what is it when there is not a full powercut but a reduced voltage powercut?

Andy From Sligo

Hello there hope I have got the right group - had a Powercut at 6.30am this morning, however although sockets nearly all went off I went into bathroom and the Fluorescent light fitting strip we have on at night was glowing but not at full brightness it was half or quarter of light and when i put the incandescent light above the mirror it lit but a dim golden glow.

All sockets seemed to be off except for the socket where my mobile phone was plugged in was still charging up my mobile phone and the socket where the wireless broadband router was plugged in was working and the lights were on the router. Now what I deducted from that was that we must of been getting some power most probably a quarter of 240volts and it wasnt a total power cut but why? why does it work like that in a storm and why was the electric not cut right off if say a overhead powerline came down in the storm?

- why would it be low power like that and not totally off? and can this long state like this ruin computers or tvs ect and other sensative electronic equipment because its not getting its full 240volts? after a while the electricity kept 'surging' on and off about 3 times to full power in half hour so in the end I killed the main switch on the fuse box because I didnt like all the buzzing noises and feared it would wreck me computer and stuff, again why in a power cut why does it have to surge on and off like that and not cleanly go off for a certain amount of time and then come on cleanly full power why blips and surges?

im pretty sure it cant be good for the electronics in the household?. - in the end the power was restored at 2pm in the afternoon which werent bad going. Let me say though I so admire the crews that have to go out in the stormy weather to get the power back on, it cant be easy and we was like without power from 6.30am to 2pm in the afternoon and it was still stormy and pouring with rain out there so they must have been having to battle this terrible weather to get the electrics back on. There was 90 houses out in our area this morning. So fair play to the crews for sorting it out quickly and in the lashing rain as well!

ABC101

Because what happened was not a Full power cut, but an earth fault occurrence.

The cables (power lines) were still connected to your home, so electricity still flowed along the wires and into your house.

However along the length of the cables there were earth faults, i.e. trees touching the power lines.   So some of the electricity flowed along the wire, and when it came to a earth fault, some of it flowed down the tree to earth, whilst the rest carried on along the wire to your home.

That's why you had a reduced voltage in your house.   Needless to say earth faults can be caused by many factors, not just branches on trees.

Imagine a water pipe connected to house from a pumping station, if there are holes along the length of the pipe, then the homeowner will still get water, but the water pressure will be reduced due to the loss of water via the holes etc.   Of course if the hole in the pipe is huge, then the homeowner may not get any water.

And yes, it would be best to switch off / isolate important electrical items until normal electricity supply is restored.

Electric Ireland: David

Hi Andy From Sligo,

ABC101 has provided a better explanation than we would be in a position to (thanks ABC101).

ESB Networks are the people to contact if you have any problems with an interruption to your power supply. Their full contact details can be found here. Their Powercheck app is also very useful (available on their website, or as an iPhone/Android app).

They also have a section on their website on voltage problems, which you may find useful.

Hope this helps.

Regards,
David

Andy From Sligo

many thanks to both of you for the explanations I will have a better idea next time it happens as to what it is.

Electric Ireland: David

No problem Andy. Hopefully it won't be too common an occurrence, but if it is I'm sure ESB Networks will fully investigate it for you.

Thanks,
David

edunne2010

Any news on the powercut in the Dundrum/Kilmacud area? Out since 17:50 pm.

Electric Ireland: David

edunne2010 wrote: »

Any news on the powercut in the Dundrum/Kilmacud area? Out since 17:50 pm.

Hi edunne2010,

For power outages the people to contact are ESB Networks (irrespective of your electricity provider). Their full contact details can be found here.

They also have an app, Powercheck, which provides real-time updates. You can find this on the ESB Networks' website here, or download it for free as an Android/iPhone app.

Hope you weren't without supply for too long. If you have any other questions we'll be happy to help.

Regards,
David

edunne2010

Electric Ireland: David wrote: »

edunne2010 wrote: »

Any news on the powercut in the Dundrum/Kilmacud area? Out since 17:50 pm.

Hi edunne2010,

For power outages the people to contact are ESB Networks (irrespective of your electricity provider). Their full contact details can be found here.

They also have an app, Powercheck, which provides real-time updates. You can find this on the ESB Networks' website here, or download it for free as an Android/iPhone app.

Hope you weren't without supply for too long. If you have any other questions we'll be happy to help.

Regards,
David

I found your Powecheck app very handy...

EI: Una

Hi again edunne2010,

It is a handy app indeed. We cannot take the credit for it though - that goes to ESB Networks, which operates separately to ourselves, even though we are both part of the overall ESB Group.

Kind regards,
Una