Pentair VS Pump Died....Not Even 18 Months Old???

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rob.mwpropane said:
Fwiw, I appreciate you guys discussing this. I'm at a loss. I'm really grateful my house didn't burn down as it could of been a lot worse. I've been living with a false sense of security that this wouldn't happen (at least not as bad as it did).

The local power company offers surge protection for ~ $8/ month, but I'd really like to KNOW that it would prevent what happened before pulling the trigger.
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It does not sound like you had a surge through your main electrical feed.

Read the fine print to see who determines that a failure was caused by a power company surge.
 
Sorry guys, should have specified. I have not been in contact with the power company yet, plan to call this afternoon. When researching my power company and surge protection / liability / etc. I came across them selling a service for $8 / month. Was just throwing ideas trying to get something to stick, lol.
 
Their surge coverage is the least likely event that will damage equipment. Modern equipment is designed to handle “surges” or “voltage transients”. It is typical insurance. For the once in every 10 year probability they will pay over $1,000 to you they will collect $96/year. The odds are in their favor or they would not offer it. I always self insure for those risks.
 
ajw22 said:
Their surge coverage is the least likely event that will damage equipment. Modern equipment is designed to handle “surges” or “voltage transients”. It is typical insurance. For the once in every 10 year probability they will pay over $1,000 to you they will collect $96/year. The odds are in their favor or they would not offer it. I always self insure for those risks.
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Understood, thanks.
 
Based on what we are hearing the damage wasn’t caused by a surge entering through the power lines. I can’t speak to exactly what happened to the OP, but I can say that a whole house surge protector on the main panel is only part of a protection system. There should also be one on the pool sub panel or any other sub panels. Providing additional protection close to the protected device is important. Surges often originate within your homes electrical system. I have a 100 foot electrical run between my main panel and the pool sub panel, that can act like an antenna picking up stray current during a storm. It’s always possible that nothing would have prevented the damage. If lighting strikes your home or even near your home, all bets are off, since the ground itself can be energized. A downed high voltage line in close proximity could do something similar.
 
At 8:17am yesterday morning I received a notification that my router (Google mesh) went offline. The main router was plugged into the same power strip as the pellet stove. I didn't know it at the time, but there were 3 breakers tripped in the basement, one of which fed 100amp sub panel for the pool equipment. There were 2 breakers tripped at the pool sub panel, both the hot tub and the pump. The tub seems to be ok. My computer survived (the other breaker tripped in the house fed the PC), the routers survived. Pretty much everything in my house (that I have found thus far) survived except for the pellet stove / pool pump, both of which were running when it hit.

My main comes into the house and never does back underground. It leaves the main E box and goes about 25' through the basement then goes outside to the pool pad (on the side of the house). If it came from outside, it had to pass the SP.

I will call the power company and see if they'll tell me what happened. (I would assume that they have to if it's something I need to pass along to my ins. company if I go that route?)

Here's pictures of the pellet stove board. You can see it blew the fuse and scorched the board.
Dropbox - Power Surge - Simplify your life
 
The pellet stove was outside sitting on ground?

Interesting that the router was plugged into the same power strip as the pellet stove and survived.

If the two things that got fryed were sitting outside on the ground it indicates the zap travelled through the ground either going in or coming out of the boxes.
 
ajw22 said:
The pellet stove was outside sitting on ground?

Interesting that the router was plugged into the same power strip as the pellet stove and survived.

If the two things that got fryed were sitting outside on the ground it indicates the zap travelled through the ground either going in or coming out of the boxes.
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No Sir, pellet stove was at the opposite end of the house of the E box, it's an insert. It was not outside. The pool pump was outside, but the heater and the spa both survived.

I forgot that the electric to the spa runs underground, but the spa is ok, so I don't think that's where it originated...
 

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ajw22 said:
The pellet stove was outside sitting on ground?

Interesting that the router was plugged into the same power strip as the pellet stove and survived.

If the two things that got fryed were sitting outside on the ground it indicates the zap travelled through the ground either going in or coming out of the boxes.
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Actually Allen, the more I think about this, I think you’re on to something.

Since the pellet stove insert & the pool pump are in direct contact with the ground, may explain why those 2 pieces took a hit.

Rob, what appliances (other then the vcr) did your neighbors loose?
 
Fact is we can speculate and never know for sure what path the electrons took.

It would be interesting to hear how the power company or insurance company responds to claims.

If you want to protect your house you first have to decide what tiy are orotecting it from:

- power line surges
- lightning strikes on or near the house
- electrification of the surrounding ground
 
Arizonarob said:
Actually Allen, the more I think about this, I think you’re on to something.

Since the pellet stove insert & the pool pump are in direct contact with the ground, may explain why those 2 pieces took a hit.

Rob, what appliances (other then the vcr) did your neighbors loose?
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I don't understand what you mean by pellet stove is on the ground? It's an insert in my living room fireplace. Both the pellet stove and the pump sit on concrete. My neighbors also lost a range and a VCR. They are closer to the down tree (read below). Their appliances are both on wood and they were home when it happened. The woman said that a light in her backyard blew apart and shot glass everywhere. She was home at the time and was using the range.

Just got off the phone with the power company. Apparently a tree fell on the line at an address up the street, approx (I measured with Google maps to the address) 625' from the lines coming into my house. It did not break the line (which would have probably been better for me). It just laid on the lines until they could get it off. He said some people didn't have any power, some only had some of their house working.

What's this all mean? Should have bought a newer house with underground lines as opposed to overhead....
 
Tree laid on the power line. Electrons flowed from the wire into the tree, into the ground, and through different paths through peoples houses. What the path of least resistance is in each house depends on the construction. In your house it sounds like it may have been through the rebar in your concrete into the pump and pellet stove.

This was just an “act of god” as contracts say. Stuff happens.
 
The power company is responsible for maintaining adequate clearance around the lines. It's their job to prevent such things. It's no different than a supermarket leaving a spill on the ground for someone to slip on.

You could file a claim for damages.
 
JamesW said:
The power company is responsible for maintaining adequate clearance around the lines. It's their job to prevent such things. It's no different than a supermarket leaving a spill on the ground for someone to slip on.

You could file a claim for damages.
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Is that true?

I've already ordered the part for the pellet stove (at least the burnt board, there always could be something else), and Pentair is sending someone out (local contractor) to look at the pump. If they fix the pump, then I'm out $200 for the board.
 
It's a grey area. Maybe the power company will take responsibility and maybe they won't.

The power company is responsible for maintaining the equipment in good working order and to reduce risk as much as reasonably possible.

That includes keeping lines clear of trees, where possible.

It’s probably worth filing a claim. If they pay it, fine. If not, there’s probably nothing you can do.
 
JamesW said:
I
That includes keeping lines clear of trees, where possible.
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If the power company has a periodic tree trimming program then they are taking care of their responsibility. They are not responsible for a windstorm taking down a diseased tree.

No harm in filing a claim and seeing what the power company does.
 

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