About 6:15 a.m. today (now 5:15 on the reset clocks) I was near the doorway to the bathroom and the only light on in the house. I heard a small "thunk" sound and saw a bit more light than normal. About a minute or two later it happened again. As I started walking through the house that strange something happened again but it seemed to come from outside this time. Opened the door on the south side of the house to stare out into the dark and pea soup fog. A few minutes later there was a distinct "pop" and a broad swath of light that seemed to be near the southeast corner of the house. Pulled on some clothes and flip flops and headed outside to discover the source. When it finally happened again it seemed to have been more of a flash off the southwest corner of the house. My imagination was running wild like when TDD sees a gyrocopter. All was still. No traffic. No activity that I could discern from the direction of either neighbor's house. Finally moved to a point about 30 feet south of the house and stared off over the roof towards the north. A couple of minutes later there was a very loud pop and sizzle, a brilliant flash and a lingering area of low level redness and sparking that had to match up with the top of the electric meter pole serving our house. By this time, my lovely bride had started to find me. I met her at the door with instructions to call the rural electric cooperative emergency number. then headed through the dark and fog to attempt to throw the circuit breakers below the meter before another event occurred. Once that was accomplished the problem stopped. Hopped in a vehicle and moved to shine the lights on the meter pole which is within two feet of the north side of the metal roof. The fog and reflections off the metal roof had caused the variations in where the flashing seemed to occur. The weatherhood is high enough that it was visible from my vantage point on the opposite side of the house.
Over an hour later a service truck appeared. The electric worker discovered quickly that the main lines headed from the weatherhood on the meter pole to the weatherhood on the mast above the entrance directly above the main breaker box in the house were touching. This was in the tight drip loop, not the twenty foot run to the mast. How these wires became so close is a mystery There was a three-inch stretch of black on each revealing the bare conductors.
We feel lucky to have been at home to discover the problem before the danger escalated.
Now, following on from your dog collar post which was hilarious, I assume this to be true. And mighty unpleasant.
Do you have mains supply fuses?
I know it depends which side of the fault are the fuses, but that sounds like something similar here would trip the fuses
Ugh, that story will not help me sleep tonight. Thank God you woke up when ya did. Steve
Ok, I have a story for you,
Yesterday morning, opening day of deer season, I left early to go hunting about 10 miles away. I saw 2 skunks along the way. Got there about an hour before daylight. It was about 7:25 before I could see to tell if a buck had a spread wide enough to be legal.
At 7:30 my wife calls. She had let the dogs out before daylight and the two puppy's got after something. She went out to investigate and she saw the skunk about the same time it sprayed the little three legged pit bull. My wife got the dogs away and penned them up. The older dogs were not involved so they went in the house. She found the skunk in the old shed, three sides, a roof, and a dirt floor, and the skunk was trying to dig a hole. Susan called me needing help so my 5 minutes of hunting was done.
When I got home, Susan was about 25 feet from the shed with a Tshirt, shorts, flipflops, and her .357 mag sitting on a bucket with the handgun and a flashlight pointed toward the shed where the skunk was hiding behind several buckets and three rusty 30lb propane bottles. About 5 feet away from them was a shop heater with about 5 gallons of diesel in it.
I got two of the propane bottles out and could see the skunk between the third bottle, a bucket, and a plywood box from years ago. I knew if I moved the third bottle that the skunk would hide again or come at us. I got my shotgun with birdshot, stuck the barrel over the last bottle about 2 inches away from the bottle but angling away from it and shot the skunk. The rest of the morning was spent scrubbing dogs.
JaRo, post: 454117, member: 292 wrote: Ok, I have a story for you,
Yesterday morning, opening day of deer season, I left early to go hunting about 10 miles away. I saw 2 skunks along the way. Got there about an hour before daylight. It was about 7:25 before I could see to tell if a buck had a spread wide enough to be legal.
At 7:30 my wife calls. She had let the dogs out before daylight and the two puppy's got after something. She went out to investigate and she saw the skunk about the same time it sprayed the little three legged pit bull. My wife got the dogs away and penned them up. The older dogs were not involved so they went in the house. She found the skunk in the old shed, three sides, a roof, and a dirt floor, and the skunk was trying to dig a hole. Susan called me needing help so my 5 minutes of hunting was done.
When I got home, Susan was about 25 feet from the shed with a Tshirt, shorts, flipflops, and her .357 mag sitting on a bucket with the handgun and a flashlight pointed toward the shed where the skunk was hiding behind several buckets and three rusty 30lb propane bottles. About 5 feet away from them was a shop heater with about 5 gallons of diesel in it.
I got two of the propane bottles out and could see the skunk between the third bottle, a bucket, and a plywood box from years ago. I knew if I moved the third bottle that the skunk would hide again or come at us. I got my shotgun with birdshot, stuck the barrel over the last bottle about 2 inches away from the bottle but angling away from it and shot the skunk. The rest of the morning was spent scrubbing dogs.
Shoulda called Turtle Man.
[MEDIA=youtube]YYEQw34eHtc[/MEDIA]
Also could use his skunk smell removal recipe.
[MEDIA=youtube]5cAVTvc89ME[/MEDIA]
I have said it before I'll Say it again, your wife is the man!
eddycreek, post: 454123, member: 501 wrote: Shoulda called Turtle Man.
[MEDIA=youtube]YYEQw34eHtc[/MEDIA]
Also could use his skunk smell removal recipe.
[MEDIA=youtube]5cAVTvc89ME[/MEDIA]
Turtle man has nothing on Jaro' s wife!
[USER=50]@Holy Cow[/USER]
Not the time for fireworks, glad you avoided the worst end for that event
[USER=292]@JaRo[/USER]
Mix together: 1 quart of 3-percent hydrogen peroxide (available at any pharmacy) 1/4 cup baking soda. 1 teaspoon Dawn dishwashing soap is the basic ratio of the solution.
Multiply as needed to have an ample supply for size of dog, yourself and others as needed.
A Harris, post: 454139, member: 81 wrote: [USER=50]@Holy Cow[/USER]
Not the time for fireworks, glad you avoided the worst end for that event[USER=292]@JaRo[/USER]
Mix together: 1 quart of 3-percent hydrogen peroxide (available at any pharmacy) 1/4 cup baking soda. 1 teaspoon Dawn dishwashing soap is the basic ratio of the solution.
Multiply as needed to have an ample supply for size of dog, yourself and others as needed.
This is a good recipe and it works. I'm not real happy that I can say that, but it is from the voice of experience. My recipe called for about three times that much Dawn...but I don't guess it's all that big of a deal.
Save your tomato juice for bloody marys. 😉
[USER=292]@JaRo[/USER]
Mix together: 1 quart of 3-percent hydrogen peroxide (available at any pharmacy) 1/4 cup baking soda. 1 teaspoon Dawn dishwashing soap is the basic ratio of the solution.
Multiply as needed to have an ample supply for size of dog, yourself and others as needed.
We did that. I wasn't sure about using it on the dogs but we used it on the step and rugs where the dogs were trying to get in the house and on the ground where the skunk sprayed.
The dogs were bathed with this:
http://www.perfectlyposh.com/gender-bender/CH1407.html?cgid=products
with activated charcoal.
