Being a Lineman - Episode 28
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- Опубліковано 22 жов 2022
- Hey Everyone!
Highway lights were out and fed by an primary underground cable. If I had simply found the cutout open, I would have tested the cable before closing in!
Be safe out there everyone! 👊🍻
***
Keep in mind my videos are to be used as guidelines only!
There are many different ways to preform the tasks shown in this videos.
Always adhere to your own company's policies and procedures.
This work should only be preformed only by those whom are both trained and authorized to do so! ***
Huge thanks to my Patreons! 👊👊
➡ / bobsdecline
audio courtesy of:
Corncob Country by Kevin Macleod
UA-cam audio
#bobsdecline #beingalineman #lineman
Gee, I get a shout out and I am late to the video. Sorry, I was out and about this afternoon. Rupe is short for Rupert. I spent many years in the fire service and several decades in generator service so most of my education in line work is from observation. Obviously, if you see enough, you learn things. On the safety aspect, it's very similar in many other lines of work. If you are not checking, you are guessing. Look before you leap in all cases. Again, thanks for the kudos, Aaron. Glad to help explain things.
It's much appreciated Rupert! You're extremely observant and knowledgeable, I've been meaning to express my thanks in a video for a while now...Something I'm going to have to do more often. Such a great community of knowledge in the comment section. 🙏🤝
Nice shoutout!
Thanks Rupert for helping people understand things
Echoing the thanks! Super fun to read responses as a noob here. I know jack about any of this but I feel less dense by the end of a watch and then read of the comments (one of the few channels!).
16:25 That might be the most satisfying thing I've ever seen on an internet video.
I'll try and capture a similar shot while picking up an entire feeder sometime!
Shot with the highway lights coming on again is too cool
High voltage in the pouring rain. You guys are amazing. Stay safe and God bless.
Thanks Heather 🙏🤝
My thinking too the rain could have created a circuit and got him shocked a bit
These guys have it easy you should see how the phone company works! 200 volt cables and racks that aren't labeled, 60 years old, no proper grounding and covered in what can only be described as artificial bacon grease to protect the cables.
@@derekfoulk4692LOL that’s one way to describe icky-pick
total respect for the work you guys do. Me on the other hand, I don't even like changing a lightbulb. As a kid, I stuck my finger in a Christmas light socket, lit me up like a Christmas tree. So, thank you for the work you and all those like you do.
Hey Everyone!
Just a heads up: My camera gets pretty wet in this vid, so the audio gets a little funky for about 2 min :( It's pretty noticeable if your watching and using headphones.
In other news, I'll have a video up soon showing some components of an underground system up close.😬
Hope you're all doing well! See ya's soon!👊👊
The sleet/rain through my earbuds sounded like I had a mouthful of pop-rocks candy for a couple of min. Hahaha. Helped to reinforce what you have to deal with as lineman.
Hope things are settling down for the hurricane cleanup and getting back to normal!
@@lz8r63 pop rocks!! Definitely.
wasn't wrong about it being noticeable
Great video as always bud 👍. Quick question about the indoor parking area at your shop. Do they offer a truck remote for you to open a specific door similar to that for a home garage door. Or are the indoor parking areas non assigned and first come only ? I know you mentioned in previous videos your truck is a take home, Just curious about the trucks assigned to that service center. Just curious since you had to get out in the rain and open the door from inside. Stay safe brother 👊👊🍺
Christopher Snyder
A-Lineman, Local-1300
Baltimore Md
Baltimore Md
It was just like I had water in my ear - suitable considering the rain.
I think a lot of people underestimate the amount of work and time involved in solving a problem as seemingly simple as turning highway lights on. Your videos are a great resource in calming the anxiousness of people who don't understand why it's taking so long to restore their service. I can only imagine the overwhelming task of linemen in Florida right now. Thanks to you and all your fellow co-workers for keeping our world running, Aaron!
Thanks Scotty! 👊🤝
@Sheila Walker Truthfully, line work in the air is faster and easier than on the ground. I work for a cable company, but the troubleshooting principles are pretty similar. In the air you can see the problem, and when it comes to fault finding and replacing bad stuff, it's much faster and cheaper. The obvious exception is backyard easement. That's gonna take longer regardless of aerial/underground.
