So, my computer died. Sorry friends.

[logoutzero]

@Jcakes:

We call those Ground Fault Circuit Interrupt here in the States, and yes, while my house does have those, the problem is, the flow of current has to get all the way back to it before it can realize "Uh oh, something is wrong, I better trip!" This really was some sort of freak incident, because my XBox 360 got fried, and it was plugged into a surge protector!

Also, I am on the lookout for a good sale on a power supply. I can't afford to spend any extra money over the next 2 months, until we've had a chance to recover from the 6-12 weeks my wife has to take off work. If I can find a decent one for under $15, I will probably get it, and deal with the consequences... I do, however, have a very good feeling that only the power supply is fried.

@Drystan:

Yep, it was pretty scary. My son cried. It was slightly comical, actually. He has a very vivid imagination, and his kick lately has been putting out imaginary fires, like a firefighter. So, he started yelling that there was fire, and I snapped at him saying "Not now, now is not the time for your imaginary games, go back to your room!" He started crying, and that's when I knew something was wrong. Turns out, his television set was smoking. So, I need to figure out a way to teach my 5 year old the concept of pretend, and emergencies, lol.

@Everyone:

Thanks for the well wishes with my son. I'm just glad that, as far as the doctor can tell, he's healthy and defect-free. Not that it would make a difference if he turned out to be handicapped in some way, we would still keep him and love him. But, it's always a blessing to get a healthy, and complete baby.

 

[Kestegs]

If I understand what happened.....because I've seen this before... Your neutral got jacked somehow and instead of just not working it becomes a powered feed. Normally you have an in (120v power) and an out (neutral) Now when this problem happened you had 2 in lines creating 240v power. This power doesn't have an exit like 120v so it essentially creates a collision at any kind of appliance, bulb, or anything else plugged in. Surge protection won't help this and neither will a GFCI. Basically you're screwed.

That's assuming you're in America, but it would be similar even in other countries that utilize a neutral for most things, just a different voltage number.

 

[logoutzero]

If I understand what happened.....because I've seen this before... Your neutral got jacked somehow and instead of just not working it becomes a powered feed. Normally you have an in (120v power) and an out (neutral) Now when this problem happened you had 2 in lines creating 240v power. This power doesn't have an exit like 120v so it essentially creates a collision at any kind of appliance, bulb, or anything else plugged in. Surge protection won't help this and neither will a GFCI. Basically you're screwed.

That's assuming you're in America, but it would be similar even in other countries that utilize a neutral for most things, just a different voltage number.

I'm fairly certain this is exactly what happened. The electric company has 1 week from today (technically 5 business days from Monday, but we have a holiday coming up, so meh) to get get back to me on the claim. Who knows, maybe someone there will have pity on me, and cut me a check!

Edit:
Now that I think about it, and reflect on what happened, I completely understand it!

I don't think it's that the neutral became hot, and put 120v in, but that the existing 120v in no longer had a way to flow out (like you said, the neutral line covers this) and we know, power, like water, takes the path of least resistance.

There was no way out, and it couldn't travel reverse current, so it just sprayed out at every outlet. You are correct sir, that is exactly what happened.

 

[Kestegs]

It's actually pretty common to just lose a neutral, that happens all the time in houses, but usually just in a few lights or outlets at a time. If you just lose the neutral then stuff just won't work, it won't generally cause any bad effects.

Hopefully they'll cut you a check!

 

[logoutzero]

It's actually pretty common to just lose a neutral, that happens all the time in houses, but usually just in a few lights or outlets at a time. If you just lose the neutral then stuff just won't work, it won't generally cause any bad effects.

Hopefully they'll cut you a check!

The actual neutral cable coming from the pole to the house (the "service drop") sheared completely into 2 separate pieces. Maybe there was also some exposed hotwire, and it jumped the half of the neutral wire that was still connected to the house?

Something else I am wondering, since you seem to know a little about the subject:

In my simpleton, uneducated mind, and also, assuming that the neutral wire didn't get jumped by the 120v in, shouldn't the house's overall ground be enough to prevent this from happening? Isn't that what a ground is for, to make sure that the current has some place to go?

If that is true, this leads me to assume 1 of 2 things:

A) The split piece of the neutral wire got crossed by the actual power line, and that's what fried everything (240v in, like you said), or;

B) The house isn't actually grounded at all/substandard, in which case I have a MAJOR issue to bring up with the property management company -> property owner.

But, now that I have taken the time to write that out, I realize the second point is a fallacy, because unless the neutral line got jumped by the power line, there was no complete circuit. Or, the lines did cross, and the house's ground completed the circuit? Basically, in either case, I'm guessing that the wires HAD to cross in order to bump be up to 240v in?

All in all, this is extremely frustrating, and I'm going to be quite upset if both the power company and the house owner tell me I am out of luck...

 

[Kestegs]

The actual neutral cable coming from the pole to the house (the "service drop") sheared completely into 2 separate pieces. Maybe there was also some exposed hotwire, and it jumped the half of the neutral wire that was still connected to the house?

Something else I am wondering, since you seem to know a little about the subject:

In my simpleton, uneducated mind, and also, assuming that the neutral wire didn't get jumped by the 120v in, shouldn't the house's overall ground be enough to prevent this from happening? Isn't that what a ground is for, to make sure that the current has some place to go?

If that is true, this leads me to assume 1 of 2 things:

A) The split piece of the neutral wire got crossed by the actual power line, and that's what fried everything (240v in, like you said), or;

B) The house isn't actually grounded at all/substandard, in which case I have a MAJOR issue to bring up with the property management company -> property owner.

But, now that I have taken the time to write that out, I realize the second point is a fallacy, because unless the neutral line got jumped by the power line, there was no complete circuit. Or, the lines did cross, and the house's ground completed the circuit? Basically, in either case, I'm guessing that the wires HAD to cross in order to bump be up to 240v in?

All in all, this is extremely frustrating, and I'm going to be quite upset if both the power company and the house owner tell me I am out of luck...

That's possible. I'm really not exactly sure how it happens, but it's very rare.

Well, it is my job after all

The purpose of a ground is to prevent metal from unintentionally becoming energized. You ground all metal parts of things so they can't shock you if something becomes energized that shouldn't be. This is things like the case of your fridge, the case of your computer, etc. If something is completely made of plastic then it won't need a ground usually. If what I think happened happened them the ground never came in contact with power.

The house outlets may or may not be grounded. A lot of times in older homes they will put in outlets that look like they're grounded but actually aren't.