Its summer, so theres always something burning somewhere. Therefore, I didnt think anything unusual about the slight tinge of smoke in the air last night. When I finally trundled off to bed, I noticed that there was some unusually bright lights outside. I peered at the security cams and, surprisingly, theres a fire truck next door. Hmmm. I step outside and ask a basement flooding, hose-dragging, ladder monkey whats going on. Turns out a power pole down the alley was on fire. He said the power company was on its way.
I asked him, should I expect the power to go out? He said he didnt know. Alright, fine. Head back in the house, climb into bed, and about three minutes later theres a sound like a shotgun going off as, I’m guessing, the transformer or junction at the top of the pole explodes. This is followed a few seconds later by the cacophony of UPS alert sounds going off in my house as my computer and security system power supplies start letting me know theyre running on batteries.
Now, really, I could have just turned off the alarms and gone to sleep secure in the knowledge that Northwestern Energy would have the issue resolved in an hour or so. Or….I could see how my preparations for such an event were working.
I appeared that only mine and about four other houses were directly affected. Most people would have slept through it if not for that gunshot-like explosion earlier. First thing I did was turn on the floor lamp in the living room. I had bought it years ago, rewired it to DC, stuck in a 12v LED light bulb, and stuffed a large AGM battery in its base. With my living lit with a ‘normal’ looking amount of illumination, it was time to check the UPS’s. I had replaced the security camera ones about two years ago. The security camera UPS’s did fine and lasted through the duration of the event. The UPS for my router and modem, however, did not. It gave up the ghost after about forty minutes and it should have lasted much longer than that. That particular UPS is due for replacement, it seems. I need to start noting dates of purchase on my UPS’s as I replace them. I’ve just been buying them at Costco for about $125 ea. In fact, maybe I should just return the weak one for an exchange…Costco is ususally pretty good about refunds.
I had no intention of dragging out the generator unless things went on until daybreak. The freezers were full enough of frozen bottled water that I wasnt worried about their contents for at least several hours.
The various flashlights I had around the house were handy and the glow-in-the-dark tape that I had applied to things like door handles and light switchplates were also handy. Only thing I’d have done differently is perhaps just build my own UPS from scratch with a couple more durable AGM batteries.
But, always eye-opening and reaffirming to have moments like this to test out theories and systems.
Currently using a Bluetti Elite 200 V2 in UPS Mode, with my desktop, monitor, and wireless connected. So far, drawing about 145 watts. Rated at 2074 watt hours, so about 14 hours of continuous use.
Got it on Prime Week with a huge discount, about $675 delivered. Very satisfied.
I did a little reading on that and one of the reviews on Amazon said the thing required a level of internet connectivity and that it would report back to IP’s in the US and China. DUnno if thats true or not, but it was curious.
That gunshot probably (almost) was one. The pole mounted disconnects in my area include an over-current triggered charge (looks sort of like a 22 blank). These are usually mounted on the pole where the wire comes off the distribution line and feeds into the pole-pig (tank) transformer. When they blow, the disconnect swings down, opening the line to downstream transformer / circuits. Our area uses them to feed transformers, but also to separate sections of lines (three-phase – three of them on a pole). Search for Siemens outdoor medium voltage distribution products for some images. (Apparently they sell some new models without the cartridge.)
It’s called an expulsion fuse, the exhaust from the fuse blowing (it’s coated with an explosive mixture) exits the bottom of the fuse holder to extinguish the arc, otherwise it would continue to arc over like a giant spark plug. Over 40 years of changing these things and learned to wear earmuffs early in my career.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yi1Uh7BByQA
Thanks Jimbo. Power plant guy (45 years) here – I couldn’t remember the right name for them, and had forgotten the arc suppression function. (Ours used tanks of SF6 to suppress the arc and were a little big for pole mount. I did hear one go off at a shopping center – impressive, not to mention the Xformer fire that was occurring :-))
PS – one of our disconnects being opened. Luckily, being an engineer, I got to try opening one before this yard was energized. We did lose a breaker while I was there – impressive. (We were 525kv when I was there, not 550.)
Doh – https://www.youtube.com/shorts/Eh-FYFqA-PE
Have you considered replacing just the batteries, not the whole UPS?
I buy from the local Interstate Battery dealer: Good local business, no shipping and usually better batteries than online. Pop your batteries out and see where they were made, you can also install larger batteries than factory (12V 9Ah rather than 7 for instance. )
I do this as well I wait until we have two or three dead UPSes and go to Batteries Plus. They do the install and test it for free. Every once in a while the unit is bad, but I can usually get batteries for $30 to $47 each, depending on the size and power.
When the transformer itself explodes, that’s more than a gunshot. Several years ago I was about 1/4 mile away & heading toward one when it blew up. Haven’t heard a boom that loud since I left the military.
A slick little trick – Hordog Freight sells battery powered lights that look like thick wall switches. They use three AAA batteries. I mount them right beside the wall switch in every room. power drops I can just hit that switch and zip the room lights up. They’re good for at least four hours – that’s the longest I’ve had one on and it was still putting out light. The newest version actually has a variable switch. Cost is about $5.00 with batteries.
Those look useful. Another, albeit more expensive option, is backup/rechargeable lightbulbs – once in a lamp/light fixture and fully charged, will stay lit for hours in power outage. At Amazon, GE LED backup battery lightbulbs.
Check out a good name brand LiFePo4 battery. Many more cycles than a standard AGM, and it’s technically AGM as well.
ladder monkey, ok bye-bye
Well, thats what my cop friends always say “…those basement-flooding, hose-dragging, ladder monkeys get all the chicks.” On the the other hand the rivalry between cops and firefighters is….epic.
https://youtu.be/5jezSeQnfCg?si=SWsfxtJQ-vXwCi0W
Forget the AGM.
LiFePO4 batteries are ideal for long duration low draw endurance, and the prices are to the point that with 4x the usable capacity without affecting the usable charge cycles, prices are better than lead acid, too.
You have enough stuff on UPS in your house you could build a battery cabinet with a medium size inverter and power a small panel with it, wire the emergency power around the house for the various loads. If you set the BMS to not draw down the batteries below 20% (subject to your emergency override, of course) and not charge above 90%, that battery bank will outlast you.
Add some solar panels, a generator with remote start, and use an EG4 inverter that can manage the generator and you would really be setup for a long haul.