RDM

Interesting you mention losing one phase. It reminded me that only one of the 2 phases on our neighbor's transformer went. Don't recall how many kva the transformer was. And, it didn't arc or shoot any blue flames. haha. Was fortunate for our neighbors in that the fuses did their thing and popped as designed. Hats off for what you do. Getting stung by 110vac is not pleasant. No second chances with the level you deal with.

Great info Stormfly. Spot on re the arcs. Transformer fires are rare, but when they do happen they can be quite spectacular. The fuses normally do their thing and protect the transformer for obvious reasons. Had an interesting incident with a neighbor's ground level transformer adjoining our property 2 years ago. Two houses on the same transformer lost power. VA Power responded, with what eventually became 5 trucks/crews. They replaced the fuses and tried to "reset" things, and that didn't work. Dunno how many fuses they burned up, but it was several. After several hours of troubleshooting they said the transformer failed; with a very perplexing look of bewilderment. The head of the crew said he'd only seen a couple of cases in his 30+ year career where a transformer actually failed on its own without any apparent reason. Bye coincidence or not, the failure was a couple days after the owner of one of the 2 houses put in a new wood fence, with a crew that used a power auger to make the post holes. One of the posts was installed right over where the underground service runs from the transformer to their home. We wondered if the auger may have nicked the line in a way it didn't electrocute the fence crew but somehow created a ground fault. The lineman nodded with more bewilderment and said "that fence crew was very lucky". They replaced the transformer and installed new fuses and got our neighbors online again w/o any further issue. It was very interesting to watch the lineman install the new fuses with the long fiberglass pole, with the high-voltage feeds running to the transformer still hot and all of his buddies standing well away from him. Things were quite serious at that moment. As a side-bar... during the initial conversation with the lineman, he said "the service to your house is out too, right" I said no. He was convinced it had to be because according to his schematics we were supposed to be on the same faulty transformer as the other two houses. I took him to the transformer where our service is from on the other side of our property and he just shook his head with a perplexing "well something is messed up here"... He took pictures and measurements and told me he'd make sure they corrected the records for future reference. That experience explained why we had such an issue with VA Power about 10 years ago when we had to relocate part of our underground service feed. (That was a nightmare and VA Power wouldn't explain why... too long of a story to repeat here)

Yup - just posted watches for western MD and northeaster WVA - just to the west of Winchester. The system is still very active as it crosses eastern Ohio. There's a ton of lightning on the real-time viewer. Parts of Ohio are getting nailed now with a pronounced bow-echo on the front end and a secondary one lagging behind a bit to the SW of the main front. Pretty impressive.

Yup - just came in from watering some transplanted azaleas. DP is 74 here. The air has that thick/yucky feel to it.

Good luck Mappy. Hope your hubby has a quick recovery. I tested positive last Dec 20th with only mild symptoms. Was 2 days after my 60th birthday, which allowed the doctor to prescribe me to receive the antibody infusion. This was before Paxlovid was available (I think). Was one of 26 people in FFCO who received the infusion that day and only got it because I was 60+. Within a few hours I could tell it was working and within 3 days I was asymptomatic. Was pretty amazing - in a good way. I was vax'ed, which likely helped reduce the severity. However, getting the antibody infusion reset the clock to get boosted. Best of luck...

Very interesting. Appreciate your insight and the same from Stormfly. Had a combination of Mitsubishi and Frederich mini-splits in Afghanistan and mainly Mitsubishi at my house in Japan. It got pretty cold in Kabul, but not for extended periods (fortunately) Same in Japan - at least where I was in Japan - near Yokohama. (the mountains get much colder). They seemed to heat ok, but I can't testify as to how efficient they were operating. The Mitsubishi units cooled very well in Japan where the humidity is atrocious - provided I kept the condensate drains cleared out. It was a 2x per year routine to blow them out of accumulated muck.

wow - you lost me at zone control (sort of - haha). But, spot on re the flickering lights on well pump startup. When the well pump goes, going to get a good one that handles the surge better. Maybe it will have the VFD feather thingy, whatever that is. (smile). Never had our well flow tested but 20gpm is awesome. We have great tasting water and even though City water is available, don't want it. City water wasn't available when our house was built in 76. They ran it about 10 years later, but it's $30k to connect - our driveway is 450 ft long. If your BIL is looking for more exercise, send him over in a couple weeks when the first semi-load of block arrives!

