Surges...
I have assumed (rightly or wrongly) that when the power comes back on after an outage that there is, or might be a surge. Anyone know if this is true? Since when the power goes out, it often comes right back on in less than a minute. I used to run to unplug the HT surge protector, which all gear is plugged into. Now I just run for the main circuit breaker in the house, to shut it off. Though I work from home mostly, I realize I surely will not be able to catch this a good percentage of the time, but it makes me 'feel' better when I can do it. Of course, often times power comes back in a few seconds before I can get to the breaker.
I guess I am asking if, when the utility company turns the power back on after an outage, is there a surge? Am I correct to assume there is no surge when I simply turn on the main breaker. That would just be like turning on a light switch... no current/current, correct?
Brown outs...
This is the other reason I shut the breaker off because motors, like the refrigerator to not do well on low voltage. I would think electronic devices have circuits that shut down when voltage is out of spec (high or low). Either way, if electronic devices are OFF, they should not be affected by surges OR low voltage, I'd guess. But what about AVRs, cable boxes, etc that are partially powered in standby mode?
Good discussion of current as your friend and possible foe.
