Electrical Service Question /Concern

[wawajake]

I live in a normal 1000 sq ft bungalow (2000 sq ft if you include the finished basement ) built in 1995. I live rurally with over head service from rural road 200 feet away . So one hydro pole on my property that I own. The pole on the street owned by the hydro company has a typical transformer and disconnect there. Last year a animal must of got caught in the disconnect and it flipped off and I lost all power so I called my Hydro company and within the hour they came with a truck and the guy with a pole flipped the disconnect and I was back in business full power.
Now in my house my service panel is a 200 amp one , with the breakers evenly spaced on both sides of the panel. We do not have a surge protector on the complete panel, but we did buy surge protector outlets or cords for the fridge , the computer , the combi boiler and the two TV's have surge protector extension cords. In the past our area does get the odd power outage due to wind and trees or other issues but when that happens like expected , all our service is dead......So that gives you the layout and history.
Last night we had a severe wind storm and for a very short time period (maybe 2 seconds) the lights went out in maybe half the house random locations then came back on. Meanwhile the other areas in house were not effected. For example I was watching TV upstairs and it did not even flicker , and if you know satellite TV then you would know how typical it is for them to be effected. Same as down stairs TV my wife was watching, (different circuit too) did not flicker, but a light in another room went out and then came back on seconds later.

So what worries me is how can wind cause me to lose for a second or two just part of my power. (so it was not a brown out, it is was something else)

My first thought was loose connection pulled by wind either at pole or in my service panel but I am just guessing. Or is it possible that my Hydro supplier can send power interrupted like that ?

what thoughts , should I be investigating further ?

 

[CobyRupert]

You lost one "leg" of your 120/240V service.

(IMHO) 3 possibilities why:

1) You lost 1 hot leg of your (120/240V) service between the transformer and your panel. Most likely at the weatherhead connection where the overhead wire from the pole connects to your cable from the panel.

2) Look closely at the transformer on the pole: Does it have one or two wires connected to the primary overhead line that runs down the road? If two connections, the utility may have lost one phase on their (high voltage) primary line.

3) You might have a poor ground/neutral connection and you didn't actually lose half your loads, it's just that the 240 voltage split across them was so low.......naw, scratch this, the lights that stayed on would of gotten a lot brighter, etc...

 

[Mendonsy]

Well .... yes it is possible. You probably have a 230 volt 3 wire service which is two 120 volt legs and a neutral. If one leg is interrupted or was shorted to the neutral (ground) then you could lose 1/2 of your power.

 

[Aquamoose]

I'd contact the power company and voice my concerns. Can't hurt to do that.

 

[prichard]

As stated call the utility. I'm fairly certain Coby is correct but utility will let you know. If it is your attachment point you may need to hire an electrician depends on the utility.

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using TractorByNet

 

[Looking4new]

If your username is about where you live, I would suggest looking up on Ontario Hydros'/Hydro Ones' website for the list of their 'approved' electricians to work on your service.

 

[Deere Dude]

Just for my curiosity sake, if a 220 volt appliance takes 110 from each leg, and one leg is gone for some reason, if running could the 220 volt appliance burn out. I think it could.

 

[Mendonsy]

Just for my curiosity sake, if a 220 volt appliance takes 110 from each leg, and one leg is gone for some reason, if running could the 220 volt appliance burn out. I think it could.

It depends ..... most 220 appliances draw power from both legs so when one leg goes out the circuit is open (off). There are a few that use both legs as 115 volts to neutral. Those might do strange things but probably not damage them.

 

[buickanddeere]

As soon as
seeing the word "Hydro". I knew without looking that the poster is a Canadian and probably from Ontario or Quebec.

 

[Opti-Mist]

Echo Bay, east of Soo, ON.

 

[MossRoad]

We have friends that had just the opposite happen.... they turned onto their street at night, and as they approached their house, the exterior lights were REALLY BRIGHT. Turns out their drunken neighbor had backed into a power pole and somehow got 220V on their 110! Sheriff and Insurance Companies were involved.

 

[Looking4new]

As soon as
seeing the word "Hydro". I knew without looking that the poster is a Canadian and probably from Ontario or Quebec.

Echo Bay, east of Soo, ON.

South of North Bay,ON

 

[buickanddeere]

Echo Bay, east of Soo, ON.

Should have said so sooner.I have driven past your place twice a year for the past 18 years every September .

 

[buickanddeere]

South of North Bay,ON

How south ? Into Earlton or into Northern Muskoka ? Used to drive up there annually to the Matheson area.

 

[gwstang]

We have friends that had just the opposite happen.... they turned onto their street at night, and as they approached their house, the exterior lights were REALLY BRIGHT. Turns out their drunken neighbor had backed into a power pole and somehow got 220V on their 110! Sheriff and Insurance Companies were involved.

