PING: Miche: 7.6 Earthquake!

You and yours OK?

Andy

On Jul 16, 3:45*pm, Andy > wrote:
> PING: Miche: 7.6 Earthquake!
>
> You and yours OK?
>
> Andy

Andy,

Check this earthquake site out.
http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/

Chemo

Chemo the Clown said...

> On Jul 16, 3:45*pm, Andy > wrote:
>> PING: Miche: 7.6 Earthquake!
>>
>> You and yours OK?
>>
>> Andy
>
> Andy,
>
> Check this earthquake site out.
> http://earthquake.usgs.gov/eqcenter/recenteqsww/
>
> Chemo


Right!

I check that several times a day!

Andy

On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:45:35 -0500, Andy > shouted from the
highest rooftop:

>PING: Miche: 7.6 Earthquake!
>
>You and yours OK?
>
>Andy


Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
Miche is fine.

--

una cerveza mas por favor ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~

"bob in nz" > wrote in message
...
> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:45:35 -0500, Andy > shouted from the
> highest rooftop:
>
>>PING: Miche: 7.6 Earthquake!
>>
>>You and yours OK?
>>
>>Andy
>
>
> Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
> probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
> Miche is fine.
>
It sounds as though they will be without power and water for a while.
Janet

On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:27:44 -0600, "Janet Bostwick"
> shouted from the highest rooftop:

>
>"bob in nz" > wrote in message
.. .
>> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:45:35 -0500, Andy > shouted from the
>> highest rooftop:
>>
>>>PING: Miche: 7.6 Earthquake!
>>>
>>>You and yours OK?
>>>
>>>Andy
>>
>>
>> Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
>> probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
>> Miche is fine.
>>
>It sounds as though they will be without power and water for a while.
>Janet

That's not good. We were without power for around 36 hours last
weekend, but that was due to a nasty storm up here (2,000 kms from the
epicentre). At least we had water (in our two six thousand gallon
water tanks).


--

una cerveza mas por favor ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~

On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:49:46 -0600, Christine Dabney
> shouted from the highest rooftop:

>On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:45:08 +1200, bob in nz
> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:27:44 -0600, "Janet Bostwick"
> shouted from the highest rooftop:
>>
>
>>>> Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
>>>> probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
>>>> Miche is fine.
>>>>
>>>It sounds as though they will be without power and water for a while.
>>>Janet
>>
>>That's not good. We were without power for around 36 hours last
>>weekend, but that was due to a nasty storm up here (2,000 kms from the
>>epicentre). At least we had water (in our two six thousand gallon
>>water tanks).
>
>If they are without power, I bet Miche is busy, busy, busy....if she
>is okay. She is a journeyman electrician these days..

A "sparkie" eh? Maybe she can explain why different parts of our house
sometimes go out during power outages and not others.

Last week it was the entire upstairs (which included my office,
computer, wireless, etc), all of the garage, but only certain parts of
the downstairs (eg: our electric oven, but not our microwave, the
reading lights behind our bed, but not the bedside table lamps, the
power outlet on the east facing kitchen counter wall, but not the one
a foot away on the south counter wall.) Thankfully, the
fridge/freezers & waterpump all worked, the stove top is gas, our
woodfire has a wetback that heats the water and I'd replenished the
supply of firewood in the garage from outside before the storm hit.

We have what's called 3-phase power and no-one can explain it to me.

Last time it our entire kitchen, the water pump and one of the two
refrigerators were out, but most of the upstairs (including my office)
were fine. It's different every time ...

But we're thankful when we don't have a complete power outage. Last
time we had one of those it lasted for several days.


--

una cerveza mas por favor ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~

On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:49:46 -0600, Christine Dabney
> wrote:

>On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:45:08 +1200, bob in nz
> wrote:
>
>>On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:27:44 -0600, "Janet Bostwick"
> shouted from the highest rooftop:
>>
>
>>>> Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
>>>> probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
>>>> Miche is fine.
>>>>
>>>It sounds as though they will be without power and water for a while.
>>>Janet
>>
>>That's not good. We were without power for around 36 hours last
>>weekend, but that was due to a nasty storm up here (2,000 kms from the
>>epicentre). At least we had water (in our two six thousand gallon
>>water tanks).
>
>If they are without power, I bet Miche is busy, busy, busy....if she
>is okay. She is a journeyman electrician these days..

I'm one of those J people too. Much different than a lineman. I hope
she and everyone is ok but electricians don't restore power. I won't
bore you with 30 years of OT stories but most of the guys/gals who run
the big lines have no clue how to properly install most things in a
home or a commercial setting.

And I would have no clue how to work a downed pole.

