Thursday, April 17, 2008

Power failure

Tomorrow's Saipan Tribune says Commonwealth Utilities Corporation outages have damaged five compressors in the new prison's air conditioners.

Score one for common sense. From the story:
Department of Corrections Commissioner Lino Tenorio disclosed that three air-conditioning compressors broke down in the past three months due to power fluctuations.

Tenorio said another compressor broke down last month, while the fifth one happened just two days ago.

Somebody there is not a one-trial learner. Whenever there is an outage I immediately shut off all air-cons and coolers. I know from experience that there will be surges and massive fluctuations when the power comes back. It's best to wait ten or fifteen minutes until the load settles in. If it's 4 am, so be it, I go to the businesses.

I lost a compressor. Once, because I was lazy that day. If it happened five times I'd fire myself.

But the prison's units are still in the warranty period, you might say. Maybe they're covered, if we're lucky, but it's not the manufacturer's fault.

4 comments:

glend558 said...

No manufacturer will cover daily power surges. They do make surge supressors/protectors for that reason, I installed one on my AC when the compressor went out the last time. That warranty statement was to cover someones dumb ass. This will be another major set-back to getting robbers and thieves jailed for an approprate amount of time. Just more incompetency on the part of the government.

Bruce A. Bateman said...

Solution: issue big sledge hammers...a la hard labor rock piles....have said inmates knock holes in the walls of the 14 million dollar Iron Bar Hilton allowing fresh air to circulate. Then put some strong bars in place to keep the remodeling crew inside. Do not replace the A/C. Take a page from Sheriff Joe Arpayo in Phoenix.

Lil' Hammerhead said...

Let them sweat. Just like the rest of us.

KAP said...

I would expect power problems to be specifically mentioned in the warranty. I waffled because he talks like he's expecting replacements. That would probably make it a no-profit contract, even if you assume Telesource is one of the lucky venders that gets paid on time.

Large compressors suck power like they've got an electrical tapeworm when they're turned on, so you have to supersize surge protection. Even then the cheapies won't protect you from transients. That's why you need a battery to isolate electronics.

We've just got to leverage this thing. Wayward basketball stars could serve their time here and use the court. Think of the money from their posses.