Rgr on the mini-splits. They rule in most of the rest of the world. Had them in India, Japan and Thailand. Most folks in the US don't realize our central HVAC systems are a rare commodity in the world. Most cultures don't have access to the power and/or can't afford to heat/cool an entire home the way we do. My home in Japan was a fraction of the size of a normal house here in the US. Even with only using individual fan-coil units on a room by room basis, my electric bill was routinely $1000+/month - and that was in the 90's. Plan to install a mini-split system in our garage/work shop addition. When I get-around-to-it... With you on the BU generator too. We live less than a half mile from the Vienna city limits, but are on well water and septic - with nat gas for heat. When the power goes out (and it does a lot here), we have a small 10kw generator which is enough to run one blower unit for heat, some outlets and the well pump. But that 208vac well pump has a significant surge on startup. No slow-start motor to help quell the surge. Plan to go with an auto-start, auto-switch unit at some point. When I get-around-to-it for that project too. The current project this summer is another retaining wall in front of the house. Will probably be about 80k lbs of block that weight 82lbs each. Lots of fun. Like Tom Sawyer and painting a white picket fence. You should try it!!!

Yea - agree. My brother and his wife bought the place in early 2000's. It was the estate from 3 brothers who were born, raised and died there - never married. When he bought the place, it had no indoor running water or plumbing, no central heat, no AC. The heat was provided by fireplaces in every room with the main fp standing about 5 feet wide by 4 feet high - had the proverbial wrought iron swing arm for a kettle. The only way to the second floor was a curved staircase that followed the profile of one of the chimneys. The stair treads are about 6 inches deep and the risers are about 15-18" high. Going up or down is a deft balancing act. My brother is a general contractor on the industrial side. He knows all aspects of construction. They lived in a trailer for 3 years while they overhauled the place. Put on a sizable addition which included "normal" stairs to the second floor. Completely replaced all the electric service throughout. Added central HVAC and the aforementioned heat pump. It was the cats meow at the time and he knew they were pushing the zone thing, but they went extra deep with the water loop (where the heat comes from) and thought they'd be ok. Was a gamble that didn't produce the desired results. It was a labor of love to restore the place into a modern home, albeit while retaining the architectural elements of a 1860 homestead. Didn't even mention the hand hewn beams in the house and the barn. Masterpieces of mechanical know-how.

I wasn't paying attention as well that we were in the OBS thread. My fault and regrets to the Mods. Great info on heat pumps. My brother in Ohio has a geothermal heat pump. Was "state of the art" when he had it installed in the early 2000's. Was nothing but problems from the start. Plus, it's just too darn cold in Ohio in the Winter for the heat pump to provide adequate heating alone. The aux electric heat offset the supposed efficiency and savings of the heat pump. He's since scrapped the heat pump and converted back to propane - the standard for farms and others off the natural gas grid. (his house was built in 1860 and he's only the 3rd occupant!) I'm with you on the R-12, to R-134a and now they are migrating to something else for the automotive industry. Why does it HAVE to be so complicated? Speaking of complicated... You can probably appreciate this... Our system has 2 zones. Has a nat gas fired boiler for hot water heat that flows to both air handlers with a pump and 2 thermostatically controlled metering valves. One air handler in the basement and one in the attic (I still don't know exactly how the hot water supply and return lines runs to the attic - terrified of driving a nail in the wall and get that hissing sound of water..). When we had the attic system replaced 5 years ago, the guys spent 2 full days on the line with Tier 3 support at Carrier trying to figure out the control logic for the new attic unit and it's very complicated digital wi-fi thermostat. They worked 14+ hours one day to get it up and running in a test mode, and had to come back the next day when they spent 12 more hours online with Tier3 trying to get the wiring ironed out. And of course, it was the hottest time of the year. Those guys worked their butts off in the sweltering heat of the attic trying to get the control logic working as needed. They finally got both AC systems working, but had to come back in the Fall when it was time for heat to complete the troubleshooting to get the AC AND the Heat to work as designed. It was a nightmare for control theory logic.

