ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Monday, March 18, 1996 TAG: 9603180086
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: ABINGDON
SOURCE: Associated Press
GREMLINS? A GHOST IN THE MACHINE? Officials don't understand the strange currents coming from a Washington County home.
Mysterious electrical surges are making a Washington County couple's dream home a big nightmare.
For nearly two years, some unknown force has been causing power surges through Charles and Sandy Rowe's cedar-trimmed home. Sudden fluctuations in the electric current have literally fried the circuit boards in two stoves, burned out the motors in a washer, a dryer and a refrigerator, fused the circuitry in their VCR and ruined countless small appliances.
The Rowes have replaced burned-out wall switches and electrical outlets. Light bulbs buzz, pop and turn gray with annoying frequency. Sometimes every digital clock in the house is blinking ``12:00'' when they come home from work - a sure sign that the current has gone haywire again.
Sandy Rowe said she's living in fear that the house they built five years ago will some day burn to the ground in an electrical fire.
``One time we were eating dinner, and smoke and sparks started flying from the ceiling,'' she said. ``It was the motor in the ceiling fan. It had burned up from the surges.''
Even specialists with American Electric Power are unable to figure it out.
But the Rowes know this much: The mysterious power surges are very real and very costly - they've spent about $3,500 to replace all of their major appliances and the melted circuitry inside. It's all the more frustrating, they say, because trained electricians have checked every wire and switchbox in the house, only to walk away scratching their heads.
Charles Rowe said the problem started soon after a May 1993 storm when lightning blasted a transformer on the pole near their house.
The surges burned out little things at first - alarm clocks, curling irons, many light bulbs.
Within months after the lightning blast, the problems increased. Their computerized stove shut down one day in a puff of acrid smoke. A $400 circuit board that was charred from the power surges had to be replaced. The same thing happened twice more - another $800 - then last fall they gave up and bought another stove. The circuitry in the new appliance melted three months later.
Different electricians have checked the house several times. AEP administrators said their lines and equipment also have been thoroughly tested.
Utility workers have hooked them up to a different power line, and a part on the transformer was replaced months ago, which did almost nothing to improve the situation.
Neighbors in Dentons Valley and nearby Alvarado also deal with power surges from time to time, the Rowes said, but nothing that could compare with the frequency and ferocity of their problem.
AEP administrators say the utility will keep trying to figure out the problem.
``We still have not been able to identify whether the problem is on our side or their side of the meter,'' said AEP district manager Dan Adams. ``Once you determine the problem, then you've got to determine the liability.''
LENGTH: Medium: 65 linesby CNB