Showing posts with label Chaos Monkey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Chaos Monkey. Show all posts

Friday, August 19, 2011

Followup: Chaos Monkey rolls: Random mains faiure

I'm told that the fuses are OK, but that a non-describable part of the fusebox may need replacing. The building superintendent has been notified and will hopefully come around to fix the problem before something catches fire.

Of note, almost everything structural or decorative is made of metal or concrete. I think the walls and celling are coated in asbestos (sealed under paint) as insulation. The most flammable item near electricity are the well varnished/laminated wooden kitchen cabinets (fire would have to clear 10 feet of open floor to get to my wardrobe).

Monday, August 15, 2011

Chaos Monkey rolls: Random mains faiure

The apartment is protected by 4 old-school ceramic fuses. One for a 20 amp circuit, and three 10 amp circuits. Visual guesses of the circuit-to-fuse relationships suggests: Fridge, microwave, electric range, dish washer, and kitchen lights on the 20 amp fuse; bathroom and/or bedroom on one 10 amp fuse; the cluster of eight outlets in the living room corner on one 10 amp fuse; and the two linked sets of two outlets on the far wall on the final 10 amp fuse.

Problem: The outlets on the far wall no longer work, and only those outlets. Nothing has been plugged into them for nearly two weeks, and I've not changed the state of any of the apparent in-wall light switches, so I have no idea what caused the state change on that circuit. All the fuses in the 1950s-era fuse box are visually identical; and the fusebox makes noises whenever power consumption increases (fridge or microwave kicks in; running Windows in a VM...). It's possible that the nearby kitchen is serviced by two circuits, with the four failed outlets hanging as an extension, but all the kitchen outlets work.