So I was back in the nursery last night doing the new daddy thing and I hear a strange sound and see a flash of light from down the hall. I'm thinking a transformer blew across the way or something but we still had our power, so I walked out onto the back deck and looked around...as far as I could tell none of my neighbors had lost their power either.

So as I'm walking back down the hall to the nursery I look into our office, which is where my vinotemp is, and the display is dark. I hit the light button--nothing. I try to adjust the temp up or down--nothing. Damn...the thing died on me, and I've only had it for about six months. So I kick the computer fans on to at least keep the air moving inside while I try to see if it has a reset button or circuit breaker that might have tripped. Can't figure it out--it's dead. I have the vinotemp and numerous other things plugged into a surge protector, everything else is working just fine so it's obviously not the electric outlet. Still dead.

So this morning I check it to see what the temperatue and humidity is doing and I don't see a blue glow inside, which tells me the computer fans are now not running either. I chalk that up to the electronic timer and figure that they are only going to stay on a limited amount of time. So I unplug the fans from the timer and plug them into the surge protector. Nothing happens...now my fans are dead too.

Now this makes no damn sense so I unplug the timer from the wall and plug my fans directly into the outlet. The blue lights are on. Cool. I know my fans aren't shot. So I now take the vinotemp plug from the surge protector and plug it into the wall and..VOILA!!! Compressor kicks on, display lights up, and we're back in business. YES!!!!

As it turns out, one whole side bank of plugs on the surge protector is blown and the other side bank of plugs works fine, so at first glance everything seemed normal because the only thing plugged into the bad bank was the vinotemp. So the flash of light I saw and the noise I heard was the surge protector half blowing up. Never seen that happen before. Anyway, my babies are now resting again at the proper temperature and humidity.

Now I just need to go finish changing that diaper...
:-)
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haha...I like the ending..:-)
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Your diaper or the baby's? :-)
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:-) I'm glad things turned out great for you
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close call......
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Check your surge protector. Good quality ones (usually $100+) have a replaceable fuse in addition to the magnetic trip so that when it stops a surge, you can replace the fuse and you're back in business.


Quick word of advice for people. Buy good quality surge protectors for your electronics. Cheap ones are only good for one surge, or maybe two to three minor blips before the magnetic trip switch is ruined and won't function.

Check Consumer Reports or check around online for purchase information.

I have my electronics all plugged into UPS boxes, which have built in surge protection (the very best kind too), and only cost about $200 each. These are well worth owning 2-3 of for your computers, TV's (hurricane hits? A UPS can charge about 100 AA-D cell batteries before depleting the internal charge!), etc etc.
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The baby's. I'm not quite as fussy as they are when my diaper is soiled. Heck, on those cold nights a little extra warmth down below goes a long way.

And If I start to get a little rash...no problem.

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:-):-)
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Holy hell! Too much information :-)
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Hahhaa, see us guys in Louisiana do something right!
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It's amazing the things a daddy can learn in just two weeks.
:-)
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Phew. That would freak me out too. Glad it was just the surge protector and not the Vino.
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Good advice Silound. Actually, we have everything else in the office plugged into two of them. Just not the devices that go into this particular outlet. I'm thinking I'll get another one now.
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