[time-nuts] 60 Hz line quirks, anybody recognize this stuff?

[Jim Lux]

On 9/1/12 6:56 AM, Arthur Dent wrote:
>> IMO, you have an instrumentation issue. I don't think the power grid can
>> do anything like that.
>>
>> YMMV,
>>
>> -John
>
> I agree. If this was happening on the grid by the time this blip had
> traveled down the line  to you it would have been so filtered through
> transformers and other devices and you wouldn't see sharp edges
> on the waveform but see a slightly rounded distorted waveform, not
> the sharp transitions you are seeing. If it isn't your test equipment
> then it is still something local to you like a loose electrical connection
> in your house momentarily causing your voltage to drop and then
> it arcs to reconnect the power. If you use an AM radio (not use a
> radio in the A.M. ;-) ), you could hear this as static or clicks as you
> observe this waveform on the screen.
>


Do you have a triac/scr switch somewhere upstream?  Like an X-10 module 
or something?  Or a remote power controller with a solid state relay?

That sharp edged, it's probably not coming from the utility.

I don't know.. do the new fancy electric meters have a remote control 
disconnect feature in them?  I could see that being some sort of SSR.

Or an automatic transfer switch or grid-tied inverter that periodically 
interrupts the line, to detect backfeeding from the load?

Or a solar power installation with a grid-tie that's doing something 
weird.    On your neighbor's house? With a bug that shorts the line to 
neutral for a millisecond, and it pulls your voltage down too.