You are very welcome. To your question... and there's no dumb questions here - I'm a novice at best with HVAC. Learned what little I know from some honest technicians and from living overseas a lot where harsh environments push systems to the limit. To survive you have to figure things out. The blocks of ice you describe can very well be because of a blocked condensate drain. Yea, it's hot as blazes in the attic - probably hotter than 125F. The thing is, in the enclosed HVAC air handler, it's all relative. Your attic unit is likely totally insulated too, which helps with the efficiency rating for heating and cooling. Many basement units are not as well insulated because most basements are environmentally conditioned, where attics aren't (in most cases). Once the condensate water pools up in the drain tray and touches the evaporator coil, the water freezes and then the water dripping down from above freezes on top of that, and more and more... it builds up quickly and on a humid day can freeze up a coil surprising fast. We have 2-zone HVAC in our house. A couple years ago the basement 4 ton unit froze up. Was a clogged condensate drain. Open up the drain with compressed air and left the cover off the side of the air handler where the evaporator coil is and it thawed out pretty quickly. It's pretty easy to tell if the coil is iced up - there's no air flow from the HVAC vents. You can hear the blower running, but there's no air flow. Many of today's newer systems use a variable speed blower too compared to older systems where the blower is only on or off. With the variable speed blower, when the system ices up, the blower will be on high, but still no air flow. Same exact thing happens in automotive AC systems. Although the evaporative coil is much smaller, the cooling principle is the same. If the condensate drain clogs up even partially, the condensate pools up, the coil freezes and there's no air flow coming out of the HVAC vents. Went through this recently with our SUV. Front AC froze up while the rear AC was working fine. The culprit is/was the combination of a partially clogged condensate drain and driving through an intense t-storm where the excess humidity was too much for the system to drain off. It froze up in about 5 minutes - just like a house AC system, but a house unit is of course much bigger. With many attic units, the condensate drains via a PVC pipe to a vent stack as vent stacks are typically the only access to a drain that penetrates the attic. The pipe should be at least 3/4" to be large enough in diameter to flush out small debris that will accumulate in the drain tray. Some drains may run out the wall of the house. Try to trace the drain and see where it runs. If you can see the end of it, watch when the AC is running to make sure the water is coming out. On a humid day the condensate may actually pour out in a constant trickle. If it drains into the vent stack, it may be difficult to tell how well it's draining. If you can access the attic air handler, pull off an access panel near the evaporator coil. You'll know where the evaporator coil is by where the freon supply (small line - high pressure) and return (larger diameter line - low pressure) enter and exit the air handler. Check the condensate drain tray for debris and/or mold. What often happens is the drain tray is level which prevents the condensate from totally draining off in between cooling cycles. Over time, mold can start growing in the tray. Once that happens it's just a matter of time until the condensate drain clogs up with the mold. The drain tray should have a slight slope to it so the condensate totally drains out the drain line during cooling cycles. This helps prevent the growth of mold. Sorry this is so long - hope it helps with your troubleshooting.

If the evaporator coil (the coil in the air handler) is frozen suggest checking the condensate drain. If it is very humid and/or there is a partial clog in the drain the condensate water may pool up in the condensate tray. Once the water touches the cold coil, it will immediately start to freeze up. It does not take long for the coil to become a block of ice and totally restrict the air flow. Same thing can happen to a car AC system too. Most attic units have 2 preventive measures that help protect against damage from a clogged condensate drain. By code newer attic units must have a high water alarm and a high water AC shutoff float switch that will shut off the air handler when the condensate tray fills up. Older systems may not have this safety cutoff. If your's doesn't, they are typically not complicated to install as a DIY weekend project. The concept of an AC having a slight leak is largely a myth. If there is even the slightest leak in the system, it is typically at the high side filler port next to the outside compressor/condenser unit. Once they start leaking even the slightest amount, the pressures will drop and the system will quickly trip the pressure shut off switch to save the compressor. Unfortunately, there are many less than scrupulous HVAC technicians out there that make a killing from "topping your freon off". They hook up a gauge set, say it is low, connect the R-421 and appear to be adding freon, but they aren't. With R-22 no longer available, even the replacement freon R-421A is outrageously expensive. But to completely fill a system with R-421A is expensive (can easily be $500-$1000 for the freon alone). R-421A is the one-for-one replacement for R-22, but before making the switch from R-22 to R-421 the system should be evacuated first by pulling a vacuum for an hour or two. Then leak tested to make sure the vacuum holds. If the vacuum does not hold solid for an hour or so, there is a leak somewhere.