Lou

bob in nz wrote:
>
> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:49:46 -0600, Christine Dabney
> > shouted from the highest rooftop:
>
> >On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:45:08 +1200, bob in nz
> > wrote:
> >
> >>On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:27:44 -0600, "Janet Bostwick"
> > shouted from the highest rooftop:
> >>
> >
> >>>> Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
> >>>> probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
> >>>> Miche is fine.
> >>>>
> >>>It sounds as though they will be without power and water for a while.
> >>>Janet
> >>
> >>That's not good. We were without power for around 36 hours last
> >>weekend, but that was due to a nasty storm up here (2,000 kms from the
> >>epicentre). At least we had water (in our two six thousand gallon
> >>water tanks).
> >
> >If they are without power, I bet Miche is busy, busy, busy....if she
> >is okay. She is a journeyman electrician these days..
>
> A "sparkie" eh? Maybe she can explain why different parts of our house
> sometimes go out during power outages and not others.
>
> Last week it was the entire upstairs (which included my office,
> computer, wireless, etc), all of the garage, but only certain parts of
> the downstairs (eg: our electric oven, but not our microwave, the
> reading lights behind our bed, but not the bedside table lamps, the
> power outlet on the east facing kitchen counter wall, but not the one
> a foot away on the south counter wall.) Thankfully, the
> fridge/freezers & waterpump all worked, the stove top is gas, our
> woodfire has a wetback that heats the water and I'd replenished the
> supply of firewood in the garage from outside before the storm hit.
>
> We have what's called 3-phase power and no-one can explain it to me.

Nothing magic about three phase power.

Your ordinary table lamp as an example plugs into a 120V single phase
circuit, there are two wires, one "hot" which is the 120V AC source and
one "neutral" which is the return to complete the circuit. With three
phase power there are three separate "hot" lines that come into the
building along with one common "neutral".

The reason you sometimes loose power to parts of the house is that
outside of three phase motors, virtually everything you have in the
house runs on single phase power and is hooked up to one of the three
"hot" lines coming into the house. A falling tree in a storm can land on
and break or short out just one or two of the three lines on the
distribution poles, so you may still have some powered. Outside of three
phase motors, there isn't much that actually uses three phase power in
it's entirety.

In the US we use single phase power for homes and three phase power for
commercial and industrial buildings. With single phase power, even
though all primary utility power distribution is three phase, the single
phase low voltage feeders that feed a house are fed by transformers that
only receive power from one of the three primary lines on the pole, so a
tree taking out one of the primary lines will either take out all of
your power or none of it.

This is a very simplistic explanation, so no flack from those of you who
know the details, I know them too.

On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:50:36 -0500, Lou Decruss
> shouted from the highest rooftop:

>On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:49:46 -0600, Christine Dabney
> wrote:
>
>>On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:45:08 +1200, bob in nz
> wrote:
>>
>>>On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:27:44 -0600, "Janet Bostwick"
> shouted from the highest rooftop:
>>>
>>
>>>>> Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
>>>>> probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
>>>>> Miche is fine.
>>>>>
>>>>It sounds as though they will be without power and water for a while.
>>>>Janet
>>>
>>>That's not good. We were without power for around 36 hours last
>>>weekend, but that was due to a nasty storm up here (2,000 kms from the
>>>epicentre). At least we had water (in our two six thousand gallon
>>>water tanks).
>>
>>If they are without power, I bet Miche is busy, busy, busy....if she
>>is okay. She is a journeyman electrician these days..
>
>I'm one of those J people too. Much different than a lineman. I hope
>she and everyone is ok but electricians don't restore power. I won't
>bore you with 30 years of OT stories but most of the guys/gals who run
>the big lines have no clue how to properly install most things in a
>home or a commercial setting.
>
>And I would have no clue how to work a downed pole.

My wife and I have a great respect for the guys who go out in storms
like the one we had last week and restore the power while we're safe
and comfortable at home.

We finally got our power restored after dark and when the two guys
returned in their truck to check and see if we were OK, I handed one
of them a 24x bottle case of Speight's lager. I swear the young guy
cradled it in his arms as if it was a newborn baby and his smile lit
up the gloom.

BTW - I have great respect for sparkies as well. To be honest,
electricity scares the hell out of me.


--

una cerveza mas por favor ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~

On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:54:20 -0500, "Pete C." >
shouted from the highest rooftop:
>
>bob in nz wrote:

<snip>

>> We have what's called 3-phase power and no-one can explain it to me.
>
>Nothing magic about three phase power.
>
>Your ordinary table lamp as an example plugs into a 120V single phase
>circuit, there are two wires, one "hot" which is the 120V AC source and
>one "neutral" which is the return to complete the circuit. With three
>phase power there are three separate "hot" lines that come into the
>building along with one common "neutral".
>
>The reason you sometimes loose power to parts of the house is that
>outside of three phase motors, virtually everything you have in the
>house runs on single phase power and is hooked up to one of the three
>"hot" lines coming into the house. A falling tree in a storm can land on
>and break or short out just one or two of the three lines on the
>distribution poles, so you may still have some powered. Outside of three
>phase motors, there isn't much that actually uses three phase power in
>it's entirety.
>
>In the US we use single phase power for homes and three phase power for
>commercial and industrial buildings. With single phase power, even
>though all primary utility power distribution is three phase, the single
>phase low voltage feeders that feed a house are fed by transformers that
>only receive power from one of the three primary lines on the pole, so a
>tree taking out one of the primary lines will either take out all of
>your power or none of it.
>
>This is a very simplistic explanation, so no flack from those of you who
>know the details, I know them too.

Many thanks for that. Even I can understand it now. Turns out that one
of our neighbour's trees had shorted out one of the lines but not the
others.

