OT: Power outage.

Sylvia Else · 2014-12-07T11:09:58+00:00

Just got to the end of a power outage that lasted about eight hours. The power company's recorded message progressively said that the estimated time for repair was 4:30pm, 5pm, 6:30pm, 8pm, 11pm. The power actually came back at 9:45pm. All the while they were saying that they didn't know what the problem was, which seemed to make nonsense of their estimates. The power didn't go down cleanly either - there seems to have been some residual voltage - enough to trash the power supply of one of my PCs (being one not behind a UPS, as most of them are). My backup generator, that I ran for 20 hours when it was new, and then a couple of times since to test it, ran for about 10 minutes, and then caught fire (actual flames visible). Fortunately, I have a fire extinguisher. After it cooled down, I took it apart. The wiring is a mess. Melted, and charred. This is a KIPOR GS2600. It appears we're lucky it didn't burn down the unroofed deck above it (if not the entire house). The tube carrying the petrol from the tank to engine passes through the area containing the melted wires. It appears to be just chance that it stopped running before that tube was melted through. It won't be repaired, and I'll be talking to the relevant government department about it. Sylvia.

Dec 07, 2014 41 Replies

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news13 11 years ago

Fibro = old = lots of fluff in cavities + well dried and decay = fire spreads easily.

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news13 11 years ago

Rod doesn't wear a hat.

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