Something somewhat similar happened to me about 15 years ago. Took the family out for supper and a movie. There was a big thunderstorm at the home while we were gone about 30 miles away. When we returned about 9 pm I unlocked the front door and the lights we had left on were very bright...all of them. I walked down to the shop and got my voltage meter and checked. The voltage was at around 155V. Supposed to be around 115V. I called the power company and they came and checked and spent the next two hours replacing the transformer on the pole outside my home. I guess the storm zapped the transformer. Everything was back to normal after they left. I can still remember how bright the lights were, it was just unreal.

 

[Looking4new]

How south ? Into Earlton or into Northern Muskoka ? Used to drive up there annually to the Matheson area.

Earlton is North of New Liskeard. I am 40 miles south of N.Bay.
Are you around Sarnia, or Clinton areas?

 

[Mace Canute]

........Last night we had a severe wind storm and for a very short time period (maybe 2 seconds) the lights went out in maybe half the house random locations then came back on. Meanwhile the other areas in house were not effected. For example I was watching TV upstairs and it did not even flicker , and if you know satellite TV then you would know how typical it is for them to be effected. Same as down stairs TV my wife was watching, (different circuit too) did not flicker, but a light in another room went out and then came back on seconds later.

So what worries me is how can wind cause me to lose for a second or two just part of my power. (so it was not a brown out, it is was something else)

My first thought was loose connection pulled by wind either at pole or in my service panel but I am just guessing. Or is it possible that my Hydro supplier can send power interrupted like that ?

what thoughts , should I be investigating further ?

I'm assuming you have an overhead service with the meter at the house. If it's wind related it could be a loose connection somewhere on the secondary side on just one of the hot legs. The wind caused movement which wiggled it and caused it to open for a sec, then it made connection again and the current caused it to weld itself together. It will likely get worse and end up opening and staying open. It could be a secondary connection inside or outside of the transformer or any one of the connections (or a splice in the hot leg) on the secondary service line to the meter. It most definitely is not related to the primary feed to the transformer. If your service runs through trees the possibility exists that the insulation on one of the hot legs has been rubbed off and the line shorted to ground or to the neutral but that's not near as likely as a bad connection. Even more unlikely but possible is it's a bad connection in the meter box or in the panel or even internally in the main breaker and by weird coincidence it just happened when it was windy but I seriously doubt that's what happened. I've seen crimped connectors fail and even crimped splices. The electrical utility should be happy to trouble shoot it; I know we were always happy a customer called in before it went off in the middle of the night during a storm.

 

[MossRoad]

Something somewhat similar happened to me about 15 years ago. Took the family out for supper and a movie. There was a big thunderstorm at the home while we were gone about 30 miles away. When we returned about 9 pm I unlocked the front door and the lights we had left on were very bright...all of them. I walked down to the shop and got my voltage meter and checked. The voltage was at around 155V. Supposed to be around 115V. I called the power company and they came and checked and spent the next two hours replacing the transformer on the pole outside my home. I guess the storm zapped the transformer. Everything was back to normal after they left. I can still remember how bright the lights were, it was just unreal.

Our friends found the neighbor passed out in the bed of the pickup truck. Apparently, he was too drunk to drive home, so he had is 8-10 year old kid drive him home and back the truck into the driveway, which backed into a guide wire, that pulled the pole with the wires into a tree, which.... oh good grief!!! :laughing: Anyhow, they lost both garage door openers, stereos, TV, electric range, dishwasher, and pretty much anything else that had an electronic brain. Aaaannnnnddddd..... it happened again a year later only the kid wasn't driving. First time, insurance company just told them to go buy everything new and throw out the bad stuff. The second time it happened, the insurance company came out and confiscated all the burnt up stuff when it was replaced. Neighbor stopped drinking, but now (and this is in small, 65 x 135' lots) has a pit bull, half a dozen quacking ducks and a pig that snorts at our friends through the privacy fence cracks! Its a friendly snort, though! :laughing:

 

[wawajake]

That makes sense what Mace and Coby stated....thanks everyone......no trees along hydro line so considering they (Hydro company) had problems at transformer with it flipping last year , I will report it and hope their end connections of one leg being reviewed and maybe even fixed, prevents my end from needing to be worked on....on my dime.

 

[wawajake]

To Lookingfornew.............I helped my daughter build a house just off HWy 11 just a stones throw south of the MTO weigh scales between Callender and Powassen. (So just north of you I imagine) They had a nightmare dealing with Ontario Hydro with them charging ridiculous for pole installation and even my daughter having to pay to replace the pole on the rural road (not on their property) and then had service read billing charges always wrong for the first year, yep HYDRO company , Ontario's biggest boonddoggle yet.