Power surge

[stingray11]

last night we had a power surge and then lost power The Surge was so strong we heard a pop in the house and it kicked some breakers in the breaker box. It blew out my Fujitsu Mini split system which the outside unit 54000 BTUs it took the mainboard out in the outdoor unit two indoor units it blew out the fans and the circuit boards and it also blew out my UV water purification system what a freaking mess. This ever happened to any of you guys

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[WhatExit?]

Shit! I've experienced power surges but none like that (knocking on wood). It's always been a fear of mine with all the electronics these days. You in Kalifornia?

 

[Ziggy]

Yikes!

 

[stingray11]

Shit! I've experienced power surges but none like that (knocking on wood). It's always been a fear of mine with all the electronics these days. You in Kalifornia?

No PA

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[DirtyWhiteDog]

They have whole house surge protectors.

Whole House Surge Protectors: How Effective Are They?

Don’t count on power strips to safeguard your home and fragile electronics. Read on to learn about the cost-saving alternative of installing a home surge protector.

www.thisoldhouse.com

 

[Sleek-Jet]

You've got something wrong in your panel. Bad ground perhaps?

 

[FreeBird236]

If your whole area lost power, this surge was created by the utility company and should be held responsible.

 

[stingray11]

They have whole house surge protectors.

Whole House Surge Protectors: How Effective Are They?

Don’t count on power strips to safeguard your home and fragile electronics. Read on to learn about the cost-saving alternative of installing a home surge protector.

www.thisoldhouse.com

Yes I am having one installed, I have never experienced anything that bad

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[stingray11]

If your whole area lost power, this surge was created by the utility company and should be held responsible.

Yes I called the power company and they gave me a claim number and said an adjuster would be in touch with me

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[Sleek-Jet]

If your whole area lost power, this surge was created by the utility company and should be held responsible.

It doesn't really work that way. There are very few ways of getting a surge (or rather a spike in voltage) and breaker or fuse operations aren't one of them.

The only time I've seen claims paid is when a transformer got hooked up wrong.

To the OP, what was the weather like at the time?

 

[BoatCop]

It's happened to me twice. Once from a surge and once from a brown out. Get a documentation of the surge from the power company and claim it on your homeowner's insurance. That'll get the equipment repaired and then THEY go after the Utility.

 

[weasle]

It just happened to me a little over a month ago. Six houses on our block had a surge due to something on the power pole in my neighbors backyard arcing. I lost a wine fridge, oven, vent hood over the stove, washing machine and the GFI's on my jacuzzi. My neighbor lost fridges and everything. Edison came out that night and told us to submit a claim. It was fairly easy process with Edison I have already been paid. The real problem is trying to get an oven and washing machine if you need a certain model. Everything is back ordered due to good old COVID

 

[WhatExit?]

Will the utility provide the surge info upon request? Does the typical homeowner's insurance policy cover it? They could claim it's an act of nature (lightning storm, etc.) so I assume that's why you'd want the power company's info.

This is all good to know as it could happen to anyone and we're talking about $ if it does

 

[weasle]

Edison provided a call or tag number. Insurance was willing to open a claim, but they did not provide enough coverage for my damage. Edison admitted fault and paid me a week after I spoke with the claims adjuster. Honestly, easier than I thought it would be.

 

[FreeBird236]

It doesn't really work that way. There are very few ways of getting a surge (or rather a spike in voltage) and breaker or fuse operations aren't one of them.

The only time I've seen claims paid is when a transformer got hooked up wrong.

To the OP, what was the weather like at the time?

I know you have some background in electrical and I don't know squat, but I know of several claims being paid for spikes and I'm one of them. I have no idea what took out my TV but SCE paid for a new one. My situation was the power went off and about 5 min later came on and went right back off and that's were the spike took place. When it came back on about 10 min. later everything was fine except the TV. SCE was quite easy to work with and paid the replacement cost in about 10 days, not a high dollar amount only around $500.

 

[stingray11]

It doesn't really work that way. There are very few ways of getting a surge (or rather a spike in voltage) and breaker or fuse operations aren't one of them.

The only time I've seen claims paid is when a transformer got hooked up wrong.

To the OP, what was the weather like at the time?

It was clear here not a drop of rain

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[Riverbottom]

Had a similar experience about fifteen years ago. Transformer issue, took out all the appliances and A/C etc. A.P.S. admitted fault, gave me a claim form. I replaced everything and they reimbursed be in less than a week. House had a nice ozone aroma for a few days.

 

[BasilHayden]

Yes I called the power company and they gave me a claim number and said an adjuster would be in touch with me

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@stingray11 nailed it, we see it very occasionally, but its always after an outage and when the transformer kicks on it surges bad. Literally blew 60 microinverters out. We didnt deal with the utility as Enphase wanted those inverters to study, they had never seen it at that level. They immediately authorized me to replace all and send them the blown units. As I recall they believe it surged to more than 200v per leg instantly when it kicked on.

 

[Sleek-Jet]

I know you have some background in electrical and I don't squat, but I know of several claims being paid for spikes and I'm one of them. I have no idea what took out my TV but SCE paid for a new one. My situation was the power went off and about 5 min later came on and went right back off and that's were the spike took place. When it came back on about 10 min. later everything was fine except the TV. SCE was quite easy to work with and paid the replacement cost in about 10 days, not a high dollar amount only around $500.

I'm not arguing the insurance part, that's up to the company. If they paid out it must have been something on their side, or it's just easier to pay the claim and make the gov't regulators happy.

Almost all of the power surge complaints we investigate are internal problems, usually bad grounds or bonding in the panel. The other ones are mostly faults in the service caused by bad neutral connections. A very small amount are lighting caused.

Hope the OP gets things taken care of and it doesn't happen again.

 

[DrunkenSailor]

@stingray11 nailed it, we see it very occasionally, but its always after an outage and when the transformer kicks on it surges bad. Literally blew 60 microinverters out. We didnt deal with the utility as Enphase wanted those inverters to study, they had never seen it at that level. They immediately authorized me to replace all and send them the blown units. As I recall they believe it surged to more than 200v per leg instantly when it kicked on.

Yeehaw!

 

[FreeBird236]

I'm not arguing the insurance part, that's up to the company. If they paid out it must have been something on their side, or it's just easier to pay the claim and make the gov't regulators happy.

Almost all of the power surge complaints we investigate are internal problems, usually bad grounds or bonding in the panel. The other ones are mostly faults in the service caused by bad neutral connections. A very small amount are lighting caused.

Hope the OP gets things taken care of and it doesn't happen again.

BTW I was a water utility worker and have nothing but respect for other utility workers. I've pretty much always had reliable power and appreciate the work that requires. That and my 92 year old FIL with 55 years in IBEW would kick my ass if I didn't.

 

[Carlson-jet]

Do Surge Protectors work during low voltage situations?