Dead batteries cause 5-hour phone outage

Monday, July 27, 1998 | 9:04 a.m.

Emergency vehicles were stationed throughout the area that could provide radio contact during the 5-hour outage. Cellular phones weren't affected, according to Don Mello, general manager of the Churchill County Telephone System.

Customers with the 867 prefix could call each other and could reach 911. People with a 423 prefix were out of business from about 8 p.m. Friday until 1 a.m. Saturday.

"It was a major outage for us and we were sure glad it ended up the way it did," Mello said.

Mello said the company is installing a new switch that's powered by the same batteries as the existing switch. The 48-volt batteries provide a more stable power supply than household electricity, which fluctuates.

He says it may have been one of those surges that caused a failure in the new chargers that work off a 220-volt circuit to feed the batteries.

"Why they didn't work, we don't know. Somewhere along the line, the chargers quit," he said.

That left the old chargers trying to power both switches.

"There was not enough charge to pack both, so they slowly went down and down and down," he said. "I'd call it kind of a brownout."

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