BTW - we run on 240v in New Zealand.


--

una cerveza mas por favor ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~

First time I read RFC in a 10 days and all I see are bunch of
idiotic threads by the permanent resident idiot, Andy and friends.

ObFood: Sunflower/Newflower market sucks royally.

-sw

"Sqwertz" > wrote in message
...
> First time I read RFC in a 10 days and all I see are bunch of
> idiotic threads by the permanent resident idiot, Andy and friends.
>
I can't see any posts by Andy. Use your kf and quit yer whining.

In article >, Andy > wrote:

> PING: Miche: 7.6 Earthquake!
>
> You and yours OK?

Yup, we're all fine. All it did was shake a bit where we were -- the
quake was centred in Western Southland, several hundred kilometres away.

New Zealanders tend to be fairly blase about earthquakes. Agent Weasel
was lying awake in her bed (the top of a set of bunks) and just lay
there while the earthquake did its thing. I'd just got out of the bath,
and my comment to DH was "Earthquake! I suppose I should put pants on."

I work for the company that runs the city electricity grid, so if
there'd been damage to the lines, there's a chance I'd have been called
out to lend a hand. Pants would have been a good thing.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

In article >,
bob in nz > wrote:

> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:45:35 -0500, Andy > shouted from the
> highest rooftop:
>
> >PING: Miche: 7.6 Earthquake!
> >
> >You and yours OK?
> >
> >Andy
>
>
> Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
> probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
> Miche is fine.

Yep, we're all good. Thanks for your concern.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

In article > ,
"Janet Bostwick" > wrote:

> "bob in nz" > wrote in message
> ...
> > On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 17:45:35 -0500, Andy > shouted from the
> > highest rooftop:
> >
> >>PING: Miche: 7.6 Earthquake!
> >>
> >>You and yours OK?
> >>
> >>Andy
> >
> >
> > Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
> > probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
> > Miche is fine.
> >
> It sounds as though they will be without power and water for a while.

No, no interruptions to services in our city at all. Part of
Invercargill (way closer than we are) lost power for a few hours.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

In article >,
Christine Dabney > wrote:

> On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:45:08 +1200, bob in nz
> > wrote:
>
> >On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:27:44 -0600, "Janet Bostwick"
> > shouted from the highest rooftop:
> >
>
> >>> Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
> >>> probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
> >>> Miche is fine.
> >>>
> >>It sounds as though they will be without power and water for a while.
> >>Janet
> >
> >That's not good. We were without power for around 36 hours last
> >weekend, but that was due to a nasty storm up here (2,000 kms from the
> >epicentre). At least we had water (in our two six thousand gallon
> >water tanks).
>
> If they are without power, I bet Miche is busy, busy, busy....if she
> is okay. She is a journeyman electrician these days..

I'm okay, and I am busy. I've got a lot of work on -- I test safety
gear in a high voltage lab. Most of the stuff I test is what comes
between linemen and the lines.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

In article >,
Lou Decruss > wrote:

> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:49:46 -0600, Christine Dabney
> > wrote:
>
> >On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:45:08 +1200, bob in nz
> > wrote:
> >
> >>On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:27:44 -0600, "Janet Bostwick"
> > shouted from the highest rooftop:
> >>
> >
> >>>> Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
> >>>> probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
> >>>> Miche is fine.
> >>>>
> >>>It sounds as though they will be without power and water for a while.
> >>>Janet
> >>
> >>That's not good. We were without power for around 36 hours last
> >>weekend, but that was due to a nasty storm up here (2,000 kms from the
> >>epicentre). At least we had water (in our two six thousand gallon
> >>water tanks).
> >
> >If they are without power, I bet Miche is busy, busy, busy....if she
> >is okay. She is a journeyman electrician these days..
>
> I'm one of those J people too. Much different than a lineman. I hope
> she and everyone is ok but electricians don't restore power. I won't
> bore you with 30 years of OT stories but most of the guys/gals who run
> the big lines have no clue how to properly install most things in a
> home or a commercial setting.
>
> And I would have no clue how to work a downed pole.

Yup. I work for the company that runs the city power grid. We have
electricians, linemen and technicians on staff, and they all do
different things.

If you've got a downed pole you want a line crew (linemen). If you've
got a broken cable you want cable jointers. If you've got a problem in
a substation or feeder you want technicians. If you've got an
electrical fault in your house or factory you want an electrician.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

In article >,
bob in nz > wrote:

> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:50:36 -0500, Lou Decruss
> > shouted from the highest rooftop:
>
> >On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:49:46 -0600, Christine Dabney
> > wrote:
> >
> >>On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:45:08 +1200, bob in nz
> > wrote:
> >>
> >>>On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:27:44 -0600, "Janet Bostwick"
> > shouted from the highest rooftop:
> >>>
> >>
> >>>>> Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
> >>>>> probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
> >>>>> Miche is fine.
> >>>>>
> >>>>It sounds as though they will be without power and water for a while.
> >>>>Janet
> >>>
> >>>That's not good. We were without power for around 36 hours last
> >>>weekend, but that was due to a nasty storm up here (2,000 kms from the
> >>>epicentre). At least we had water (in our two six thousand gallon
> >>>water tanks).
> >>
> >>If they are without power, I bet Miche is busy, busy, busy....if she
> >>is okay. She is a journeyman electrician these days..
> >
> >I'm one of those J people too. Much different than a lineman. I hope
> >she and everyone is ok but electricians don't restore power. I won't
> >bore you with 30 years of OT stories but most of the guys/gals who run
> >the big lines have no clue how to properly install most things in a
> >home or a commercial setting.
> >
> >And I would have no clue how to work a downed pole.
>
> My wife and I have a great respect for the guys who go out in storms
> like the one we had last week and restore the power while we're safe
> and comfortable at home.

