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Customers do not lose power in a voltage reduction, but incandescent lights, hot water heaters and some motors are affected.
The lights that were dimming in my home last night were low-watt LED bulbs. The lights would dim moderately and then to barely brighter than a nightlight. Less than a minute later the light went full bright only to repeat the sequence for about an hour or so after which I just turned them off. This morning everything seems to be full power.
About three months ago all the lights in my home were dim one night and when the forced hot air blower came on it was running but there was very little air coming out of the vents. I reported it to Con Ed back then and a day or two later I saw them working down the block on overhead wires. I'm thinking yesterday's issue might be related to whatever caused the earlier disruption.
It looks like full power is back and when I tried the a/c this morning it was working fine. Thanks for the reminder about a volt meter, I do have a multimeter. I think this is a local neighborhood issue. Besides the problems I noted, about two months ago I got automated phone messages from Con Ed saying there may be a power outage in my area but my home had full power.
Edit: just checked the voltage using the multimeter and it's 110V.
Last edited by martinjsxx; 06-12-2015 at 07:04 AM..
Lights will dim if voltage drops. Motors do not run slower with ac power.
Most fans and air conditioners have controls that vary the speed of the AC blower motor without VFDs. The motors have "wound rotors" as opposed to pure induction motors and speed is controlled by resistance or transformer tapping, which increases or decreases the voltage. When an AC motor of that type runs at less than its optimal speed, engineers call that "slippage."
Before the advent of "power transistors," this was the only way to control AC motor speed.
With the completion of the "Hudson Power Transmission Line" linking Con Ed with the vast resources of the PJM, voltage reductions will be less frequent.
wound rotor motors are very popular in the elevator field. once in the while i replace an old wound rotor soft starter .
i still sell a few multi speed starters in this day and age but for the most part at least in the industrial market multi speed motors are a thing of the past. i have been replacing them with drives and off the shelf ac motors for almost 20 years now.
in my business i would look for the older 2 speed motor's on the blowers in a facility and ask the facility engineer how often do you use low speed. the answer is usually neve , we don't get enough air.
the cheap 2 speed motors are usuallty two speed one winding with taps. you can only get base speed and 1/2 of base out of them. unlike custom 2 speed 2 winding mnotors these cheapies have no other option except 1800/900 or 3600/1800 .
easy vfd sale when you see that.
Last edited by mathjak107; 06-12-2015 at 11:36 AM..
Remember that "oh so scary guy" with the holstered gun you were worried about? It's probably him chief, he didn't like you reporting him on a message board. He is stalking you now. First the electricity, then the phones, and then... Well you seem to be a sky is falling type of guy so use your imagination. Lol, the average person is so funny
Most fans and air conditioners have controls that vary the speed of the AC blower motor without VFDs. The motors have "wound rotors" as opposed to pure induction motors and speed is controlled by resistance or transformer tapping, which increases or decreases the voltage. When an AC motor of that type runs at less than its optimal speed, engineers call that "slippage."
Before the advent of "power transistors," this was the only way to control AC motor speed.
With the completion of the "Hudson Power Transmission Line" linking Con Ed with the vast resources of the PJM, voltage reductions will be less frequent.
I know of very few wound rotor motors used in ac units. as far back as i have seen ,large ones were multi speed ac motors with multi speed starters and the smaller ones used ECM motors.
,
the ECM , is a brushless DC motor operating in a synchronous mode. There are no slip-induced losses. Simply adjusting the voltage and current applied to the motor alters the speed .,
they usually run on 24vdc
Last edited by mathjak107; 06-12-2015 at 01:18 PM..
Remember that "oh so scary guy" with the holstered gun you were worried about? It's probably him chief, he didn't like you reporting him on a message board. He is stalking you now. First the electricity, then the phones, and then... Well you seem to be a sky is falling type of guy so use your imagination. Lol, the average person is so funny
Dude do you stalk many people or just me? You are the guy on the other board who won't identify himself. You are a real tough guy but I appreciate you picking up my trash.
I just tested the voltage and it now doesn't go higher than 95 volts.
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