Replacing padmount transformer (Job prep)
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- Опубліковано 10 лис 2023
- Hey Everyone!
A bit of coordination here between our crews and a private electrician.
These locations with old direct buried lines can get messy!
Lineman coffee co. ! ☕
linemancoffeeco...
Livewire caffeine co.☕
livewirecaffco?...
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
#bobsdecline #lineman
Every trade seems to have someone getting into the coffee business 😂
Fire Department Coffee is a great example.
That coffee company should definitely invest in a Burnt Pole Roast or even an Arc Flash Roast blend. A more plain Short Circuit Blend could be for everyone :p
lmao 100% ... or something like "The Blown Fuse Black Coffee"
Fine ground (fault) coffee
@@justred2337Nice
😂
@@justred2337 🤣🤣🤣
Appreciate the other workers allowing you to video their work.
Interesting. In our area the meter is the line between customer owned and power company. IMO thats how it should be everywhere, since the power company doesn't want anyone messing with anything between the meter and transformer. Seems if it was any different there could be issues to who is responsible, and who can, and cant do the work.
It's so awesome to see someone carry out a real honest, working mans job bringing one of the most essential things we use in our every day lives.
There are so many videos out there about different jobs! As an electrician, I'm delighted with this channel! Best electrician content ever! No dancing around the subject!
Thanks bob, it’s hard sometimes to absorb everything or ask other lineman to re-elaborate. You taught me alot watched a lot of other URG vids.
Thanks Chungus! 🤝👊 I've got another one coming up very soon! Maybe even tomorrow if I can get the edits done. (Episode 37)
Hi Aaron another Good Video 👍👍
We are in the middle of trying to change policy on who owns service wire from transfer or secondary box to meter. If its overhead its always been ours. Underground has been customer owned, we have usually fixed customers wire because it's such a pain to have electrician fix them. We have had so many problems lately that we are looking into changing.
Your videos are better than a Netflix movie👍
Love your videos man! I’m apprentice in Newfoundland for a contractor and most of our jobs we do is just new build construction. So nice to see the Maintenance side of things and theories in school put to real life use!
GREAT VIDEO LOVED IT KEEP UP THE GOOD WORK !!!
I was admiring those shiny new cutouts.
where i work we make composites covers for those in ground boxes. nice to see how they are used. ours will withstand a 20,000 lb wheel load.
What a cluster___ that setup was!
👍👊‼️
Nutty clusters are delicious! 😉
Great job documenting these situations and sharing and educating others!
Excellent video, thank you! Have a safe day.🌎
We had poles and meters from the 1920s that ran down in metal heavy gauge pipe to breaker boxes and heavy gauge pipe out of there that ran to boxes mounted at ground level that had 50 amp Outlets, 3 conductor.
The flexible power cord plugs in to this outlet and runs to the breaker box in the trailer.
You have Balls of Steel to work this job.😊
This was very interesting Arron TX man
My pet peeve is underground developments with 2 different phases. I’m not sure what they were thinking back in the day. One cutout should be the feed and the other should be alive by backfeed(same phase). That allows the lineman to create a loop and do all the switching from the bucket. Significantly safer.
I remember back then when you just chucked all the secondaries “no conduit “ in the same trench. Good until something like this happens and other services are effective. What a mess but thanks for staying longer on this job 👍
It was a mess alright! I hate showing up to these calls... They're never an easy fix. I don't mind the work fixing them, but it really sucks having to explain the problem to the customer :(
@@Bobsdecline ohh I hear ya buddy , especially when you have to bill someone when insurance doesn’t cover squat.
Ty for the videos, as always.
Hi Aaron, thank you once again for making these videos they are so awesome, I love watching your videos. I'm watching from Palatka, Florida. I am not a lineman or an electrician, but I have been fascinated with power lines every since I was a kid. Stay safe 🤜.
Appreciate that very much Travis! I definitely try and make the content for non lineman as well. There's not a lot out there showing what we really do! Cheers! 🤝👊
Power line fascination isn't as rare as one might think! Greets from eastern Nebraska!
This definitely seems like one of those situations that would have been prevented by pole/pit fuses on each service, like most of the world uses.