So do I. I work with some. Great guys, salt of the earth.

> We finally got our power restored after dark and when the two guys
> returned in their truck to check and see if we were OK, I handed one
> of them a 24x bottle case of Speight's lager. I swear the young guy
> cradled it in his arms as if it was a newborn baby and his smile lit
> up the gloom.

Oh, bless you.

> BTW - I have great respect for sparkies as well. To be honest,
> electricity scares the hell out of me.

It scares me too, which is why I treat it with respect. I've seen it
track up something to jump over the edge, and I've seen it arc to earth
over a two-foot spark gap at 75,000 Volts. MUCH respect.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

In article >,
bob in nz > wrote:

> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:49:46 -0600, Christine Dabney
> > shouted from the highest rooftop:
>
> >On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:45:08 +1200, bob in nz
> > wrote:
> >
> >>On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:27:44 -0600, "Janet Bostwick"
> > shouted from the highest rooftop:
> >>
> >
> >>>> Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
> >>>> probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
> >>>> Miche is fine.
> >>>>
> >>>It sounds as though they will be without power and water for a while.
> >>>Janet
> >>
> >>That's not good. We were without power for around 36 hours last
> >>weekend, but that was due to a nasty storm up here (2,000 kms from the
> >>epicentre). At least we had water (in our two six thousand gallon
> >>water tanks).
> >
> >If they are without power, I bet Miche is busy, busy, busy....if she
> >is okay. She is a journeyman electrician these days..
>
> A "sparkie" eh? Maybe she can explain why different parts of our house
> sometimes go out during power outages and not others.

Nope.

> Last week it was the entire upstairs (which included my office,
> computer, wireless, etc), all of the garage, but only certain parts of
> the downstairs (eg: our electric oven, but not our microwave, the
> reading lights behind our bed, but not the bedside table lamps, the
> power outlet on the east facing kitchen counter wall, but not the one
> a foot away on the south counter wall.) Thankfully, the
> fridge/freezers & waterpump all worked, the stove top is gas, our
> woodfire has a wetback that heats the water and I'd replenished the
> supply of firewood in the garage from outside before the storm hit.

Sounds like some circuits went but not others. The range would be on
its own (30A) circuit, and the fact that some lights/sockets went out
but others didn't is also a clue. What did you see in the switchboard?

> We have what's called 3-phase power and no-one can explain it to me.

I could give you a precis but it's OT and kinda boring.

> Last time it our entire kitchen, the water pump and one of the two
> refrigerators were out, but most of the upstairs (including my office)
> were fine. It's different every time ...
>
> But we're thankful when we don't have a complete power outage. Last
> time we had one of those it lasted for several days.

Wow, that's the suck. What part of the country are you in?

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

In article >,
bob in nz > wrote:

> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:54:20 -0500, "Pete C." >
> shouted from the highest rooftop:
> >
> >bob in nz wrote:
>
> <snip>
>
> >> We have what's called 3-phase power and no-one can explain it to me.
> >
> >Nothing magic about three phase power.
> >
> >Your ordinary table lamp as an example plugs into a 120V single phase
> >circuit, there are two wires, one "hot" which is the 120V AC source and
> >one "neutral" which is the return to complete the circuit. With three
> >phase power there are three separate "hot" lines that come into the
> >building along with one common "neutral".
> >
> >The reason you sometimes loose power to parts of the house is that
> >outside of three phase motors, virtually everything you have in the
> >house runs on single phase power and is hooked up to one of the three
> >"hot" lines coming into the house. A falling tree in a storm can land on
> >and break or short out just one or two of the three lines on the
> >distribution poles, so you may still have some powered. Outside of three
> >phase motors, there isn't much that actually uses three phase power in
> >it's entirety.
> >
> >In the US we use single phase power for homes and three phase power for
> >commercial and industrial buildings. With single phase power, even
> >though all primary utility power distribution is three phase, the single
> >phase low voltage feeders that feed a house are fed by transformers that
> >only receive power from one of the three primary lines on the pole, so a
> >tree taking out one of the primary lines will either take out all of
> >your power or none of it.
> >
> >This is a very simplistic explanation, so no flack from those of you who
> >know the details, I know them too.
>
> Many thanks for that. Even I can understand it now. Turns out that one
> of our neighbour's trees had shorted out one of the lines but not the
> others.
>
> BTW - we run on 240v in New Zealand.

230V, 50Hz.

