OK, YOU brought it up, so start a new thread on a slow day, and tell us the story.

yes you were getting way too high of a voltage fred and everybody is right about it blowing stuff out. i too have high readings, but mine are more borderline high with it floating in and around 125vac/250vac. there was a point long ago that it was at 129vac/258vac here and i saw my heating element in my electric dryer keep blowing out after a few months of use each time. i got a new dryer since then and voltages have dropped, but even i should complain with it around 125/250v. do note that i am the last on the line for this particular transformer so others are seeing voltages higher than me. this i also suspect is done deliberately by the utilities at times because this ups the power used by the customer for the same appliances being used. more power being used equates to you paying them more money.

I thought it was done to prevent brownout "sag", where motor loads, in an under voltage condition, start to really draw power in a disproportionate manner. This excess draw exacerbates the brownout....
Or else they are just idiots, and can't set a transformer tap. I would expect to see incandescent light bulbs popping before blowing out heater elements.
It's easy to get the "populace" to use more juice, cut back on conservation advertising.

I'm in Neils thought on this one ...

Most high-wattage devices, like water heaters, dryers are purely resistave and consumption is proportial to the voltage. Bump up the grid 5%, 5% more sales without your customer even knowing about it. This time of year is the "lean" season, good time to fatten up the pockets, come high demand time, watch the grid drop to low 220's

As to motor-turn on, that is handle at the motor's start capacitor

Today the VAC dropped to 248 - 250. I finally figured out why my Garage Door Opener lights kept blowing after a week or so.

My Solar Designer said at 250VAC should be ok. Im thinking that parts are on order and that maybe next week I should see it drop even more.

If it climbs back up to 255, I will call them again. Will keep an eye on it this week.


Fred

Sounds like they are playing the catch me if you can game ... Mine is 240 vac, day in and day out.

Its Tuesday and they were able to lower the VAC alittle, Im currently at 248 - 249 VAC, So I made a called to SDG&E Emergency line, after explaining my situation and the many light blubs that popped already. The rep looked into the matter and found that there is a Pending work order still in place. She is going to contact me with a specific date.

Sounds like they have a regulator or parts on order to fix this problem.

Fred

You have learned well my grass-hopper

Thanks, Great Solar website.


Fred

i thought you guys should know that i finally emailed my electric company several days ago and complained of my consistant high voltage readings. well they sent somebody out and surprized me. he told me that less than or equal to 126vac per leg is fine. i told him that i could've been told that by email as i've not gotten readings higher than 126vac. he said he'd measure it with my electric meter pulled and low and behold he got about 127.4vac on each leg and called it in. my voltage is now higher than yours fred as 127.4x2=254.8vac. he told me it should be lower by this evening and it is now the following morning. i didn't check it yet, but i will. it pays to complain.
fred,
here is more in depth for an example of what that higher voltage means. for our example we will use a heating element with a resistance of 10ohms. nominal voltage is supposed to be 117vac, but we'll take it to 120vac as many appliances are now rated at that. using ohm's law of I=E/R we see that 120/10=12amps. figuring for power used by the formula W=VxA, 120x12=1,440watts. now let's redo this for the voltage the electric serviceman measured for me of 127.4vac. 127.4/10=12.74amps. for the power it is now 127.4x12.74=1,623watts for that same appliance. that is 183watts extra it is drawing and if done long term and on many lights and other appliances that are being run, big $ for them at your (mine) expense. what's worse is those appliances will have shorter lifespans as you noticed with your light blubs. say you have only 2 appliances affected for 8hrs each day or the total sum of all of the items in your home raised up artificially by this and this would be a conservative figure i assure you, but is fine as an example. that is 183x2x8=2,928watts. over a month(30days) this is now 87,840watts or roughly another 88kwhs at whatever rate they charge you for a kwh. even at 10 cents a kwh that's another $8.80 you pay them and multiply that by the number of households they are ripping off and they've struck gold.
pretty slick aren't they? years ago it was 110vac that was considered the standard voltage and they kept creeping it up taking advantage of a higher voltage to rip off their customers all the while raising the rates on the kwh you use so they get you coming and going so to speak. as you can see they have been doing this for many years and i'm sure in the years to come they will convince state authorities to raise the voltages they would be allowed to put upon their customers so as to "serve the customers better". it is a snow job and they could easily get it by stating that it would help deliver power to outer service areas easier with less stress on the grid as higher voltages overcome resistive losses better. nominal voltage went from 110v to 115v to 117v to 120v and it is probably going to 125v pretty soon if it isn't already. think about it, an appliance made in the fifties would have a very short lifespan today because of utility company greed and not because of the appliance being old. the voltage is up about 15v from back then and dividing by the resistance ups the current too. the 2 multiplied together shows a consumption that is up by leaps and bounds causing the appliance to dissipate that extra power in the form of heat. that's what usually destroys them is that extra heat it was never made to handle in addition to the heat it was meant to handle. make the comparrison for that 10ohm heating element as it would've looked in the fifties. 110/10=11amps. 11x110=1,210watts or 413watts less than what it would draw at my home with the 127.4vac. even well made appliances of yesteryear in new condition can't last long on the grid today with having to dissipate 25% more power than back then so you are getting stuck with not only high electric bills, but also the cost of premature appliance replacements.