Yep…   the power conditioner is … toast. …     Burnt toast.
.

.
The fuse is fine,  but the main board of the conditioner has one wire that’s melted off & burnt its covering => which means only God knows what other components on the board are also … toast  … blaming the problem on the power conditioner that’s now failed twice in three years.

And yes,  smoke generators, that no longer smoke, are not worth anything other than their weight in scrap metal.

… So,  I installed a fresh, spare power conditioner on that Family-TV-internet room’s dedicated circuit breaker,  and went merrily along my way. …

until I came down at 5:00 AM this morning (couldn’t sleep) to enjoy some internet time … to find … no power, again,  in the TV-computer-family room. … *sigh*

Yes,  the fresh spare power conditioner is ‘Out of Service’ … but at least it’s only a burnt fuse this time.

Which leave me wondering … What’s up?

My desire for an internet fix is stronger than my curiosity, so I take the power conditioner out of the dedicated family-room circuit,  plug the Family room circuit directly into CFE …. and joy of joys… the internet router ~modem comes on, lights come on … everything works fine.

I sit down to type & poke around on the laptop … and I hear a low humming sound.   ….

I realize I’ve heard that same humming sound 3 days ago … but since the neighbor built their house using our lot-line boundary wall as their home’s exterior wall … and since that side of their house has no windows – just openings to allow fresh air (and mosquitoes) to flow .. I imagined that the humming came from their ancient washing machine & even-older fridge that sit about 8 feet from the window next to my couch (where I heard the humming).

I poked around trying to find the source 3 days ago, but the humming stopped in about a minute – not enough time to find it – and it’s always easier to blame the neighbors, anyway.
.
.
As I sit this morning enjoying the neatly-recovered internet access,  answering some “How-To” question about how to paint over silicone caulk spots on a wall  (the Answer is to coat the silicone with a very thin layer of paintable acrylic caulk -hand textured to match the wall’s texture) …

the hum returns … for just 90 seconds …   and … It’s coming from right outside the family-TV-computer room window.

and I realize why I’ve burned out 2 power conditioners …

It’s my  water pump … the one that lifts water to the roof-top tank when City water pressure is too low to fill the root-top tinaco. …  It’s my water pump that’s seized-up … frozen … humming … whose thermal overload circuit shuts off the pump after 90 seconds…. until it cools off … and tries to run the pump again … to fill the roof top water tank … for dear wifey to take her morning shower…

The dratted electricians … wired the water pump … to the TV-Family room circuit … with no breaker.

It’s still dark out, so I get out the headlamp-along with screwdriversto go try to unfreeze the pump…  but … the plumbers have plumbed the pump in a big space, with just 1 inch of clearance on the back of the pump – so there’s no access to free the pump shaft… and the plumbing must be shut off & drained   … to break open the copper pipes & remove the pump … to free up the shaft … to get water up to the rooftop tank… for the wife to take her shower … and to stop burning out power conditioners.

My solution? … Cut the wires to the pump (so it doesn’t try to come back on) …  get back on the internet …. and wait till after dawn   to deal with the pump.

…. Just another early morn in Merida ….

(and yes,   that’s after 3 airconditioner failures in the year’s worst heat  of the previous 2 weeks)

😉

Time for COFFEE !

~ YIPPEEE ~

*       *       *       *

… and yes,   the water pump only runs about once a month…

*       *       *       *
Interested in solving common electricity issues … and Protecting your electronics, microwaves, etc ?   … Check out this article with lots of fun details:

https://yucalandia.com/living-in-yucatan-mexico/protecting-electronics-and-electrical-devices/

Feel free to copy while giving proper attribution: YucaLandia/Surviving Yucatan.
© Steven M. Fry