@@gadget1012 former cable company now utility just curious who ya work for and where, Title? CT 6
here we would have taken whole feeder under shutdown (opening the outgoing isolator at substation) for 15 mins then would have climbed with a ladder and then earthed the section and would have replaced the insulator while wearing gloves.😅
The shot of the fuse close in and the highway lights coming back on was amazing. Interested to learn more about the pad transformers 👍
That’s one of the things that makes you lineman heroes in my opinion is your out there working with high voltage in the rain or shine or freezing and storming thank you all for keeping our lights on and the world going
do not know weather you were one of the mutual aid people who came to our rescue after fiona hit pei last month. i just would like to take this oppertunity to say thank you to all of the staff members of mecl, its contractors and all the mutual aid crews who spent many long hours for all of their hard work and dedication in restoring our power and helping p.e. islanders out of a very bad situation, thank you again and stay safe.
Hi Aaron thanks for taking us along on this call and another big thank you for the scam alert video you made. I received an email from what appeared to be from another Canadian content creator that I am subscribed to telling me I had won a random draw. Being suspicious and remembering how you told us to check, it was a scammer and I reported it. 👊
Thank you formal your work. You are the King of safety. I was privileged to work for Southern California Edison 17:36 in the late 60’s into the 70,s . Great life experience. I worked for 6 of my 7 years for one foreman who was just like you for safety first. Thanks again have a great day.
Those copper thieves: too bad they aren't getting fried in the process. Would serve them right. No tears shed here.
Another great vid. That shot of the lights coming back on as it was closed in was pretty sweet.
Southwest Missouri here again, I have a lot of respect for you lineman all over the globe
Since you mentioned it, a video about the megger and fault locating would be pretty cool. I've used to use them quite often on electric motor testing. Pretty neat how they work.
We used an Associated Research (AR) DC Hipot tester to check transmitter 'floating deck' board for a TWT based RADAR transmitter back in the late 70's into the 80's .. the silicone oil the boards were immersed in could be seen moving when the 30 KV DC was applied!!
Great job guys, but on a safety note, we shouldn't energize a can with the bayonet fuse. Depending on available fault current, if there was a secondary fault, or the windings were shorted out, a super heated arc taking place in a contained tub of oil could be catastrophic. Unlikely, but possible. Keep up the good work!
That was a great video.. thanks for letting us ride along
I’ve worked in the USA on MRI systems for around 39 years. Working with 480 Wye type power, you learn quickly how much energy is available even at that low voltage. We all had to take basic and advanced training on primary power. I watched a 80 amp 480vac three phase distribution box literally vaporize and catch on fire. I was about 8 meters from the incident. It was sobering. And it was a miracle that no one was hurt badly. One person lost his eyebrows in the flame. It was the only time our group saw that happen. Our primary mains safety procedures were strict.
I really appreciate your adherence to safety. Working on the HV mains, your safety procedures are very impressive.
Really enjoy your channel, even though I don’t post very often, great channel!!
That was a pretty awesome shot of the lights coming on at the end. I really enjoy the troubleshooting process, and your explanations are very good.
I just went to class on our brand new tunnels, and the 30 flights of stairs in some locations. To light the switch and not just the tunnel. They put a full size disconnect on the bench wall for the led lights on the ceiling.
It is labeled 277 to 480 volts. No other labels on that box. Stay safe in the rain.
Do you ever go into manholes or vaults?
We Megger too! 10 year test. Unless below 500k, to 200k 1 year test. Below that o.o.s.
I certainly do appreciate your videos. I’ve been retired now for 20 Yrs and this brings back so many memories. Although, I was only in Cust Service, at that time, but certainly worked closely with the line crews.
I’ve learned so much from you Aaron, I’m not in the industry but I have such a stronger respect for your industry.
Great Information as always, Aaron! Always appreciate you're dedication & love for line-work & showing new guys like myself good safe practices! 👍 💯👊
i can see that working in the rain on primary wires isn't the best situation , but at least everything at the end turned out to be fine.
That was awesome!!! My son is getting ready to begin his journey in the Lineman trade. Really appreciate your experience and tutorials on what to expect.
