29 AM Re: "Massive" Power Outage in DC Last Night [Re: Teslinhiker]
dougwalkabout Offline
Crazy Canuck
Carpal Tunnel

Registered: 02/03/07
Posts: 3219
Loc: Alberta, Canada
Good info! I hadn't considered 3-phase power issues in a commercial building or high-rise, but it makes perfect sense for them to use it.

An undervolt (a.k.a. brownout) condition is really, really hard on equipment. Motors and older-style power supplies can overheat and eventually fail, or in the worst case, start to smoke/burn.

I have always felt that a reliable multimeter and some basic understanding of its use is an extremely important tool in many of the disaster scenarios we consider.

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#281720 - 08/16/16 08:40 AM Re: "Massive" Power Outage in DC Last Night [Re: Dagny]
Ian Offline
Member

Registered: 05/15/07
Posts: 198
Loc: Scotland
I knew about your weird (to us) electrical wiring but in never occurred to me that anyone would consider having two 'phases' in the same domestic premises.

Industrial yes, but mixing phases is risky. I blew up a mass spectrometer by plugging it into one phase and then ran an extension cable a long wy to plug in its output printer. (In the UK phases must be separated by distance or if in the same area marked up, I have never even seen that it must be rare) The 440V difference did a world of damage to the electronics.

I have just built a house and had it T-T (Terra-Terra) wired especially. Live at 230V, Neutral and my own Earth (Terra in the jargon). No room for error and I am not dependent on anybody elses safety provisions.

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#281721 - 08/16/16 01:01 PM Re: "Massive" Power Outage in DC Last Night [Re: Teslinhiker]
Dagny Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 11/25/08
Posts: 1918
Loc: Washington, DC
Originally Posted By: Teslinhiker
Originally Posted By: Dagny
.

This last Saturday night some homes which were not affected in '08 were this time and we were all impacted differently. This time, as I mentioned previously, my fridge stayed on and the stovetop light stayed on. Everything else was off.

My house was built in 1989 but most of these homes are 80-100 years old, or older.

All are rowhouses.


According to this webpage you may have an electrical problem in your home which is why you are experiencing some outlets still having power. The explanation is very technical but I am sure if you called a local electrician, they could explain it much better.

Some more info.



It's not just my home that has demonstrated this phenomenon (in '08 and '16), my entire block has. I wonder if it's the same issue with Pepco that caused the Washington Monument elevator to go out at the same time as our power did Saturday night.


http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/08/15/washington-monument-re-opening-after-elevator-problems.html

Washington Monument re-opening after elevator problems

"...The park service says the closure was a result of a tripped breaker that was caused by a voltage drop of incoming power to the monument."



.



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#281722 - 08/16/16 02:01 PM Re: "Massive" Power Outage in DC Last Night [Re: Dagny]
Russ Offline
Geezer

Registered: 06/02/06
Posts: 5357
Loc: SOCAL
So are you saying that in order to keep your fridge and stovetop light on, you took power from the Washington Monument? Wow, you have serious EE-fu... wink

Seriously though, you may want to discuss this with the good folk at PEPCO 'cause there may be an issue there. OTOH, it's nice to come out of a blackout with your 'fridge still cold...

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#281723 - 08/16/16 02:43 PM Re: "Massive" Power Outage in DC Last Night [Re: Russ]
hikermor Offline
Geezer in Chief
Geezer

Registered: 08/26/06
Posts: 7705
Loc: southern Cal
Does it really count as a power outage if you still have cold beer? When my power goes out, it is all out, so we must consume the beer before it warms up (and the wine, as well). There is nothing more horrific than improperly chilled wine.....
_________________________
Geezer in Chief

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#281725 - 08/16/16 05:27 PM Re: "Massive" Power Outage in DC Last Night [Re: hikermor]
gonewiththewind Offline
Veteran

Registered: 10/14/08
Posts: 1517
Originally Posted By: hikermor
Does it really count as a power outage if you still have cold beer? When my power goes out, it is all out, so we must consume the beer before it warms up (and the wine, as well). There is nothing more horrific than improperly chilled wine.....


Sounds like a true survival situation to me Hikermor!

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#281728 - 08/16/16 08:17 PM Re: "Massive" Power Outage in DC Last Night [Re: Russ]
Dagny Offline
Pooh-Bah

Registered: 11/25/08
Posts: 1918
Loc: Washington, DC
Originally Posted By: Russ
So are you saying that in order to keep your fridge and stovetop light on, you took power from the Washington Monument? Wow, you have serious EE-fu... wink

Seriously though, you may want to discuss this with the good folk at PEPCO 'cause there may be an issue there. OTOH, it's nice to come out of a blackout with your 'fridge still cold...



Lol!

There have been worse blackouts, that is for sure!


.

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