3-phase is 400V.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:42:30 +1200, Miche >
shouted from the highest rooftop:

>In article >,
> bob in nz > wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:54:20 -0500, "Pete C." >
>> shouted from the highest rooftop:
>> >
>> >bob in nz wrote:
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>> >> We have what's called 3-phase power and no-one can explain it to me.
>> >
>> >Nothing magic about three phase power.
>> >
>> >Your ordinary table lamp as an example plugs into a 120V single phase
>> >circuit, there are two wires, one "hot" which is the 120V AC source and
>> >one "neutral" which is the return to complete the circuit. With three
>> >phase power there are three separate "hot" lines that come into the
>> >building along with one common "neutral".
>> >
>> >The reason you sometimes loose power to parts of the house is that
>> >outside of three phase motors, virtually everything you have in the
>> >house runs on single phase power and is hooked up to one of the three
>> >"hot" lines coming into the house. A falling tree in a storm can land on
>> >and break or short out just one or two of the three lines on the
>> >distribution poles, so you may still have some powered. Outside of three
>> >phase motors, there isn't much that actually uses three phase power in
>> >it's entirety.
>> >
>> >In the US we use single phase power for homes and three phase power for
>> >commercial and industrial buildings. With single phase power, even
>> >though all primary utility power distribution is three phase, the single
>> >phase low voltage feeders that feed a house are fed by transformers that
>> >only receive power from one of the three primary lines on the pole, so a
>> >tree taking out one of the primary lines will either take out all of
>> >your power or none of it.
>> >
>> >This is a very simplistic explanation, so no flack from those of you who
>> >know the details, I know them too.
>>
>> Many thanks for that. Even I can understand it now. Turns out that one
>> of our neighbour's trees had shorted out one of the lines but not the
>> others.
>>
>> BTW - we run on 240v in New Zealand.
>
>230V, 50Hz.
>
>3-phase is 400V.

Shows what I know ;-)b


--

una cerveza mas por favor ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~

Miche said...

> In article >, Andy > wrote:
>
>> PING: Miche: 7.6 Earthquake!
>>
>> You and yours OK?
>
> Yup, we're all fine. All it did was shake a bit where we were -- the
> quake was centred in Western Southland, several hundred kilometres away.
>
> New Zealanders tend to be fairly blase about earthquakes. Agent Weasel
> was lying awake in her bed (the top of a set of bunks) and just lay
> there while the earthquake did its thing. I'd just got out of the bath,
> and my comment to DH was "Earthquake! I suppose I should put pants on."
>
> I work for the company that runs the city electricity grid, so if
> there'd been damage to the lines, there's a chance I'd have been called
> out to lend a hand. Pants would have been a good thing.
>
> Miche


Miche,

Glad you're OK.

First I heard of the earthquake was on the news when a suname warning was
issued.

BTW, interesting line of work you're in!

Best,

Andy

On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:40:19 +1200, Miche >
shouted from the highest rooftop:

>In article >,
> bob in nz > wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:49:46 -0600, Christine Dabney
>> > shouted from the highest rooftop:
>>
>> >On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 12:45:08 +1200, bob in nz
>> > wrote:
>> >
>> >>On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 18:27:44 -0600, "Janet Bostwick"
>> > shouted from the highest rooftop:
>> >>
>> >
>> >>>> Miche in Dunedin is not that far from the epicentre and would have
>> >>>> probably felt it. But since there were not injuries, we can hope that
>> >>>> Miche is fine.
>> >>>>
>> >>>It sounds as though they will be without power and water for a while.
>> >>>Janet
>> >>
>> >>That's not good. We were without power for around 36 hours last
>> >>weekend, but that was due to a nasty storm up here (2,000 kms from the
>> >>epicentre). At least we had water (in our two six thousand gallon
>> >>water tanks).
>> >
>> >If they are without power, I bet Miche is busy, busy, busy....if she
>> >is okay. She is a journeyman electrician these days..
>>
>> A "sparkie" eh? Maybe she can explain why different parts of our house
>> sometimes go out during power outages and not others.
>
>Nope.
>
>> Last week it was the entire upstairs (which included my office,
>> computer, wireless, etc), all of the garage, but only certain parts of
>> the downstairs (eg: our electric oven, but not our microwave, the
>> reading lights behind our bed, but not the bedside table lamps, the
>> power outlet on the east facing kitchen counter wall, but not the one
>> a foot away on the south counter wall.) Thankfully, the
>> fridge/freezers & waterpump all worked, the stove top is gas, our
>> woodfire has a wetback that heats the water and I'd replenished the
>> supply of firewood in the garage from outside before the storm hit.
>
>Sounds like some circuits went but not others. The range would be on
>its own (30A) circuit, and the fact that some lights/sockets went out
>but others didn't is also a clue. What did you see in the switchboard?
>
>> We have what's called 3-phase power and no-one can explain it to me.
>
>I could give you a precis but it's OT and kinda boring.
>
>> Last time it our entire kitchen, the water pump and one of the two
>> refrigerators were out, but most of the upstairs (including my office)
>> were fine. It's different every time ...
>>
>> But we're thankful when we don't have a complete power outage. Last
>> time we had one of those it lasted for several days.
>
>Wow, that's the suck. What part of the country are you in?

Hi Miche - We're in Northland ... coastal/rural. On a hill southeast
above Matapouri Bay, Tutukaka Coast where we've been hit by some huge
storms in July over the past three years.

