House breakers tripping in a storm...

[A930Rocket]

What causes multiple homes in one neighborhood to trip the breakers? It’s the only neighborhood that does it and I’ve never seen it before. It’s not every breaker, but 3-4 every time. HVAC thermostats, appliance clocks, etc. have to be reset.

I’m also getting complaints about lights flickering every so often.

[fanaudical]

Ground fault caused by rain water?

[dad911]

Bad neutral or bad transformer connection. Power company problem.

Lights flickering?

[Crowbob]

Leaky Transformer was my first guess.

Flickering lights is usually a switching problem.

[A930Rocket]

Good ideas. Thanks.

Would the arc fault and/or GFCI breakers be another reason. It’s strange that it’s just this one neighborhood.

Next time, I need to count and list what breakers trip in each home to see if there is a common denominator.

[p911dad]

We had the same issue. Duke Energy finally fixed it by replacing a transformer, after years of complaints.

[oldE]

"House Breakers tripping in a storm"

I don't know where my head was at this morning when I read this, but the first images that came to mind were burglars getting high during inclement weather.

Please return to scheduled programming.
Best
Les

[dad911]

I suspect an issue with the neutral line, possibly corroded connection, that worsens with a storm. That will 'unbalance the load' causing a higher voltage on 1 leg, lower on the other. A simplified explanation is they provide approximately 230 V to a house, neutral is in between, 115+115 = 230. Neutral keeps it balanced. If the neutral has resistance, there will be a voltage 'drop' depending on current drawn, but the 230(ish) won't change. could end up with 130 + 100 = 230. I think another user here had the same problem, maybe Baz?

My son had that issue, lights flickering, sometimes bright and burning out. We could actually measure higher voltages on 1 leg of the power. Power company finally sent someone out and they found a bad neutral outside.

[billybek]

Breakers in the tripped position needing to be reset?

I would guess low voltage.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by A930Rocket

What causes multiple homes in one neighborhood to trip the breakers?

Originally Posted by dad911

Bad neutral or bad transformer connection. Power company problem.

This.
Low power can nuke home appliances like fridges A/C etc at your own expense.
Contact your neighbors and get some collective evidence. There may be trees which need trimng as well. Document.
Write a certified letter to the power company demanding immediate repairs.

There were some bad transformers around here which buzzed loudly until they broke. Something blew up at a neabye substation which sounded like a distant bomb and everyone lost power during one storm. They finally fixed most of it, but we had sketchy power for a while as well.

[3rd_gear_Ted]

Here in earthquake country, after they occur you get low voltage.
I always disconnect my home's power for a bit and monitor the voltage.
The Big Bear quake damaged a lot of appliances in our neighborhood.

[Paul T]

Here in my part of PA power delivery is horrible. Incoming voltage fluctuates wildly. We had a storm last week and lost power - flipped multiple breakers, including 2 220v breakers for my well pumps. When I flipped them back on, one well pump controller immediately fried (sparks flew across basement) - the other one I saw a bright flash but it's still working. This is not the first time this has happened....seems like just prior to power going out there is often a surge that gets trapped? 2 years ago I lost both controllers, a range hood and a treadmill. Same scenario each time...flipping breakers back on seemed to release a "surge" that immediately fried whatever was on that circuit. This time it cost me one well controller and a dishwasher. Getting old! And, I have whole house surge protectors on the breaker box as well as lightning suppression and somehow this still happens.

[john70t]

Originally Posted by Paul T

And, I have whole house surge protectors on the breaker box as well as lightning suppression and somehow this still happens.

Do those have capacitors in them? That might be the problem. IDK.

After black/brown outs wait half an hour for the grid to stabilize before turning stuff back on, I've been told.
Start with expendable lights first.

[Paul T]

Originally Posted by john70t

Do those have capacitors in them? That might be the problem. IDK.

After black/brown outs wait half an hour for the grid to stabilize before turning stuff back on, I've been told.
Start with expendable lights first.

I’m not sure, but waiting is probably good advice. The well pump controllers I’m sure have large capacitors.