john in la
Well-known Member
My daughter called and woke me up about 3am this morning.
One of the smoke alarms in her mobile home had woke her up.
After getting her to calm down for a second she confirmed the fire dept was on the way.
Said she did not see any flames but the living room was full of smoke.
She did notice some sparks coming from around the TV on her way out of the house.
I instructed her to turn off the electricity at the main outside breaker and wait for the fire dept.
They found cables for the TV melted and black soot around a splitter where several cable wires hook together.
She had caught it in time before it could catch any of the surrounding things on fire.
So now I am trying to figure out how cables for a TV would spark and get hot enough to melt.
Cable TV wires do not have electricity in them.
Talking to her some more she mention the lights in the living room were going bright and dim during the storm last Tuesday.
She just attributed it too the strong winds during the storm.
So just to be safe I had her call a electrician and the cable people to have them come out and look before we turned the electricity back on.
The electrician showed up first.
He says nothing I can do that is cable wires.
She tells him about the lights going bright so he did some checking.
He finds a bad ground.
Seems from the trailer or electric pole shaking in the strong wind she had lost what the electrician called a ground.
I assume he meant neutral but he said ground.
The electricity could not find a ground so it started hunting one.
It found a ground threw the cable wires.
This melted the cable wires and ruined her TV and cable box.
So while she may be out several hundred dollars for the service call; new TV; and some cable wires.
I feel my daughter and 2 grandkids are alive this evening because of a $20 smoke alarm.
Please Please... If you do not have a smoke alarm in your house; please go buy one Now.
It may be the best $20 you have ever spent.
One of the smoke alarms in her mobile home had woke her up.
After getting her to calm down for a second she confirmed the fire dept was on the way.
Said she did not see any flames but the living room was full of smoke.
She did notice some sparks coming from around the TV on her way out of the house.
I instructed her to turn off the electricity at the main outside breaker and wait for the fire dept.
They found cables for the TV melted and black soot around a splitter where several cable wires hook together.
She had caught it in time before it could catch any of the surrounding things on fire.
So now I am trying to figure out how cables for a TV would spark and get hot enough to melt.
Cable TV wires do not have electricity in them.
Talking to her some more she mention the lights in the living room were going bright and dim during the storm last Tuesday.
She just attributed it too the strong winds during the storm.
So just to be safe I had her call a electrician and the cable people to have them come out and look before we turned the electricity back on.
The electrician showed up first.
He says nothing I can do that is cable wires.
She tells him about the lights going bright so he did some checking.
He finds a bad ground.
Seems from the trailer or electric pole shaking in the strong wind she had lost what the electrician called a ground.
I assume he meant neutral but he said ground.
The electricity could not find a ground so it started hunting one.
It found a ground threw the cable wires.
This melted the cable wires and ruined her TV and cable box.
So while she may be out several hundred dollars for the service call; new TV; and some cable wires.
I feel my daughter and 2 grandkids are alive this evening because of a $20 smoke alarm.
Please Please... If you do not have a smoke alarm in your house; please go buy one Now.
It may be the best $20 you have ever spent.