We also have non-resident neighbours on the property down the hill
from ours whose bloody pine trees are really big weeds that need to be
chopped back more than once a year and they won't do it unless
prodded.

So they wait until the NorthPower warns them about the problem and
then wait until either NorthPower or our phone calls force them to do
something about it.

Lovely people otherwise.

Unfortunately, that kind of thing is not unusual up here. The squeaky
wheel ...



--

una cerveza mas por favor ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~

bob in nz wrote:
> On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:42:30 +1200, Miche >
> shouted from the highest rooftop:
>
>> In article >,
>> bob in nz > wrote:
>>
>>> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:54:20 -0500, "Pete C." >
>>> shouted from the highest rooftop:
>>>> bob in nz wrote:
>>> <snip>
>>>
>>>>> We have what's called 3-phase power and no-one can explain it to me.
>>>> Nothing magic about three phase power.
>>>>
>>>> Your ordinary table lamp as an example plugs into a 120V single phase
>>>> circuit, there are two wires, one "hot" which is the 120V AC source and
>>>> one "neutral" which is the return to complete the circuit. With three
>>>> phase power there are three separate "hot" lines that come into the
>>>> building along with one common "neutral".
>>>>
>>>> The reason you sometimes loose power to parts of the house is that
>>>> outside of three phase motors, virtually everything you have in the
>>>> house runs on single phase power and is hooked up to one of the three
>>>> "hot" lines coming into the house. A falling tree in a storm can land on
>>>> and break or short out just one or two of the three lines on the
>>>> distribution poles, so you may still have some powered. Outside of three
>>>> phase motors, there isn't much that actually uses three phase power in
>>>> it's entirety.
>>>>
>>>> In the US we use single phase power for homes and three phase power for
>>>> commercial and industrial buildings. With single phase power, even
>>>> though all primary utility power distribution is three phase, the single
>>>> phase low voltage feeders that feed a house are fed by transformers that
>>>> only receive power from one of the three primary lines on the pole, so a
>>>> tree taking out one of the primary lines will either take out all of
>>>> your power or none of it.
>>>>
>>>> This is a very simplistic explanation, so no flack from those of you who
>>>> know the details, I know them too.
>>> Many thanks for that. Even I can understand it now. Turns out that one
>>> of our neighbour's trees had shorted out one of the lines but not the
>>> others.
>>>
>>> BTW - we run on 240v in New Zealand.
>> 230V, 50Hz.
>>
>> 3-phase is 400V.
>
> Shows what I know ;-)b
>
>
> --
>
> una cerveza mas por favor ...
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
> Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~

The more you know :-)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-phase

Bob

bob in nz said...

> We also have non-resident neighbours on the property down the hill
> from ours whose bloody pine trees are really big weeds that need to be
> chopped back more than once a year and they won't do it unless
> prodded.
>
> So they wait until the NorthPower warns them about the problem and
> then wait until either NorthPower or our phone calls force them to do
> something about it.
>
> Lovely people otherwise.
>
> Unfortunately, that kind of thing is not unusual up here. The squeaky
> wheel ...


I live in a forest of probably 200 feet tall white pine trees. I've never
heard of "chopping them back." How is that done? Just chop off the top of
the trees to stunt the growth?

I wouldn't dream of doing that! Mine are pretty good at shedding the lower
branches so it's about 30% barren and 70% living growth. See:
http://i19.tinypic.com/8dz3r7b.jpg

The pines you describe sound more like "strays" not forest.

Andy

On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:06:02 -0500, Andy > shouted from the
highest rooftop:

>First I heard of the earthquake was on the news when a suname warning was
>issued.

Surname warning! Gotta laugh ...


--

una cerveza mas por favor ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~

bob in nz said...

> On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:06:02 -0500, Andy > shouted from the
> highest rooftop:
>
>>First I heard of the earthquake was on the news when a suname warning was
>>issued.
>
> Surname warning! Gotta laugh ...


Even the spell checker complained. I stared at the word for a long while and
just couldn't figure it out. LOL!

tsunami

Andy

"bob in nz" ha scritto nel messaggio >
, Andy > shouted from the
> highest rooftop:
>
>>First I heard of the earthquake was on the news when a suname warning was
>> >>issued.
>
> Surname warning! Gotta laugh ...

Some COULD have a scatalogical surname... can't think of one, but what is
innocent in one language can be bad words in another.

