# Electric outages and rain



## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

Why does it seem that the electric goes out every time it rains. What is the real cause for this problem? Is it bad electrical connections on poles or what? Any electrician on here know why?

art


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## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

Just glance up at the rats nest wiring of the distribution system here and you have some of the answer. Water is a wonderful conductor for electricity and when the moisture builds up as when it is stormy the voltage will take the path of least resistance to ground which can cause an overload and blow the fuses at strategic places in the system. They also seem to not believe in trimming trees back here for clearance as is done by most utility companies in the states, this causes quite a bit of current to be siphoned off too. Across the street from my house is a coconut tree that grows into the power lines and I can watch the arc as the wind moves the branch close and away from the conductor especially when wet from rain. There is also the issue of pole position - I will try to explain a bit. In the states the power company owns the poles and they have the uppermost position on the pole for the higher voltages and usually one lower position for a lower voltage circuit for local distribution, they rent lower positions on the pole to companies such as phone, cable, internet and such. I do not know how they do it here, but it kind of seems random as to the position of each type position on the pole and there may be some interference that way.

Fred


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

They may well just turn it off duing heavy storms. I heard that there are more deaths from electrocution than drowning during heavy flooding


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## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

Hey Gary, 

I can remember my first time to the Philippines back in 2002 and I saw about 300 wires going to a pole and they were all wrapped around each other. I was totally stunned. Then while there I see this worker one day with a ladder laying up against all these wires and he was at the top of ladder. I wondered how in the world does he figure out what wire is what? the wires are all twisted around each other. Amazing!

art


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## Maxx62 (Dec 31, 2013)

I know this is slightly off topic, but here goes anyway. About a week and a half ago my wife and I were walking across the parking lot at a McDonalds near our house. It had been drizzling on and off for a few days, and at that very moment there was a light sprinkle, and the ground was kinda wet. 

As we were walking along I heard a sound like bacon frying coming from the landscaping area along the pathway. I looked closer and noticed one of those orange plastic junction boxes buried in the ground (the type that is normally used inside a building) and the frying sound was coming from the box. There was no cover on the box, and there was a pair of heavy duty wires sticking out of the box about three or four inches, and the wires had been spliced together with electrical tape. 

The inside of the box had a layer of water at the bottom of it, and I'm guessing that every few seconds enough water would build up along the outside of the insulation to make a bridge between each of the splices and the tiny pool of water inside the box, this would cause a short, creating the frying sound. 

The funny thing is that people just walked right on by this open electrical box in the ground, that was making frying noises, and didn't even stop to give it a second look.


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## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

hey Maxx62

I would call the Philippines the fry capital of the world for people working on electric lines. When I lived in tagum there were 5 lineman die from being electrocuted while working on lines. They don't have proper clothing, gloves or anything. That frying sound you heard from the junction box from wires shorting out meant nothing to the people there. Electric wiring is one of the worst nightmares there and it is 220 volt. 

art


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## Datchworth (Jul 5, 2015)

Pivoting to power outages and lightning strikes, more often than not any sustained electrical storm shuts down power, cable TV and Globe Internet in our rural location for some hours. I suppose system equipment is far too exposed?


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## expatuk2016 (Mar 20, 2016)

Datchworth said:


> Pivoting to power outages and lightning strikes, more often than not any sustained electrical storm shuts down power, cable TV and Globe Internet in our rural location for some hours. I suppose system equipment is far too exposed?


This country really amazes me having lived mostly in large cities in the UK where most cableing etc is underground, here the power,telephone,and cable tv lines are all run on the same poles !
And everywhere you can see lengths of cable hanging down .
In the last big storm we lost all power,tv, etc for a week, now we have a 3000watt generator and a portable power pack that will run lights and fans etc and is solar charged.


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## morganandwestfield (Aug 5, 2017)

During rain, there may be storm or lightening. So, electricity can burn home appliance. That's why electricity men switch off the fuse from transformer.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

expatuk2016 said:


> This country really amazes me having lived mostly in large cities in the UK where most cableing etc is underground, here the power,telephone,and cable tv lines are all run on the same poles !
> And everywhere you can see lengths of cable hanging down .
> In the last big storm we lost all power,tv, etc for a week, now we have a 3000watt generator and a portable power pack that will run lights and fans etc and is solar charged.


If wasn't for a complete lack of good housekeeping it wouldn't be such a problem. I read or heard somewhere that buried cable are actually more prone to lightning strike than suspended cables. Also buried cable have to be larger because of heating whereas suspended cable cool better so can be smaller for the same capacity.


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## greenstreak1946 (May 28, 2017)

Hey Gary

You might be right about the buried cable getting hit by lightning more often. Lightning does seem to strike the ground here in the usa a lot.

art


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## Datchworth (Jul 5, 2015)

Took me a while with 2 Motherboards, other associated computer equipment burnt out by lightning/power surges to learn to turn everything off and disconnect from mains when electrical activity is around , especially at this time of the year.


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

Gary D said:


> If wasn't for a complete lack of good housekeeping it wouldn't be such a problem. I read or heard somewhere that buried cable are actually more prone to lightning strike than suspended cables. Also buried cable have to be larger because of heating whereas suspended cable cool better so can be smaller for the same capacity.


Perhaps we should research this Gary, not only Ph but consensual opinions world wide. seems sad but 14 years ago when we moved to the new property in Oz, a whole 800 metres as the crow flies, our power went out twice a week, maintenance program 10 years an nary a problem, trees in the lines were then trimmed of removed, to date still works as they savaged the forest and never saw the grass, my gain but [email protected]@@ the animals and community,

Solar has them running, a turn around from fossil fuels? Wrks in Oz for us and will also work on PH but costlier. On the whole cheaper and soon self sufficient, buffer the power companies.

