Tried that in the previous 3-year brownout - and during a sub-zero, all-day, blackout. And with a vulnerable resident. No, they said.
I'll mention it when I next call for an update (Sunday) - so, thanks for the tip.
[Don't hold your breath, though!]PA
[ Volt-watch: 198v]
This is not a job for a tap changer.
As TNP says, a phase fault or a neutral fault.
And something the dumpties should be able to fix in eleven days. The diagnosis doesn't take that long. If it was a renewable problem, it would not manage to do that "consistently" the entire eleven days.
If they've had a network failure with a long repair time, they should be telling someone. The local news is precisely the next step.
Power companies "borrow" equipment from one another, as you would borrow a cup of sugar from a neighbour. The time to manufacture a large transformer is two years, and they only "stock" certain sizes. Every city has units considered "custom", for which the repair procedure could be extraordinary. A local news article, helps keep the local populace informed on progress.
*******I'm on a tap changer. The step size is 3V at my plug hole.
And my voltage is incorrect, so it's not like they have the engineering numbers to actually adjust anything (their hands are tied). My street is too long, and if they turn my voltage down, the guy on the end of the street falls out of his voltage-acceptance window. Only a dumpty could manage to do this... Anyone in the audience with an imagination, can tell us how to fix this.
It's like running your electric lawn mower off a dozen extension cords :-) I'm surprised our 11kV is not routed with extension cords.
Paul
I did not think that the system relays would allow connection at such a low voltage. If true either a heck of a lot of drop across a cable is going on, or the system of load shedding to preserve supply volts is just bust.
Brian
Live and learn, Brian !
S N A F U.
Currently - 194 Volts - and falling.
PA
Hi all. You couldn't make this up.
At your suggestions, I sussed out the local press and OFGEM on Friday, ready to go to war on Monday!.
Last (Sunday) night, about 7pm, I walked down to the local letter box, about 200m from my house. No pavements, no streetlights, just my trusty torch. That said, the road was so full of headlights the torch was not really needed! I thought that there might be a big party somewhere. When I got to the letter box I was just opposite all of the headlights, so I wandered over and asked the guys standing around if they were working on the LV problem and where it was. "You must be Mister Able" they guessed. "Yes" "where's the problem?", "Follow me". So their convoy followed me up the street.
They came into my house - three of them - and one clambered under the stairs, did about 10 minutes of testing and cut the power. No warning and, yes, I did have a computer on - crash! The guy reported 200 volts
- exactly what my socket tester reported.
The three guys then went out of the house. One went up in a cherry picker and checked the overhead supply. I just watched from the house thinking "Now, Able, let them get on with it - don't interfere!". Eventually the boss came to my door and said "there's 230 to 240v on the three overhead lines, so nothing we can do until it totally fails". I wasn't sure that that was news I wanted to hear.
So I told them "that isn't the right pole for my drop-wire", [pointing to the other side of my front garden] "That's my pole, linking to a different street pole" "No, that's your telephone wire". "No it isn't, look at the plates on that pole. They're your plates. Look at the diameter of the drop wire. That is definitely your stuff."
So they take the cherry-picker to the right pole and discover 229V, 229v and 237v. Puzzled faces all around. Then the guy atop says "There's no tail" Anyone know what that means? The boss-man tells him to fix that,
*and* to move me to a different phase.So, fuse re-pulled in my house, work done by the guy in the cherry picker then power restored. The guy reports the supply voltage seen under the stairs and I comment that there's a discrepancy of about 8 volts, compared to my meter. "When was your volt meter calibrated?" the boss asks. Quick as a flash, I reply "About 40 minutes ago, when your and my meters agreed with each other".
Unfortunately, our across-the-road neighbours who share(d) our phase were out. So they could not follow up my witness situation.
They having "repaired" things, I asked the boss-man how confident he was that this was a permanent fix. How did something that can drop 15v on about 0.3A supplied just happen and - apparently at two different poles but on the same phase?
No ideas, so I left him to his paper-work with a phrase I often use in these circumstances. "It ain't over until it is over!"
Current voltage: 226 to 230V. Had my first proper shave of 2024 last night. ;<}
PA
You could get a rechargeable shaver. I think they accept any voltage between 110 and 240. :-)
The best way of showing up faults is with a very heavy load.
Do you have a electric shower, tumble drier, electric heaters and electric ovens you can put on? If there's a high resistance anywhere there will be smoke! Just take care.
I also know someone who drilled part way through a drop cable embedded in a wall, where corrosion did the rest and caused an o/c some months later.
On Mon, 15 Jan 2024 12:00:58 +0000, Fredxx snipped-for-privacy@spam.invalid wrote: [snip]
I tried this inadvertently. When the heating stopped working I put an electric radiator or fan heater in every room and the box in the landing started buzzing. I contacted Scottish Power as a precaution. Engineer came round and said the supply for the whole building should be upgraded. About a year later, Optimum came round and upgraded the entire area.
Obviously, this was planned work but the engineers told me that quite a lot of flats were missing an earth connection.
I have not tried that one yet :-)
I could slit my throat - but that's not the point.
Mains currently bouncing around upper 230s.
Until you made the point ...
Did that early on in the month. A 3v drop using a 3kW(?) immersion heater.
Did that again last night at the request of the boss-man - although all he seemed to want it done for was to rough-check the meter's accuracy.
None of which fits in with their observation of a 15v drop from pole to electricity meter! Other than that the voltage was widely varying, I suppose.
And, *another* crew came out this (Monday) evening! They knew nothing of last night's efforts. "They can't have written it up yet" they said.
My main task was to stop them from touching either of "my" poles!
Flipping cold out there, too. -4°C and falling.
Though they took a long look at "my, my" pole, I diverted them to the case of my "across-the-road neighbours" who were actually in tonight - so they could check them out. Some cherry-picker work on "their" pole was done so it wasn't a complete waste of the call-out. Maybe!
Now we understand where standing charges go.
Oh, for a humdrum life {;-}
[Currently 231V with a bit of flickering - just now and then.]PA
Time for you to get a small UPS. We're at the end of a rural 11kV here an wouldn't be without ours.
Maybe - but that was the least of my problems. They should have asked before pulling the fuse. The internet connection and the WiFi are UPS'd, so I wasn't cut off entirely.
Incidentally the job is not complete. The supply still varies - but it is in the 220 - 235v range rather 195 - 210v.
For now!
PA
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