Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

Ok so Friday night the metal cable from the house to the transformer pole snapped, putting all the weight on the cable carrying the 'lectric. [Note: Although this cable 'goes through the trees' I checked and no branches etc were putting weight on the cable.] This somehow sent 250v through everything that was plugged in and fried loads of stuff. DVD player, loads of light bulbs/fixtures, a window A/C unit, my quad-core/8GB tower PC :frown: amongst other stuff. All the surge strips popped as well and had to be replaced (at least they appeared to have saved some stuff).

I had three UPSs in the house...

1) Did its job, both UPS and PC are fine
2) Did its job, both UPS and network equipment are fine [gigabit switch, router, wireless AP, VOIP adapter, cordless phone]
3) Did NOT do it's job, not only did it fry, but took the most expensive bit of kit with it, my tower PC. I am hoping it's just the PSU that popped, and not the mobo/CPU/RAM too. Have tested the hard disks on another machine and they seem ok. I am still looking for the receipt for this UPS.... :( since it's supposed to warranty anything plugged into it against this kind of thing.

Question:

Since the problem that caused this issue was outside the house and is the responsibility of the electric company, can I claim back for the stuff that blew from them?

The guy who came to repair the cable took one look at it and said "that's an OLD cable...." If it's their responsibility and they didn't maintain it properly......??

I guess this is what happens in a country where they are allowed to convey your electricity to you above ground across bits of string. :frown:

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

Was it weather related? They may cite act of god and say tough, but you should contact them with a detailed listing and replacement costs. If they don't pay, your homeowners insurance should cover it as well.

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

insurance may cover it........ but subject to your deductible.

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

In case it's of any help, the proper name for the load bearing cable is catenary wire.

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

my knob

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

Coincidence? I think not....

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

Must have been painful when it snapped.

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

If the tech gave the impression the caternary wire was that old, and beyond servicable life, then I'd defintely expect some compo.
Don't suppose he left any of it behind.
The question is what are the replacement intervals and have they been observed? Finding that out would be impossible I'd imagine as the records are surely incomplete.

Hope you find some solution!

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

Bad luck on the power front. I always wondered if those UPS units actually worked if needed. Look on the bright side, if your mobo is blown and the insurance co pays up you can rebuild the tower PC with an i7 extreme chip and 16Gb RAM :thumbsup:

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

Umm, hate to admit to being a geek so early in my relationship with you guys, but maybe this gem of geekness will be useful.

The maximum working lifespan of a catenary cable is 20 years - shorter if you are in a salt-air environment (20 miles from salt water / sand or heavy industrial pollutants). Sometimes catenaries are called drop wires, but that's incorrect as a drop wire is specific to a telecoms cable.

Okay, I'll get my coat...

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

Also it should have been greased every 10 years. Can you confirm that it was greased at least twice during its lifespan?

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

that's why it snapped then.

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

home owners insurance, sue the electric in small claims for any difference?....seems the all America way :D

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

I had the place in Miami take a direct hit lightning strike.

I was on the pc at the time and wife was watching tv.

Thankfully I had the items plugged into Tripp surge protectors, they did their job.

Re: Stuff trashed by 'power event'
 

Bad luck, good luck with the outcome.

My neighbor, one of the few sensible people I know (His wife is English) recently routed all his power, cable, phone etc, under his lawn. No snappy snappy for him in future! It's something I'm considering for us when we get our paths replaced.