Miche > wrote in
on Jul Fri 2009
am

> In article >,
> bob in nz > wrote:
>
>> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 21:54:20 -0500, "Pete C." >
>> shouted from the highest rooftop:
>> >
>> >bob in nz wrote:
>>
>> <snip>
>>
>> >> We have what's called 3-phase power and no-one can explain it to
>> >> me.
>> >
>> >Nothing magic about three phase power.
>> >
>> >Your ordinary table lamp as an example plugs into a 120V single
>> >phase circuit, there are two wires, one "hot" which is the 120V AC
>> >source and one "neutral" which is the return to complete the
>> >circuit. With three phase power there are three separate "hot" lines
>> >that come into the building along with one common "neutral".
>> >
>> >The reason you sometimes loose power to parts of the house is that
>> >outside of three phase motors, virtually everything you have in the
>> >house runs on single phase power and is hooked up to one of the
>> >three "hot" lines coming into the house. A falling tree in a storm
>> >can land on and break or short out just one or two of the three
>> >lines on the distribution poles, so you may still have some powered.
>> >Outside of three phase motors, there isn't much that actually uses
>> >three phase power in it's entirety.
>> >
>> >In the US we use single phase power for homes and three phase power
>> >for commercial and industrial buildings. With single phase power,
>> >even though all primary utility power distribution is three phase,
>> >the single phase low voltage feeders that feed a house are fed by
>> >transformers that only receive power from one of the three primary
>> >lines on the pole, so a tree taking out one of the primary lines
>> >will either take out all of your power or none of it.
>> >
>> >This is a very simplistic explanation, so no flack from those of you
>> >who know the details, I know them too.
>>
>> Many thanks for that. Even I can understand it now. Turns out that
>> one of our neighbour's trees had shorted out one of the lines but not
>> the others.
>>
>> BTW - we run on 240v in New Zealand.
>
> 230V, 50Hz.
>
> 3-phase is 400V.
>
> Miche
>

each household phase is around 110v-120v...most houses use 2 phases in their fusebox/braker
panel. Each side of the fusebox is a different phase. This allows the creating the 240 v feeds to
various stuff. If you lose lights oe power in some numerous rooms but not others, it can be a loss of
a phase.

Usually the loss of 1 phase or half the power in your house is a outside the house issue.

I know this as a cruel winter storm caused me to lose 1 phase...drove me nuts trying to figure why
half the plugs in some rooms would work and why the fridge wouldn't work but the stove light
would.

A IBEW lineman guy came out and reconnected the broken splice up the pole and viola lights
everywhere.
IBEW...international brotherhood of electrical workers, which being a telephone blue collar worker
myself, I also belong to.

I work with DC whereas he works in AC. I work with amps high enough to scare electrians but only
50v. It's the amps that kill and do bodily damage.

--

The beet goes on -Alan

In article >,
hahabogus > wrote:

> Miche > wrote in
> on Jul Fri 2009
> am
>
> > In article >,
> > bob in nz > wrote:

> >> BTW - we run on 240v in New Zealand.
> >
> > 230V, 50Hz.
> >
> > 3-phase is 400V.
>
> each household phase is around 110v-120v...most houses use 2 phases in their
> fusebox/braker
> panel. Each side of the fusebox is a different phase. This allows the
> creating the 240 v feeds to
> various stuff. If you lose lights oe power in some numerous rooms but not
> others, it can be a loss of
> a phase.

Yeah, you guys need polyphase to do the really interesting stuff. I
love wiring three-phase plugs. It's technical and pedantic but I like
technical and pedantic.

> Usually the loss of 1 phase or half the power in your house is a outside the
> house issue.
>
> I know this as a cruel winter storm caused me to lose 1 phase...drove me nuts
> trying to figure why
> half the plugs in some rooms would work and why the fridge wouldn't work but
> the stove light
> would.
>
> A IBEW lineman guy came out and reconnected the broken splice up the pole
> and viola lights
> everywhere.
> IBEW...international brotherhood of electrical workers, which being a
> telephone blue collar worker
> myself, I also belong to.
>
> I work with DC whereas he works in AC. I work with amps high enough to scare
> electrians but only
> 50v. It's the amps that kill and do bodily damage.

Yeah, I know. Fortunately my test rig is all voltage and very little
current. I do tests up to 40,000 volts.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

In article >,
bob in nz > wrote:

> On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 20:40:19 +1200, Miche >
> shouted from the highest rooftop:
>
> >In article >,
> > bob in nz > wrote:

> >> Last time it our entire kitchen, the water pump and one of the two
> >> refrigerators were out, but most of the upstairs (including my office)
> >> were fine. It's different every time ...
> >>
> >> But we're thankful when we don't have a complete power outage. Last
> >> time we had one of those it lasted for several days.
> >
> >Wow, that's the suck. What part of the country are you in?
>
> Hi Miche - We're in Northland ... coastal/rural. On a hill southeast
> above Matapouri Bay, Tutukaka Coast where we've been hit by some huge
> storms in July over the past three years.

Nice country, shame about the weather.

> We also have non-resident neighbours on the property down the hill
> from ours whose bloody pine trees are really big weeds that need to be
> chopped back more than once a year and they won't do it unless
> prodded.
>
> So they wait until the NorthPower warns them about the problem and
> then wait until either NorthPower or our phone calls force them to do
> something about it.
>
> Lovely people otherwise.

Sigh.

> Unfortunately, that kind of thing is not unusual up here. The squeaky
> wheel ...

Same everywhere, I'm afraid.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

In article >, Andy > wrote:

> Miche said...
>
> > In article >, Andy > wrote:
> >
> >> PING: Miche: 7.6 Earthquake!
> >>
> >> You and yours OK?
> >
> > Yup, we're all fine. All it did was shake a bit where we were -- the
> > quake was centred in Western Southland, several hundred kilometres away.
> >
> > New Zealanders tend to be fairly blase about earthquakes. Agent Weasel
> > was lying awake in her bed (the top of a set of bunks) and just lay
> > there while the earthquake did its thing. I'd just got out of the bath,
> > and my comment to DH was "Earthquake! I suppose I should put pants on."
> >
> > I work for the company that runs the city electricity grid, so if
> > there'd been damage to the lines, there's a chance I'd have been called
> > out to lend a hand. Pants would have been a good thing.

