We had a power outage yesterday and I noticed something weird: the coffee maker's display was flickering (at several Hz). Unplugged it stopped, so there was no internal battery.
I put a DMM on a receptacle and saw about 9V! I tested its strength by shorting it and was able to get a (very small) arc! It went away with the main breaker off, so it was definitely coming from the street.
So, this was curious, but I'm wondering if it could affect anything more than the coffee maker. Especially if it could affect something more important than the coffee maker (TV, computer, DVD).
Would an appliance as cheap as a coffee maker have a power supply that would be susceptible?
Where do you suppose the 9v is coming from?
Thanks, Bob