Dirty electricity

[Not that Bob 743]

4 AC fans and circuit boards have fried amongst my circle of friends and neighbors in the past 6 weeks. I have what is supposedly a whole house surge protector, but that didn't save my fan and circuit board. Is Austin going through a period of electricity fluctuations bad enough to roast things? Is there such a thing as a whole house surge protector that actually works?

I may start another thread about the idiocy of having a circuit board on a fan. On/off switch operated by points or solenoid would seem to suffice, but ohhh noooo...we gotta have a gotdam mini computer to turn on the fan.  

[TwiceHorn 32079]

Lot of lightning in your storms?  That might account for it if your power (transformers or poles) are taking strikes.

Dirty electricity can be hell on digital stuff, but won't usually roast a motor.

Fans have circuit boards now because they're multi-speed for energy efficiency and better cooling.

[luke duke 6450]

What kind of whole house surge protector do you have?

[William_Cannon 86]

What kind of whole house surge protector do you have?

Is there one you recommend?

[luke duke 6450]

Is there one you recommend?

I installed this one:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B005C5NQTA/
4 years ago based on this article:
https://www.stevejenkins.com/blog/2014/10/whats-the-best-whole-house-surge-protection/

So I guess I don’t really have a personal recommendation, but I have one to pass along. It was very easy to install on a surface mounted panel. A recessed panel would have required a little drywall work.

[CooterBrown 18288]

Electricity just went out on my street. Verified with the neighbors that theirs is out also. However, my porch light still works. What the fuck?

[Not that Bob 743]

14 hours ago, luke duke said:

What kind of whole house surge protector do you have?

I have Intermatic PanelGuard Model IG240RC. Warning lights all indicate it is working properly, but my fried AC says otherwise.

16 hours ago, TwiceHorn said:

Lot of lightning in your storms?  That might account for it if your power (transformers or poles) are taking strikes.

Dirty electricity can be hell on digital stuff, but won't usually roast a motor.

Fans have circuit boards now because they're multi-speed for energy efficiency and better cooling.

I get the variable speed thing, but it seems like that could be accomplished mechanically rather than digitally. I have a Square D box in the pump room that tells the well pump when to turn on and off. A simple set of points and two springs that essentially read the pressure. Worked for a quarter century, and would still be working if I hadn't fallen asleep and let ants get in to it. Ants got it, not a power surge. Circuit board just seems unnecessarily complicated to me....but I'm an old who actually fixed a carburetor instead of just bolting a new one on. 

[RPM 26628]

1 hour ago, CooterBrown said:

Electricity just went out on my street. Verified with the neighbors that theirs is out also. However, my porch light still works. What the fuck?

[Lobwedgephil 1146]

2 hours ago, CooterBrown said:

Electricity just went out on my street. Verified with the neighbors that theirs is out also. However, my porch light still works. What the fuck?

Natural gas.