Nice hidden easter egg on the highway signs in the thumbnail! Fancy-shmancy 👍
Lol you're the first person that noticed!
@@Bobsdecline I don't get it. 😕
really nice digger you were driving Aaron 😎
I live in Minnesota and skate for exercise all year. In the winter we plow the pond out back for pick up games even though the neighbor kids skate circles around me. So I smiled when you said that you had to stop by the rink and see your young fella.
Stealing copper lines is insane
Back in the 80s we had a microwave transmitter site.
They used something called a RIG ( Radio Isotope Generator )
It created a huge amount of radiation.
This device was shielded in multiple layers and the part where the radiation was designed to come out was in a wave guide and it was heavily shielded and as long as everything was sealed there wasn't any danger unless you were standing on top of the tower in front of one of the microwave horns
I don't remember what material the wave guide was made of but it was very expensive and I don't even know how these three guys found out about this and didn't realize the danger but they started sometime close to midnight and worked through the night disassembling the wave guide and stealing it to scrap it
In the process all three of them were exposed to lethal radiation and in the morning they went to the scrap metal dealer and each got their cut for selling the metal and each went home
They all began to get sick. Only 1 of the guys made it to the hospital. He wouldn't tell them anything and he went into a coma and died. Eventually several days later they found the other 2 guys
I was freaked out about this case. I had no idea how dangerous the equipment was that I worked around.
I get the creeps any time I am in a transmission facility and see the waveguides.
It was probably a Klystron tube, and they emit some X-rays while in use. You wouldn’t want to be standing next to one without the shielding for very long. Waveguide was probably solid copper or brass.
More likely they would cook their eyeballs .. I had a cataract form in one eye due to use of a heating pad that wasn't well regulated for temperature back in the 90's ... went 20 some years and had cataract surgery in 2018 and had that fixed. DO NOT mess around with high-power RF energy, from a uwave oven OR a transmitter!
@@TechnicalLee
Yes, probably a high-power Klystron, like the ones used with the NWS WSR-88D "NEXRAD" radars ... those things are like 750 kW pulses!
I guess they ignored the RF hazard signage. Moral of the story - if
you must steal stuff, be sure to turn off the power first.
I’ve heard similar stories of copper thieves trying to cut live cables and getting a fatal physics lesson.
I love how intelligent and smart and just overall safety this outfit is.. I do suspect many others around NA are the same way but Bobs gives us an inside look and I appreciate it. Thank you
You guys are amazing. There's a lot that goes into keeping the lights on.
Great video! I got close to choosing lineman as a career, so it’s nice to see what the job is all about. I love seeing the cutout closing and the lights coming on. Success!
Great video thanks for everything you do
Really interesting. That magic stick is worth its weight in gold - or preferably, an excellent insulating material. Thank you for your video and efforts from England.
Good fix brother😀
Those are high mast light towers, they are usually 90-110’. Sometimes even up to 150’.
Awesome seeing the lights come on!
I'm just happy to be here. Lol my electrician knowledge is a class in high school. Lol hone repair type stuff. If I knew I would enjoy electricity so much to watch your videos I would have gone into that. Good work! Great Job Rupe!!!!
That was cool. I liked how you went up to see the lights come back on!
Great video Aaron! Thanks for sharing. Cheers from NH. Stay safe and healthy! 👊
excellent work 😎
Good job Aaron.
Thanks from an inside IBEw hand
Thank you for what you do! Takes a pair of big ones to play with electricity for living
Another excellent video
Thanks Scott! 👊🤝
Nice one Aaron, I don’t envy you out in all that rain! Stay safe.😀
16:24 You guys sure make handling a 30 foot stick look easy. That is really astounding to me, as I'm sure it'd take me at least 20 minutes to get that thing in the eyelet of the cutout.
Zamboni time baby!!!
BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!! I THINK THAT IS SOO SOO SOO SOO COOL THAT ONE SWITCH LIKE THAT AS FAR AWAY AS IT IS FROM THEM HIGHWAY LIGHTS JUST FLIPS THEM ON LIKE A LIGHT SWITCH THAT TURNS ON A BULB IN A LIVING ROOM!!!!!! SOOO WILD!!! AND WHAT YOU GUYS DO MESSING WITH ALL THAT HIGH VOLTAGE EVERYDAY IS JUST AMAZING!! JUST SAYIN!!!! THANKS, F.M.V.
Part of that illusion of distance is from the camera. Probably not more than a few hundred yards away from the pad transformer at most. Of course the lights are strung out from that point and might go on for a quarter mile or more in each direction.
That was pretty cool. I liked that too!
When a detecting instrument says: "there's voltage" - I believe it.
When a detecting instrument is mute: I don't believe it. (I notice it gave you a "check done" light and beep.... at least there's that)
100%! Especially when testing U/G cables! That's why I still treated that fuse check a "live".
It's ideal, when you have a nearby live wire to test concurrently, but still not 100%
Very nice, watching the lights come on videos could be popular
Holy crap, that guys run an extendo a few time lol
Nice video Aaron! 👊🏻👊🏻👍🏻👍🏻
Posi-Plus buckets? That digger truck with a bucket on it? Must have a wireless remote to operate the bucket? We don’t have those in Connecticut. Posi-Plus must be your go to bucket for construction? Versalift for your trouble truck?
I guess you couldn’t get permission to open the upstream device from the broken cut out? Porcelain cutouts continue to break. I remember there was a recall on the Chance cutouts about twenty five years ago. The S&C’s are starting to fail now. I check out the skirts on the glass before operating them. If in doubt? Open the upstream device.
Wow! Three vehicle accidents in one shift? You mean to tell me Canada has the same drivers as Connecticut? Lots of people staring into their phones now a days. You only have to look down from your cab to see them distracted at intersections. 😮
Keep up the great content! Looking forward to each video you post!
Estou assistindo aqui do brasil valeu campeao🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷✌✌✌🏆🏆
15:55 I don't know all the trade terminology... but the previous cutout had a tap connector which screwed onto a rectangular offset clamped onto the conductor. Why wasn't that old clamp just removed and the new tap put back in the same place? There's a whole new setup on the conductor for that now.
Great tour of your nose. :D ;)
Aaron said let there be light. And there was light….
In washington state i see a lot of cutouts with a fish hook like barb at the base of most newer cutout doors. If you happen to know what that does can you do a video on that please?
no truck!?!?!
I would have been a lineman if I didn't own my landscape company lol
I’m surprised you guys need 2 guys to do any primary hot stick work, we will routinely pull risers and operate cutouts/blades switches on our own. For that guy I would have clipped it with the hotline cutters.
Good vid👍winters comin lol
Yessir! That's actually what I ended up doing! (hotline cutters). We're allowed stick work alone, as you mentioned, unless it's transferring a structure of course. "Hands on" any wire that was energized above 600v requires a second man.
Appreciate the comment! I'm guessing it's going to be a busy winter 😟💪
Never been this early to a video :D woo
Me either. I'm still catching up on all the old ones. New to the channel for about a month now.
Как всегда привет ,твое видео классс
102 thumbs up
Wow! Nice camera angle under the Truck! The own vehicle is still the best- everything just in place! Can you still work with the extendo stick in heavy rain? when rubber gloves an the stick itselve is soaking wet? Greetings from Germany!
Very cool to see this I see you blurred out the highway sign too lol
Except for in the thumbnail 🤫
@@Bobsdecline yes LoL
@@Bobsdecline And I was curious where this was!
People are nuts
Stealing copper from a live high voltage line is a death wish
We need to do something to protect the lines from access
Can you remotely de-energize the line from your radio or laptop?
Or by calling dispatch ?
So they could turn off that line so you could go up there and work on the line with no power on the line ?
I bet safety protocol says they need to have a physical lock out / tag out on a physical switch. I think he's mentioned in previous videos that dispatch can open breakers, but if they're working on something, they have to operate the manual switch and lock it out as well.
Remote control is available only at the most senior of "nodes". Turning off a node that size would put a lot of people without power, for little weighed benefit.
We make all kinds of anchors and connectors at Maclean power systems. What brand you guys use?
Those lights strike up fast! LED?
I’m shocked you did that in the rain
🤣
I have an antenna feed network going to a 16 ft V by 40 ft H (transmit) loop that has the matching capacitors open to the weather, and, surprisingly, rain water is quite inert! I have used the 1,000 Watt amplifier into the components when wet with no ill effects. I was quite surprised to learn that rain was that non-conductive ...
@@uploadJ Pure water does not conduct electricity. Water becomes conductive because of dissolved minerals that create a path for electric current. Rain water is pure water when it condenses from the air (or freezes into ice), but falling through the atmosphere it will pick up little bits of dust which can change its conductive properties.
@@jovetj re: "Pure water does not conduct electricity. "
Yes - I JUST explained that above - no? And RAINWATER is quite fairly pure ... maybe you didn't grasp that in my fist post? Read this again: " I was quite surprised to learn that rain was that non-conductive" and this was observed by experiment. Not some 'textbook'.
Now rainwater is NOT entirely devoid of dissolved gases, and some other elements, but is MUCH purer that ground water or tap water. Got it now?
@@uploadJ Don't be an asshole. I was explaining to the plebs why that all is, which you did not explain.
I had the opportunity when I was younger to migrate from Wastewater to our local PUC. The pay would’ve been better for sure. But I don’t know whether or not I could’ve handled the hours. Thanks for sharing this content and your insight. Lets me and probably a lot of other people live a little frivolously through your eyes. Kind regards from Ontario.
Running trouble in a tandem-axle digger truck with a pin-on bucket...That's pretty rough. Hope you didn't have a lot of service work that day. You said you may have to call line mechanics to hi-pot the cable. Don't you carry hi-pot sticks on the truck? is that a different classification? Thanks
Another wonderful evening service call. Thanks for the tour of the pad transformer Aaron. How long did it take highway to call it in that the interchange mast lights were out? What i am surprised is that those masts aren't 277/480 or your 347/600 VAC. You know distance and voltage drop!
Yes, let alone the motors in them that raise/lower them for bulb servicing!
have a baby on the way at 18 im about to go to lineman training to get into it. i feel like im burried in information lmao
Is there any risk of a big load draw that could cause problems when you close a line with the leaving the fuse in for the lights
Where I work we are the anchor rod drivers 💪 need mark outs so we hand dig and Hand screw our anchors….sucks
Ouch, ya that sounds time consuming 😟
I saw your other question very briefly... Normally, we roll in at the switch location first/on the way to the call knowing the status of the switch. In this case, the information provided was: "Our service pedestal in the center of the clover leaf before entering causeway has no power" or something to that effect. So I just started looking for the padmount and worked backwards from there. 🙉🙈🙊
@@Bobsdecline ya once I saw your reasoning I deleted my comment. Yeah the plus side about Long Island is it’s basically a giant sand bar. North shore is a glacial maraine so it’s rocky. So we don’t have to deal with bedrock. We get some hard clay in spots. Everything needs mark outs so instead of getting mark outs for every job we just hand dig everything. The auger on my line truck still has shiny black paint on it 👌
Well at least ya don't have mud falling off your auger! Lol. We've got some spot that are nothing but rock. Usually we'll get an excavator for those, but have set a few rock bolt and tri anchors to set poles... Not fun to climb those ones 😟
@@Bobsdecline on the south shore of the island the water table is high so you dig two feet and hit water. You either need to use a barrel with no bottom (nightmare) or we use a compressor with a 12’ pipe called a jet. A bit messy but once you hit the right spot she drops perfectly.
5:18 Isn't it essential to keep water out of the transformer oil?
Did any one notice on the green interstate sign it says bobsdecline
I asked this question before but it never got answered. What do you all call the 3 feeds that come off the primary to give area 360 or more
360 or more what?
Hello.are there injuries to people from this dangerous defect
Another great episode :)
Quick question: what causes pressure to build up inside the transformer? Is the oil boiling in there?? 🤔 Thank you
I may be wrong, but I'd have to guess that it builds up due to the transformer being a sealed container (to keep the insulating oil in). During normal use the transformer creates heat and since the container is sealed the oil warming and expanding causes pressure build up. Not necessarily the oil boiling just expanding from the heat hope that makes sense.
Just like @joe17 said, heat produced by the transformer may cause an increase in pressure. Another possible explanation is that some current is going through the oil and causing the release of gases. This happens when the current "reacts" with the transformer oil, causing the release of gas that, in turn builds up the pressure. In fact, some large transformers have a device to detect pressure built up, has it may indicate a fault in the transformer.
