Electrically Charged Fence
08-18-2011, 10:15 PM
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Electrically Charged Fence
Got this in an email tonight, thought some of you might like to see it.
Note the small electrical arc between the chain and the pad lock;
Note the small electrical arc between the chain and the pad lock;
08-18-2011, 10:29 PM
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Doesn't surprise me at all that it was hot. The power lines around here are 13,700 volts. I am surprised that the fence wasn't melted down.
Good fuses did their job.
Good fuses did their job.
08-19-2011, 12:18 AM
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Yikes!! Thats something I would have never thought of. Madhat could have easily handed me a set of bolt cutters and said "bet you can't cut through that in under a minute"!
08-19-2011, 06:33 AM
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08-19-2011, 04:48 PM
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i dont think there are actual fuses on the line, just one the service to the house. The lines are controlled by breakers inside the substation. Those breakers are controlled by relays that are fed info from CTs(current transformers) that ratio down the current enough for the relay to sense and the relay itself will trip out the breaker. Also there are one shot schemes that if the breaker trips it will automatically reenergize the line in case it was just a tree limb that fell onto the line and it is trying to burn it off
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08-19-2011, 06:08 PM
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i dont think there are actual fuses on the line, just one the service to the house. The lines are controlled by breakers inside the substation. Those breakers are controlled by relays that are fed info from CTs(current transformers) that ratio down the current enough for the relay to sense and the relay itself will trip out the breaker. Also there are one shot schemes that if the breaker trips it will automatically reenergize the line in case it was just a tree limb that fell onto the line and it is trying to burn it off
Poles have breakers also. But they are designed to keep power running as long as possible. The switches are found on the poles, substations, periodically along transmission lines, all the way back to generation.
What may have been going on is the wire was making a poor contact. Otherwise it would have been a molten mess.
The transformers are Buck/Boost as well. I have 21KV running down my street. I've seen tree limbs fall on them and just burn until they made better contact. Then they will blow up or trip at the pole.
This high voltage stuff is fascinating sometimes. Example, 500KV transmission switches in a substation have dynamite charges in them. This is to blow open the switch and quench the arc. Trust me. . . You don't want to be near one of those when it trips.
I spent 20 years doing power distribution. As a vendor, I started to see the utility engineers taking too many safety corners. I decided it was time to bail at that point.
08-19-2011, 06:18 PM
#9
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None of you are going to comment on the obvious cooking options here. Throw some hot dogs, steaks, chicken wings or something like that on that fence. Should cook pretty quickly.
08-19-2011, 07:11 PM
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08-19-2011, 07:56 PM
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08-20-2011, 01:33 AM
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