Cindysparky
Member
- Location
- Milwaukee
- Occupation
- Electrician
So, I’m at this customers house troubleshooting for them. Recent issues: internet and phone went down. Microwave is acting real funny giving a reading of PF (I’m guessing power failure). The phone and internet magically cleared themselves up. So, I told them the issue was probably on Spectrums end. The microwave circuit was reading a good 120 while I was there.
But I don’t like dismissing people so I call my boss Chris. He says he’s seen this before where a dropped service neutral takes an alternate path on the intersystem bonding. I think: hmmmmm. And I like that my boss is thinking outside the box. I figure, let’s just take a peek at the panel. No arching on the service neutral. It’s looking healthy.
For whatever reason, I decide to shut the breaker down for the microwave. It’s on a multi-wire, I should mention (without a handle tie). And the breaker is HARD to shut down. Very hard. So, I was like: bad breaker let’s swap it out. Btw, we did witness the microwave shut down due to PF while I was there.
Last thing I want to share, there was a huge transformer that blew up right around the time that all of their issues started happening to them. Which likely created a power surge. When they were telling me everything they knew, this was a key piece of it for them.
So, I go to have a beer with my old boss Dan. I tell him the story. He says that the surge melted the breaker because the microwave clock was on. I was shook by this. I posted about it to my circles. One person came on and said that that was impossible since the microwave has fuses.
I reached out to Ryan Jackson. I wanted to know if he believes the breaker could be damaged by a surge. He said it’s theoretically possible but more likely that it’s old and deteriorated. It was an old breaker. But I didn’t see any signs of moisture in the panel.
I want to think it was the surge. And I went as far to email a professor at MSOE about it and ask if anyone is interested in examining the breaker.
I’m posting this hear because I’d love to know if you think it is possible and just get a conversation going about surges in general.
️
But I don’t like dismissing people so I call my boss Chris. He says he’s seen this before where a dropped service neutral takes an alternate path on the intersystem bonding. I think: hmmmmm. And I like that my boss is thinking outside the box. I figure, let’s just take a peek at the panel. No arching on the service neutral. It’s looking healthy.
For whatever reason, I decide to shut the breaker down for the microwave. It’s on a multi-wire, I should mention (without a handle tie). And the breaker is HARD to shut down. Very hard. So, I was like: bad breaker let’s swap it out. Btw, we did witness the microwave shut down due to PF while I was there.
Last thing I want to share, there was a huge transformer that blew up right around the time that all of their issues started happening to them. Which likely created a power surge. When they were telling me everything they knew, this was a key piece of it for them.
So, I go to have a beer with my old boss Dan. I tell him the story. He says that the surge melted the breaker because the microwave clock was on. I was shook by this. I posted about it to my circles. One person came on and said that that was impossible since the microwave has fuses.
I reached out to Ryan Jackson. I wanted to know if he believes the breaker could be damaged by a surge. He said it’s theoretically possible but more likely that it’s old and deteriorated. It was an old breaker. But I didn’t see any signs of moisture in the panel.
I want to think it was the surge. And I went as far to email a professor at MSOE about it and ask if anyone is interested in examining the breaker.
I’m posting this hear because I’d love to know if you think it is possible and just get a conversation going about surges in general.
️