However, for this to happen there must be a fault in the isolation of the transformer windings. Therefor it is unlikely that this is the case.
Look up Boyle's law.
No need to wipe the fuse dry before installing?
Keep your stick on the ice
Strange that cutout was way far away from the lights, I noticed when he closed the switch, the lights flickered once, is there a device in line somewhere that is switching off and back on the current basically acting like a soft start? My home theater furman surge protector will pulse the power real quick to charge the caps a little and it reduces the inrush current, not a true zero crossing detector, which maybe you could explain or someone else could in another video. Just curious why the lights flickered for a second before staying on.
I'm guessing a photocell/contactor did that, but I was curious about it, too.
I am 17 and looking into the field. What should I know going forward?
What happened to your truck. I know not having it is like having two broken arms.
Man talk about being good with a hot stick got a question there for ya bob, do you guys use private property machines? Im just curious the difference in equipment you use there in Canada versus me and my guys down here in the states. Thanks love the videos!
We've got a couple back lot machines, they can be a life saver!
I'm pretty sure there's an older video of us using one on my IG and also one of the earlier "being a lineman" episodes.
We also use contractors equipment quite a bit... Cranes, backhoes...
We've got a few real nice track machines with 50 booms rated for rubber glove and bare hand work also.
so is the little guy gonna keep his current stick or turn it in for a hot stick
Where you at Rupe53? your not in the comments yet
Came looking for the same thing 😂 show up Rupe53!
@@jt3178 ... I am here now. Was out at a car show this afternoon.
What should I study to help myself to become a lineman? Actually I should ask this first can I become a lineman at 37?
Why were you using a voltmeter on an isolated fuse?
Multimeter: checking for continuity (if the fuse is intact)
To expound on his answer... a _multimeter_ is called that because it can do numerous type of tests. AC and DC voltage are common test modes, as well as measuring resistance. Many can measure amperage if you can get the circuit to run through the multimeter, but each meter has limits on the current it can handle and measure. One last common measurement mode is called the continuity test. Like the resistance test, this uses the multimeter's own battery to put current between the two probes. But this test simply measures whether there's a connection across the item being measured, and provides audible feedback (plus a resistance reading) if there is.
You always want to be careful to never use a powered test function on a live circuit.
Is prayer really part of the official procedure?
Sometimes 😟🙏 lol
Most of the lines don't use copper anymore so I'm confused when people even mention copper theft. If someone is knowledgeable and resourceful enough to tamper with line work illegally in any means, I doubt it would be something so trivial as copper theft anyway.
There's plenty of copper around if you know where to look.
well see u keep ur nose hair clipped lol
🥸 lol
My company pulls those caps bare handed
Until - one day??
@@uploadJ I guess
Nothing worse than having to roll someone else's rig
It would be hiliarious to hear on the news if someone stole 10K feet of copper or something like that. I also enjoy hearing about the ones that figure out a new, brazen way of stealing things that most people wouldn't have the ability or skills to pull off. It probably sucks to have to deal with but it's still makes for good head lines and drama at work. The cray thing about most jobs is how many former employees retain old security codes, etc. which gives them the ability to just walk onto a site, take whatever they want and then the news makes them out to be some kind of super villain. No wonder 9/11 was so easy for them to pull off you left the keys in plane! Lol
9 11 they killed the pilots in flight
Crazy. You’re allowed three guys to change a cut out after hours and we’re expected to do it by ourselves and just start a working alone plan…. And we’re in Canada also.
Ibew?
@@DC-ct8tv Yup lol! And our service areas massive. Usually 1.5 hrs away from the he service point.
@@mattmatthew9422 what does the hall say about it? Or the oshe office? We aren't allowed to do anything alone down here for safety reasons. Are you a contractor or with the utility as an employee?
Not electrician but with my understanding about amps and volts and anybody wondering why they have to wear cotton clothing if something really bad happens if you get Juiced clothes will burn away not melt to your skin see something pretty bad when I was younger guy got hit don't know how much Frozen into place smoking and flaming no cotton clothing so the clothing melted🤦😭😣