A friend lived in a building when the city crew working on a transformer put
440 on the line.  It blew out all the electronics in 12 condos - mostly TVs.
I think toasters and refrigerators were OK.  There wasn't any question that
the city was at fault.  I don't remember how much paperwork they had to go
through to get reimbursed.  It might get sticky for something like a time-nut
with a lot of used gear that may not be easy to replace at the original
price.  (Could be a good excuse to clean up and start over.)

How much trouble do hams have with their insurance companies?

--
These are my opinions.  I hate spam.

Typically very little if you have a rider to cover it. Costs a few $ a year

Had my basement flood a number of years back and take out a few k worth of vintage computer gear. Not a problem. Covered to replacement cost.

I have a similar rider to cover TE. The biggest problem is they want all the serial #'s, which is a constantly changing target of course.

Bob

Hi

<way off topic alert !!!>

In some cases quite a lot. They paid the claim and dropped us. The way
they did it, getting insurance again at a rational price ( < 5X what we had
been paying) was a major pain. We did find a rational company and have
been very happy with them for 40 years now. Each time the guys who
dropped us call to get us to switch, I tell them the story ….

Bob

The electric company in OKC repaired a pole problem at my parents house
there a few years back.  Somehow they managed to hook up the 240 across a
single leg of the 120.  Fried most of the electrical stuff in the house and
caused enough damage to the house to require a complete rewiring.  Parents
lived in a motel for about a month while the work was done.  The insurance
company and the utility were transparent, covering all costs including
replacement with new similar products without issue (other than the
inconvenience).  I think the electric company was especially glad that a
fire did not result and there was no legal action as a result.

73/jeff/ac0c
www.ac0c.com
alpha-charlie-zero-charlie

-----Original Message-----
From: Hal Murray
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2017 2:42 AM
To: Discussion of precise time and frequency measurement
Cc: hmurray@megapathdsl.net
Subject: Re: [time-nuts] Line Voltage - USA

A friend lived in a building when the city crew working on a transformer put
440 on the line.  It blew out all the electronics in 12 condos - mostly TVs.
I think toasters and refrigerators were OK.  There wasn't any question that
the city was at fault.  I don't remember how much paperwork they had to go
through to get reimbursed.  It might get sticky for something like a
time-nut
with a lot of used gear that may not be easy to replace at the original
price.  (Could be a good excuse to clean up and start over.)

How much trouble do hams have with their insurance companies?

--
These are my opinions.  I hate spam.

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and follow the instructions there.

Wonder if these cases could be used on social media to create enough
fear that there would be a market for AC crowbars capable of blowing
line/pole transformer HV fuses? There's a few hits with Google, mostly
for DC crowbars. Too bad relays are so slow.

Bill Hawkins

-----Original Message-----
From: Jeff AC0C
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2017 10:42 AM

The electric company in OKC repaired a pole problem at my parents house
there a few years back.  Somehow they managed to hook up the 240 across
a single leg of the 120.  Fried most of the electrical stuff in the
house and caused enough damage to the house to require a complete
rewiring.  Parents lived in a motel for about a month while the work was
done.  The insurance company and the utility were transparent, covering
all costs including replacement with new similar products without issue
(other than the inconvenience).  I think the electric company was
especially glad that a fire did not result and there was no legal action
as a result.

73/jeff/ac0c
www.ac0c.com
alpha-charlie-zero-charlie

-----Original Message-----
From: Hal Murray
Sent: Wednesday, January 04, 2017 2:42 AM

A friend lived in a building when the city crew working on a transformer
put 440 on the line.  It blew out all the electronics in 12 condos -
mostly TVs.
I think toasters and refrigerators were OK.  There wasn't any question
that the city was at fault.  I don't remember how much paperwork they
had to go through to get reimbursed.  It might get sticky for something
like a time-nut with a lot of used gear that may not be easy to replace
at the original price.  (Could be a good excuse to clean up and start
over.)

That sounds like a dangerous idea to me. Lightning arrestors at service
entrances are designed to crowbar only for a cycle or so. As mentioned
earlier in this thread, residential distribution in the US nearly always
consists of a center-tapped balanced feed with the center tap grounded.
If you placed a separate AC crowbar on each 120 V leg to neutral, the
first one to trip would momentarily create a higher than normal voltage
(transient and cycle-to-cycle) on the other 120V leg until the
distribution transformer opens (or a wire melts). If the crowbar wasn't
designed correctly you could create a house fire around the service
entrance. I would let the utility company and the National Electric Code
be the guide, as legally required.

You can purchase voltage regulators or line conditioners (the names are
not very precise) which can prevent overvoltage conditions on a circuit
or even the whole house. A UPS or active line conditioner can be used to
provide voltage stability on a cycle to cycle basis. There is no reason
to kill the power to you and your neighbors for what could be many hours
during very cold or hot conditions at night just because the line
voltage is temporarily high at your house. :)

Bill Byrom N5BB

On Wed, Jan 4, 2017, at 06:56 PM, Bill Hawkins wrote: