[carpenter1]

As the wind blows and you hear pounding echoes of thunder in the distance, the storm slowly fades and leaves behind it's path of broken branches, down trees and plenty of standing water.

Such is an afternoon in Sunny Florida.

This is a tale of one such storm and a pansat 2500a.

As the storm comes to an end, we peek outside to see what our thunderstorm has left behind. This afternoon was exceptionally hot and the storm was wicked.

Arriving out side we find uprooted trees littering the street along with other debris. All seemed pretty much normal for an afternoon thunderstorm. Except this afternoon, the strong straight-line winds blew over and uprooted several small trees and scattered branches. May even have been a tiny tornado. Everything appeared to be fine outside, so for now it was time to check on everything inside.
Upon arriving inside the house It was cool and very comfortable. Much more comfortable than the steamy air outside from the rain drenching the hot soil. Funny thing though, it felt really cool and comfortable, maybe even cooler than it should. We checked the thermostat and that seemed fine, but it just kept getting cooler. As we began to walk through the house we noticed the ceiling fans just racing. Spinning faster that we had ever seen! Now the lights... they just keep getting brighter and brighter. Quickly outside we run. Looking and looking, but we see no sign of anything that could be a problem. Now returning inside, still dismayed by the bright lights and speeding fans... we find our volt meter. We figure it is time to do some checking. Holy mackerel.. the voltage in the wiring was 268. The voltage was so high that it melted our meter. Immediately we shut off the breakers and pulled the main. The hunt was on. Where was the problem?
You remember our friend the thunderstorm right? Well those howling winds blew the main power supply line to the house across another. Causing the voltage to more than double. Now that we were sure of the problem we headed back inside. We unplugged everything and made the repairs. Hoping all the while that the damage to the house and appliances wouldn't be too severe.

Oh Well, so much for wishful thinking. We lost every single appliance. All had perished from the excessive voltage. The fridge, lamps, clock radios, 3 TVs, 2 DVD players, computers, hot water tank, microwave, washer, just everything. We were devastated!
Then all of a sudden... far off in the distance on the entertainment center in the bedroom a small light is glowing. We move in slowly, not being sure that perhaps maybe something was about to blow. Guess what we find.... our pansat 2500a! The pansat survived.

This is a true story.

Good ol pansat... takes a lickin and keeps on tickin.