We just returned from a 10-day trip to Florida and discovered the power had gone out at least once in our absence. Fortunately I had shut everything in the audio system down via the back panel switches before we left, including the power conditioner. Besides being frequent (and usually lacking a discernible cause of any kind), the problem with our outages is that they flicker on and off very rapidly for a half-second or so before finally shutting down. Even with a whole-house surge protector, in the past weâve had to replace fried control panels on our well pump controller and my wifeâs electronic sewing machine. No one at the power utility can give us a reason for the outages, and in fact they act like they donât want to hear about it (imagine my surprise).
We get âbrownâ electrical returns when there is a prolonged power outage here. About four years ago, after a seven day outage, we lost our well pump itself when the power returned. Iâve learned to turn that ciruit off when the power goes out. Recently while we were away for a day visiting some of my in-laws we lost power and it returned while we were away as well, and I lost my Oppo UDP-205. Sigh. I got better sound replacing it with a used NAD M-51 and a Sony Blu-ray player, and at a cheaper cost, but. . . sigh.
I feel your pain.
Did you try unplugging the Oppo, waiting a few seconds, and then plugging it back in before trying to power it up again? I know that with my Oppo 105D sometimes when I lose power simply trying to switch it back on doesnât work. I have to actually unplug it, then plug it in again before I can power it on.
Oh I tried a lot of things. It will power up. At first only a few functions did not work. Within three days it was just âonâ and nothing functioned. Sigh. I have it standing next to a cabinet now.
The repeated short cycle power outages are likely due to tree branches or squirrels/racoons contacting local power distribution lines. The line protection scheme detects the fault and cycles quickly up to three times before resulting in complete isolation. The three cycles provides for a means for the power surge to clear the fault. My guess is local tree trimming in your area along the distribution right of way needs attention. Your utility knows this, and to be honest the system is operating as designed. You could call them out on tree trimming, good luck with that.
Both causes are considered acts of God, but if tree trimming is deficient you could file a complaint to the Indiana Power Authority Regulator. Just mentioning that in Illinois or Wisconsin tends to get results.
BTW, when gone for an extended period I unplug my gear. Just returned from Florida myself.
You may well be right, but this has been going on for as long as weâve been in this house - 20 years this May. So if the utility is aware, they either donât care, or are phenomenally slow to act.
They believe they are within their allowable service tolerances, and circumstances beyond their conntrol as in an act of God. Many cut corners by limiting tree trimming. Off the top of my head Ohioâs First Energy is the best example of pushing limits regarding tree trimming.