Power loss cause

tony3619

Hey

Just a quick question....my power went off for about 3 minutes and came back on. there was no tripped switches or signs of faulty appliances. 

Would it Normally trip a switch or require me to physically turn the power back on if it was dodgy wiring etc?  Also my circuit board has 2 rings so if one was faulty the entire house wouldnt turn off. 

Sound like a power outage? 

BUFF

yes. ask your neighbours if they had similar.

grumbler

tony3619 said:

Hey

....my power went off for about 3 minutes and came back on.

...

Sound like a power outage? 

IMO, this is the only explanation if it came back on without your intervention.

fenwick458

It could be a lose connection somewhere, they can go on and off by themselves and will eventually burn out.
but first step is to ask your neighbours, if they haven't experienced a power loss (and you are on an estate or a street) then it could be a loose connection

Section62

fenwick458 said:

...but first step is to ask your neighbours, if they haven't experienced a power loss (and you are on an estate or a street) then it could be a loose connection

Although if it was a phase loss rather than full power cut then some neighbours probably won't have been affected.  The result of asking neighbours could be just as confusing.

fenwick458

it could be, but unlikely. I'm not into distribution but I'm fairly sure adjacent houses most of the time will be on the same phase

Section62

fenwick458 said:

it could be, but unlikely. I'm not into distribution but I'm fairly sure adjacent houses most of the time will be on the same phase

It depends on a lot of other factors, but if all houses are fed directly from the street main then there's usually at least an attempt to have every third house on the same phase.  Not so in the house where I'm writing this, as there's a branch off the street main serving two properties so consequently both are on the same phase.

Hence why I think the answers from asking the neighbours could be confusing.  There might or might not be a pattern where the OP lives.

Risteard

fenwick458 said:

it could be, but unlikely. I'm not into distribution but I'm fairly sure adjacent houses most of the time will be on the same phase

No. Usually neighbouring houses will be on a different phase, e.g  house 1 on L1; house 2 on L2 and house 3 on L3, with house 4 on L1. At least that's my understanding.

Woolsery

I presume you're in a built-up area where this is a rare event?.

Out here in the sticks, power outages are common. Typically they last a minute or less and one is frequently followed by a second, so we don't rush to re-program the ovens etc.

As recently as 2015 all the poles and lines near here were renewed. We were told it would result in a more reliable supply, but if anything reliability's somewhat worse.