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Yea, I was thinking the same thing.

The way they write it, it sounds so blase’. “Oh, the lights went off again. What a bother.”

To someone who has seen an arc fault in a three phase system... heh. It’s a whole ‘nuther level of incompetence. For the kind of power they’ve got plumbed into that outfit, I’m sure it is an experience that could make someone lose bladder control.

We had what is (to guys like you) a very minor arc-over in an irrigation pump panel (480V, 200amps) that vaporized about a cubic centimeter of copper from the contactor points - and it blew the door off the panel and out into the field.

I used to wonder “Why did they put all the controls on the edge of the cabinet instead of on the face?” If I’d been standing in front of that panel door to bump the start switch, I’d likely have been killed by that flying door. It tore out the locks, the safety interlock on the main switch and the four hinges. 12 gauge steel. Just torn apart, no problem, no hesitation.

BTW, post-shutdown examination of the panel interior showed a rattlesnake had crawled into the cabinet and gotten across the pump-side terminals on the 200A contactor. Hit the “go” switch, the snake’s middle section vaporized, but left a plasma arc in place that vaporized the copper. He must have come in from the other end of the conduit where it went to the pump motor, and came up alongside the 4-conductor 00 aluminum cables.

As for the cooling issues - whatcha wanna bet they’re the result of some environmental push in federal regs? Remember the good ol’ days when we had mainframes on raised floors, and the air pressure under the floor helped you pick up the floor tiles? Oh, that felt good on a hot day.

I have zero technical knowledge about any of this, but every year I have outdoor, grounded and enclosed GFIs with underground wires inside conduit that are shorted out by ants. These run the pool and provide another electrical outlet for whatever near the deck. According to my electrician, the little guys love electricity and are drawn to build their nests near it.

This year’s electrical failure was due to a broken seal around the box that is connected to the pool heater. Water got inside and corroded everything. They don’t make the bubble housings in the correct size for that one.

One year, the propane pool heater exploded. Gas built up when the pilot didn’t light, but the propane was still flowing and then there must have been a spark when the switch was engaged (or something, says the ignorant lady). It blew the front panel off and scared me enough that I still turn the thing on with a 5’ stick.

Can only imagine the difference between my little glitches and something on this scale. Still, it is amusing, if it is true.