> Miche,
>
> Glad you're OK.
>
> First I heard of the earthquake was on the news when a suname warning was
> issued.
>
> BTW, interesting line of work you're in!

Yeah, it is. I love my job and (most of) the guys I work with.

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

Miche > wrote in news:micheinnz-502F4C.20284117072009
@news.itconsult.net:

> there while the earthquake did its thing. I'd just got out of the bath,
> and my comment to DH was "Earthquake! I suppose I should put pants on."
>
> I work for the company that runs the city electricity grid, so if
> there'd been damage to the lines, there's a chance I'd have been called
> out to lend a hand. Pants would have been a good thing.
>


Well...... on the other hand, it would have taken everyones mind off the
earthquake if you'd gone out without them ;-P



--
Peter Lucas
Brisbane
Australia

Killfile all Google Groups posters.........

http://improve-usenet.org/

http://improve-usenet.org/filters_bg.html

On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 11:41:59 +0200, "Giusi" >
shouted from the highest rooftop:

>
>"bob in nz" ha scritto nel messaggio >
>, Andy > shouted from the
>> highest rooftop:
>>
>>>First I heard of the earthquake was on the news when a suname warning was
>>> >>issued.
>>
>> Surname warning! Gotta laugh ...
>
>Some COULD have a scatalogical surname... can't think of one, but what is
>innocent in one language can be bad words in another.

Well ... I once said "phooey" in front of a Brazilian girl and got a
slap on the face. I still don't know if it was a bad word in her
language or if she just wanted to get my attention (even though she
already had it).


--

una cerveza mas por favor ...

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~
Wax-up and drop-in of Surfing's Golden Years: <http://www.surfwriter.net>
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~

On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:49:52 -0400, cybercat wrote:

> "Sqwertz" > wrote in message
> ...
>> First time I read RFC in a 10 days and all I see are bunch of
>> idiotic threads by the permanent resident idiot, Andy and friends.
>>
> I can't see any posts by Andy. Use your kf and quit yer whining.

I'd have to KF 50.2% of the people in RFC to prevent seeing Andy
posts/threads.

-sw

In article >,
Peter > wrote:

> Miche > wrote in news:micheinnz-502F4C.20284117072009
> @news.itconsult.net:
>
> > there while the earthquake did its thing. I'd just got out of the bath,
> > and my comment to DH was "Earthquake! I suppose I should put pants on."
> >
> > I work for the company that runs the city electricity grid, so if
> > there'd been damage to the lines, there's a chance I'd have been called
> > out to lend a hand. Pants would have been a good thing.
> >
>
>
> Well...... on the other hand, it would have taken everyones mind off the
> earthquake if you'd gone out without them ;-P

Too true, especially since it's the middle of winter!

Miche

--
Electricians do it in three phases

Sqwertz wrote:
> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:49:52 -0400, cybercat wrote:
>
>> "Sqwertz" > wrote in message
>> ...
>>> First time I read RFC in a 10 days and all I see are bunch of
>>> idiotic threads by the permanent resident idiot, Andy and friends.
>>>
>> I can't see any posts by Andy. Use your kf and quit yer whining.
>
> I'd have to KF 50.2% of the people in RFC to prevent seeing Andy
> posts/threads.
>
> -sw

Brother, you don't know the half of that. I KF'd shelbrook, and I still
have to hear his noise daily thanks to the number of responders to his crap.

Bob

In article >,
bob in nz > wrote:

> On Fri, 17 Jul 2009 04:06:02 -0500, Andy > shouted from the
> highest rooftop:
>
> >First I heard of the earthquake was on the news when a suname warning was
> >issued.
>
> Surname warning! Gotta laugh ...

I think he was trying for "tsunami", Bob. :-)
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://web.me.com/barbschaller - good news 4-6-2009
"Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a great battle."
-Philo of Alexandria

Bob Muncie wrote:

> Sqwertz wrote:
>> On Thu, 16 Jul 2009 23:49:52 -0400, cybercat wrote:
>>
>>> "Sqwertz" > wrote in message
>>> ...
>>>> First time I read RFC in a 10 days and all I see are bunch of
>>>> idiotic threads by the permanent resident idiot, Andy and friends.
>>>>
>>> I can't see any posts by Andy. Use your kf and quit yer whining.
>>
>> I'd have to KF 50.2% of the people in RFC to prevent seeing Andy
>> posts/threads.
>
> Brother, you don't know the half of that. I KF'd shelbrook, and I
> still have to hear his noise daily thanks to the number of responders
> to his crap.

The funny thing about Usenet is that not everybody dislikes the same
posters...

But if it gets on your nerves that much, can't you set your newsreader
to just mark the KF-ee's posts as read (i.e. don't delete the offending
posts) so you can still see who the responders are responding to -
before you actually read the posts? I have mine set up that way. Works
for me.
--
Cheers
Chatty Cathy