...question is if a surge happened in the area would my appliances be at risk or do the trip boxes stop it happening..or do i have to fit surge protectors to every appliance...why i am asking this is because thiefs broke into a sub station a couple of miles away from us and stole the copper wireing and surge occured and a full street had their appliaces blowing up.
surge
- Thread starter vokera80e
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The sort of surge that you are protecting against are sudden transients caused, often, by appliances being switched on or off in the home.
The incident you mention will have been caused but the loss of the neutral to earth connection at the star point of the transformer. This will, in effect, cause the neutral to float which, depending on the load on the three phases could cause voltages up to around 400V in a property. This is not a surge and can take time to occur as loads constantly change.
Every time I hear or see the word surge I put my head in my hands, what is one? Can you define what you mean by the term surge?
Apart from the case detailed above it is not really possibly for a network to have a sudden, damaging, increase in volts.
But the press use the term so it must be right!
The incident you mention will have been caused but the loss of the neutral to earth connection at the star point of the transformer. This will, in effect, cause the neutral to float which, depending on the load on the three phases could cause voltages up to around 400V in a property. This is not a surge and can take time to occur as loads constantly change.
Every time I hear or see the word surge I put my head in my hands, what is one? Can you define what you mean by the term surge?
Apart from the case detailed above it is not really possibly for a network to have a sudden, damaging, increase in volts.
But the press use the term so it must be right!
I have surge protected mulitplugs on all my PC and TV equipment but not on my whole dis board....The more learned chaps will be able to tell you if dis board ones are any good....Its not just theft that can cause surges, it can be faults,generation and switching errors that can cause havoc......Modern central heating timers and small appliances with plug top transformers used to be a favourite for surges. Seen a few smaller housing estsates get all their timers zapped at the same time due to faults and switching errors (not mine) In the cases of stolen earthing from Subs it really does depend on the age and type of distribution system you have locally....
Can you define what you mean by the term surge?
'Electricity firm should replace equipment wrecked by power surge'
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'Electricty firm should replace equipment wrecked by power surge'
AN EAST Hull resident who lost £3,000 of belongings after a power surge is demanding the electricity board replaces the lost items.
Ianek Zubrzycki was awoken at 5am by the sound of electrical items in his home exploding.
A total of 208 homes in the Tween Dykes and Leads Road area were affected by the blow-out, caused by thieves breaking into a power sub- station on March 25.
Unemployed Mr Zubrzycki, of Poplar Court, off Leads Road, says he lost every electrical item.
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He did not have contents insurance and CE Electric, which is responsible for the sub-station, is refusing to pay out.
Mr Zubrzycki is deaf and on incapacity benefits after having a cancerous tumour removed from his ear last year.
He said: "I have lost my washing machine, fridge, freezer, TV, laptop and phone. I saved for two years to afford these items.
"I just can't afford to just go out and replace all these items."
Thieves stealing copper wire from the nearby sub-station were blamed for the damage.
Former soldier Mr Zubrzycki, 40, says he has been left with no option but to use his sister's electrical appliances.
The divorced dad-of-one said: "I am having to go round to hers to wash clothes and fetch food I've put in her fridge.
"I am at my wit's end. I just don't know where to turn for help."
Mr Zubrzycki called Yorkshire Electricity Board – part of CE Electric UK – but was apparently told it was unable to help.
He said: "They just told me to ring my insurance company. I explained I didn't have contents insurance. They just told me, 'I don't know what to suggest then.'"
Mr Zubrzycki has contacted a leading "no win, no fee" solicitor, but was told they were unable to represent him because there would be no cash award.
He is unable to afford to pay for a solicitor.
Mr Zubrzycki said: "I don't have contents insurance because where I live is very secure. The place is extremely well secured. I also couldn't afford to pay for the insurance. I believe they should pay to replace the items that were blown."
Following the break-in at the sub- station, security was increased.
Other residents affected by the surge have complained that the facility was not sufficiently secured.
Mr Zubrzycki said: "The fact that they have stepped up security implies to me that the place was vulnerable. If that's the case, they should pay out."
A spokeswoman for CE Electric UK said, according to their records, no member of its staff had spoken to Mr Zubrzycki.
However, she said the company would attempt to discuss the issue with him.
Previously, CE Electric said the company was not liable to pay for damage caused by "third-party interference".
What do you think?
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'Electricity firm should replace equipment wrecked by power surge'
< Previous 1 2 Next >
'Electricty firm should replace equipment wrecked by power surge'
AN EAST Hull resident who lost £3,000 of belongings after a power surge is demanding the electricity board replaces the lost items.
Ianek Zubrzycki was awoken at 5am by the sound of electrical items in his home exploding.
A total of 208 homes in the Tween Dykes and Leads Road area were affected by the blow-out, caused by thieves breaking into a power sub- station on March 25.
Unemployed Mr Zubrzycki, of Poplar Court, off Leads Road, says he lost every electrical item.
Click here for more
He did not have contents insurance and CE Electric, which is responsible for the sub-station, is refusing to pay out.
