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Do’s and don’ts lest your power goes haywire
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Power fluctuation can snap life out of your valuable gadgets, writes Swathi. V
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— Photo: K. Bhagya Prakash
Cascading effect: Spells of lightning can cause havoc to power transmission which in turn can wreck household electric gadgets.
It takes years of toil to accumulate wealth but only a flash of power fluctuation to wipe everything out. The recent incident at Vidyanagar where high tension conductor came into contact with phase wire left many a resident shell shocked and seething with anger.
Fuses were blown, picture tubes were scorched and motors of televisions, desktops and washing machines burnt out, forcing the authorities to initiate a probe into the incident.
Later, it was discovered that it was all due to the 30-year-old power conductor which gave in due to ageing. Whatever it be, one cannot be prepared to lose valuable belongings for reasons beyond one’s control.
Preparing for any power eventuality is the only alternative.
Earthing
“Provision of earthing is very important at all power outlets during construction of a house.
Many people do not take care to install proper earthing for their power outlets. Thereby they expose the building to all kinds of power hazards,” says an assistant engineer with Andhra Pradesh CPDCL.
High voltage of power may have different reasons beginning from faulty connections, carbon accumulation on service wires, sagging HT lines, or jumper cuts.
Some times, the fault may originate at the distribution transformer itself due to the rusting of the link with the neutral wire.
“Using only wires and appliances with ISI certification will go a long way in saving the equipment from power mishaps.
Substandard wiring may get damaged even during installation if the insulation breaks open during the winding.
It will result in power leakages which may go undetected unless one keeps tag of metre reading,” he says.
Stabilising factor
Using power stabilisers with expensive equipment will reduce the damage to some extent.
Equipped with tiny transformers, a stabiliser will minimise the loss by either stepping up or stepping down the voltage as the case may be.
An air-conditioner may require a 4,000 watt stabiliser while a refrigerator or a television may do with much lesser capacity.
They are available at costs ranging from Rs. 200 to Rs. 2,300.
Another safer option is to install mini circuit breakers at every point of power supply. MCBs will trip down the power supply as and when high voltage hits the point.
Available in capacities ranging from 10 amps to 60 amps, they can be installed at all stages from transformers to the equipment in question. They are much cheaper than the stabilisers and are available at prices ranging from Rs.50 to Rs.100.
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