Have a bunch of locust trees on our property and can relate. They are tough as nails, but brittle too and have a tendency to snap off. Lost two trees to high winds during a "rotation event" that came through Oakton/Vienna about 8 years ago. Snapped off both trunks about 10 feet above the ground. Each trunk was about 20" in diameter. Watched it happen from our front door about 50 yards away. On the good side, locust is one of the few woods that can be direct buried in the ground and is nearly impervious to insects. It splits easy and burns great if you happen to have a wood burning fireplace.

Coming down in buckets here NW of Vienna. .80+ in last 15 mins. Round one around 1730 was "fun". Torrential rain, wind and then hail from the cell that popped up on Reston and headed east. Was outside transplanting when it hit.

That was it. Just far enough away the rain and low cloud deck obscured the flash. The "bang" was pretty intense. What app are you using? I check this one and it didn't show any lightening strike IVO our area at that time. http://www.lightningmaps.org/?lang=en

Had an extremely loud crack of thunder IVO our house NW of Vienna about 5 mins ago. Much louder than a normal "crack" of thunder associated with a nearby lightening strike. Wonder if there's a temp inversion aloft with the inbound cell that amplified the sound? The stranger thing was we didn't detect any flash. Wasn't a transformer breaker popping - had a long echo to it. Really odd.

Agree. If the NWS radar forecast is even close to correct, the eastern part of the DELMARVA from Richmond east is going to get nailed this evening. It shows the cells developing near the VA/NC border are going to really get going the next couple of hours.

30 for the low here at 05:11 NW of Vienna. Up to a balmy 33 now.

The effects of the solar radiation with the increased sun angle are in full force on the 50x70 asphalt parking pad next to our house near Vienna. Plowed the 2" of snow and slush off this morning so it wouldn't free up tonight. The entire area has stayed wet ever since even with temps hovering around 24/25. No stickage at all with the latest band that went through.

First flakes now in Vienna - 33F - down from 39 at 0610.

Pingers here in Vienna - 34F Down from 39 an hour ago...

Think something is wrong with your thermometer. We're at 36F here in Vienna (dropped 3F in 20 mins) and you gotta be colder out there. Enjoy the snow.

Please keep the PBP coming!!!

Yup - I certainly didn't click anywhere in the body of the email. The sender's email name and domain appear legit... but it has a .org extension instead of .cn Dunno why they zeroed in on me too. Strange.

Randy/all, Anyone else receive an email about registering the americanwx domain in China? Below is the text of the email I just received... ----- Begin Text -------- (Please kindly forward this to your CEO, because this is urgent. If you believe this has been sent to you in error, please ignore it. Thanks) Dear CEO, We are the domain name registration service company in Shanghai, China. On February 18, 2022, we received an application from Hongxiang Ltd requested "americanwx" as their internet keyword and China (CN) domain names (americanwx.cn, americanwx.com.cn, americanwx.net.cn, americanwx.org.cn). But after checking it, we find this name conflict with your company name or trademark. In order to deal with this matter better, it's necessary to send email to you and confirm whether this company is your distributor or business partner in China? Best Regards Peter Liu | Service & Operations Manager China Registry (Head Office) Tel: +86-2161918696 Fax: +86-2161918697 Mob: +86-13816428671 6012, Xingdi Building, No. 1698 Yishan Road, Shanghai 201103, China ----- End Text --------