Mr Zubrzycki is deaf and on incapacity benefits after having a cancerous tumour removed from his ear last year.
He said: "I have lost my washing machine, fridge, freezer, TV, laptop and phone. I saved for two years to afford these items.
"I just can't afford to just go out and replace all these items."
Thieves stealing copper wire from the nearby sub-station were blamed for the damage.
Former soldier Mr Zubrzycki, 40, says he has been left with no option but to use his sister's electrical appliances.
The divorced dad-of-one said: "I am having to go round to hers to wash clothes and fetch food I've put in her fridge.
"I am at my wit's end. I just don't know where to turn for help."
Mr Zubrzycki called Yorkshire Electricity Board – part of CE Electric UK – but was apparently told it was unable to help.
He said: "They just told me to ring my insurance company. I explained I didn't have contents insurance. They just told me, 'I don't know what to suggest then.'"
Mr Zubrzycki has contacted a leading "no win, no fee" solicitor, but was told they were unable to represent him because there would be no cash award.
He is unable to afford to pay for a solicitor.
Mr Zubrzycki said: "I don't have contents insurance because where I live is very secure. The place is extremely well secured. I also couldn't afford to pay for the insurance. I believe they should pay to replace the items that were blown."
Following the break-in at the sub- station, security was increased.
Other residents affected by the surge have complained that the facility was not sufficiently secured.
Mr Zubrzycki said: "The fact that they have stepped up security implies to me that the place was vulnerable. If that's the case, they should pay out."
A spokeswoman for CE Electric UK said, according to their records, no member of its staff had spoken to Mr Zubrzycki.
However, she said the company would attempt to discuss the issue with him.
Previously, CE Electric said the company was not liable to pay for damage caused by "third-party interference".
What do you think?
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It amazes me that people can afford to have items but cannot afford to pay the small premium to insure against loss and then moan when they have to pay to replace them.
First the use of the term surge is by the press not the DNO, so see my earlier comments.
As for the appliance damage etc. that is an interesting one.
We employ a company that wil assess and repair appliances that have stopped working, they have something like a 90% success rate. So that suggests that the injured party doesn't need to replace them just get them repaired!
The decision about liability is up to each DNO, we tend to be proactive as above but rarely replace anything, others as has beenseen less so.
Thats the reason i bought a UPS to protect one of my pc's and all the digiboxes as we get plenty powercuts here.
What i do myself and tell others to do is switch off all sockets and put a light on during a powercut so we know when the power comes back on and then switch everything back after power is restored and stable.
I think that spikes/transients occur when power goes off and comes on shoot me down if you think i am wrong on that one.
How a UPS would cope with overvoltage say 400v i don't know and i hope i don't find out myself but it does cope with undervoltage ok.
One thing is always have your contents insured otherwise it a folly not to for the sake of a couple of quid a week.
Andy
What i do myself and tell others to do is switch off all sockets and put a light on during a powercut so we know when the power comes back on and then switch everything back after power is restored and stable.
I think that spikes/transients occur when power goes off and comes on shoot me down if you think i am wrong on that one.
How a UPS would cope with overvoltage say 400v i don't know and i hope i don't find out myself but it does cope with undervoltage ok.
One thing is always have your contents insured otherwise it a folly not to for the sake of a couple of quid a week.
Andy
Much cheaper to make sure that such damage is covered by your contents insurance than to protect everything in the house from an extremely rare event such as an overvoltage large enough to cause damage.
The guy who allegedly lost every electrical appliance in the house could afford to waste the power to keep everything plugged in and on standby but not, it seems, contents insurance on a well secured property in a "safe" area?????
What would he have done if he'd lost everything to a fire? Sued the Fire Brigade for not putting it out quicker?
The guy who allegedly lost every electrical appliance in the house could afford to waste the power to keep everything plugged in and on standby but not, it seems, contents insurance on a well secured property in a "safe" area?????
What would he have done if he'd lost everything to a fire? Sued the Fire Brigade for not putting it out quicker?
Scot Power my local DNO wont entertain any claims for replacing equipment damaged by a fault on their system, the only time they will take anything onboard is when it was their fault such as switching error or negligance on their behalf such as wrong polarity etc etc.......But faults and events beyond their control, such as theft are not a vaild claim..... and all they will do is send you a long letter and a huge document of their policy!!!
They are trying to fob you off.
Try your supplier. Your contract is with your supplier, not the DNO. Your supplier has supplied you with electricity outside the statutory limits and that has caused damage.
In days of yore when I worked for Eastern Electricity the Boadd always paid out for damage caused by a broken neutral.
Try your supplier. Your contract is with your supplier, not the DNO. Your supplier has supplied you with electricity outside the statutory limits and that has caused damage.
In days of yore when I worked for Eastern Electricity the Boadd always paid out for damage caused by a broken neutral.
I seem to remember that Dominic Littlewood took on one of the suppliers becuase of some kind of fault that caused appliances to fail. At first the supplier refused to entertain any claim, but in the end they paid up.
I can't remember the exact details, but it would appear there is a precident for these types of claims.
I can't remember the exact details, but it would appear there is a precident for these types of claims.
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