Cheers, Steve.


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## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

bigpearl said:


> Solar has them running, a turn around from fossil fuels? Wrks in Oz for us and will also work on PH but costlier. On the whole cheaper and soon self sufficient, buffer the power companies.
> 
> Cheers, Steve.


Good way to go. Eventually I hope to be off grid totally by going solar. I just completed my pressure water system fed from my well. It seems better quality water than what has been coming in from the street plus its a lot more reliable, although we are still using 5 gallon purified water with dispenser for cooking drinking and such. I now have water anytime I turn the tap, not every other day or less(as long as there is power). Not that expensive either, about 15,000 Pesos plus about 2 weeks of my valuable ? time. Now once I get around to doing the solar, I won't have to depend on the reliability of what is furnished here. Doing it myself so it gets done right even though I don't go as fast as I used to since I am pushing 80.

Fred


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

bigpearl said:


> Perhaps we should research this Gary, not only Ph but consensual opinions world wide. seems sad but 14 years ago when we moved to the new property in Oz, a whole 800 metres as the crow flies, our power went out twice a week, maintenance program 10 years an nary a problem, trees in the lines were then trimmed of removed, to date still works as they savaged the forest and never saw the grass, my gain but [email protected]@@ the animals and community,
> 
> Solar has them running, a turn around from fossil fuels? Wrks in Oz for us and will also work on PH but costlier. On the whole cheaper and soon self sufficient, buffer the power companies.
> 
> Cheers, Steve.


I have may reservations about solar, but one one of the relevant ones in this case is, if your utility power is out coz of storms, then if those storms continue, you aren't going to see a lot of sunlight for your solar panels.


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## bigpearl (Jan 24, 2016)

hogrider said:


> I have may reservations about solar, but one one of the relevant ones in this case is, if your utility power is out coz of storms, then if those storms continue, you aren't going to see a lot of sunlight for your solar panels.


Very true and I like others heed what you are saying and hence a generator. As I sit here writing I have checked the output of my solar system several times, 1 to 1.2 Kwh with no sun, and a storm brewing, normal days 3 to 4plus Kwh. Grid tied fabulous until the power goes down, rarely happens here in Oz but frequent in PH. A stand alone system can be expensive but a grid tied with battery back up and an inverter to get you through the outages. Given storms brings cooler weather,,,,,, a little but one can live without A/C through these periods easily and simply focus your back up for refrigerator fans and lights.

Unfortunately solar and hybrid systems are expensive in PH though prices are going down still warrants looking at a decent silenced generator, no solar or sales back to the grid and reduced power bills but hey you can buy a lot of fuel for the cost difference.

Have to add David that with a grid tied system if the power goes out the solar system is disconnected also and totally useless,,,,,,, hence batteries or the long standing proven generator.

Cheers, Steve.


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## hogrider (May 25, 2010)

bigpearl said:


> Very true and I like others heed what you are saying and hence a generator. As I sit here writing I have checked the output of my solar system several times, 1 to 1.2 Kwh with no sun, and a storm brewing, normal days 3 to 4plus Kwh. Grid tied fabulous until the power goes down, rarely happens here in Oz but frequent in PH. A stand alone system can be expensive but a grid tied with battery back up and an inverter to get you through the outages. Given storms brings cooler weather,,,,,, a little but one can live without A/C through these periods easily and simply focus your back up for refrigerator fans and lights.
> 
> Unfortunately solar and hybrid systems are expensive in PH though prices are going down still warrants looking at a decent silenced generator, no solar or sales back to the grid and reduced power bills but hey you can buy a lot of fuel for the cost difference.
> 
> ...


Seems a lot of hassle and expense to get just enough power to run a fridge fan and lights. Unless you have a lot of expensive food in the fridge, probably cheaper to go without any back up and just run a few LED lights and a fan from a 12v battery and let the food take its chances. For me its a no brainer, standby generator all the way. Instant power when needed and relatively cheap to run. With enough power to run one or two AC's.


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## fmartin_gila (May 15, 2011)

hogrider said:


> Seems a lot of hassle and expense to get just enough power to run a fridge fan and lights. Unless you have a lot of expensive food in the fridge, probably cheaper to go without any back up and just run a few LED lights and a fan from a 12v battery and let the food take its chances. For me its a no brainer, standby generator all the way. Instant power when needed and relatively cheap to run. With enough power to run one or two AC's.


Giving this some thought too as an alternate to going full solar. Would be quite a bit simpler and probably cheaper just to have a genset. Our power outages are not as frequent as they used to be so they are gradually improving the reliability of the grid. No hurry, just more to think about.

Fred


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## Tamad.Buko (Sep 14, 2017)

In our area there are electric blackouts. The electric company turns the power off and restarts it at some unknown time so your appliances such as refrigerator, jumps your electric meter. This way they can earn more money. It has nothing to do with the rain. It's the power company's way of making more money.


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## Gary D (Oct 28, 2013)

Tamad.Buko said:


> In our area there are electric blackouts. The electric company turns the power off and restarts it at some unknown time so your appliances such as refrigerator, jumps your electric meter. This way they can earn more money. It has nothing to do with the rain. It's the power company's way of making more money.


Turning the power on and off is unlikely to jump your meter. What they do is vary the frequency which makes you meter run faster. If you have a new digital meter it will probably not be effected.


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## Tamad.Buko (Sep 14, 2017)

The meter will jump forward. Jumping the meter 2, 3, 4 or more times a month adds up.


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## NicolaNewman (Aug 2, 2017)

I live mostly in the Philippines and rain rarely causes power outage. What causes it usually is when there is a typhoon with strong winds which affects posts. It really depends on the area you are. You can easily call your electric supplier to ask questions.


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