Aus/NZ has rules about "unprotected consumers' mains", and there were a whole bunch of subdivisions built in the 80s where the first protection was a fuse on the property - but that is installed barely above grade in a box in the foundation or brick wall, basically fireproofed.
I'm surprised the padmount is being replaced. Do they think it was cooked by the sustained short circuit? Other than the mess of secondary wires, it doesn't look too old or in too bad shape.
NA has some really seemingly odd things. North of the meter (technically, the first disconnecting means) there's no protection until you get to the line side of the transformer. In some ways, that reduces the service calls to replace a blown (low voltage) fuse. Most of the time, shorting the triplex will pop the line side fuse. (been there, done that. p***ed off the community... it's several hours to fix, being on the wrong side of a lake, and pole needed replacing.)
For the curious: URD box = Underground Residential Distribution box (I had to look it up too)
Thank you! I forget sometimes to explain in more detail certain terminology
Hi Aaron, thank you once again for making these videos
Another great video!!! Thanks again!
Hey man just wanna say thank you. Your videos help me a lot I’m just an apprentice out of Calgary pretty new to everything but ya thanks alot really appreciate it
Thanks for the video Aaron. You would think that all those secondary cables would be marked with phases and unit numbers for you guys.
They are now!! Most of the older installs aren't... It's a huge pain in the butt!
Kickass content! Love the workboot shots. Which brand rules in your part of the world?
I install internet for the phone company and love your videos Man! makes me want to get into your trade!
It's never too late! Appreciate the comment! 🤝
That pole looks sketchy. I've seen worse but in Indiana, they usually let them rot and blow down before replacing them.
Another great Video Aaron, I think you said tht the wire was Customer installed, I'm in N.C and everything from the pole to the meter is the power company problem. Please enlightened me 😮😊
Pole to meter the utility owns (in our jurisdiction) if it's overhead wire.
While we do have our own underground system as well, the wire from the pole/pad mount transformer/urd box to the meter is customer owned.
In some areas, the utility owns that section of wire.
It depends. The company does not want to maintain miles of line to one customer (my neighbor is that far back in the woods). Here the company maintains "up to the meter OR first pole" (oversimplifying). As I am 500 feet from the street, and some ugly land, there are two poles (meter on 2nd pole). I am responsible for last 300 feet of wire in woods and two poles in shallow holes. (The company has an insurance deal, I pay a little more per month, they fix any reasonable damage and eat the cost.) From my meter the juice runs underground to the house. Like anthonyelectric6045 sez, conductors just dropped in a very shallow trench. Backhoe damage in the underground is, of course, my problem.
Simple question, Why did you stop the truck that far for the lift?
You had all the plywood in front of the truck to go closer.
I hear "the boys" and think Lineman Mafia.
Saving this
Load break cut outs.....Nice.
Nice work guys. Different sistems would require to isolate the other end and verify potential before grounding. Is it an extra step or just no useful at all? Thanks man keep up the good work!
Ah yes, i was wondering about pulling the meters (that bit came in near the end of the video). Thats how you would prevent any backfeeding, ensuring there is no chance of voltage at the padmount. Thank you.
What brand of FR reflective pants are you guys wearing? Looks great
Where was the 2nd phase from the riser going, I didnt see any other primary cable parked in the can? Did it go to another one? i did notice at the riser they were each connected to different phases which you wouldnt typically loop one can on different phases. Good video as always!
The second cable passed directly underneath the pad mount and continued on to another pad mount that was out of sight. These days we would have ran that cable off the "b" side primary bushing and hooked them up in series.
Would you provide a catalog number for that abb adapter lug that you all used for grounding? That is mint!
What are the little white wing-like structures above the cutouts?
how common are loadbreak cut outs on your system?
Not your smoke detector batteries !
apprentice lineman here and have a question about your leather protectors on your rubber gloves. do you find them better than your typical leather protectors? i havent seen those around where i work here in Ohio i kinda want to try them out but feel like it wouldnt be as good. would love to know your thoughts.
NO Idea that Customer Owns/Responsible for Buried Electrical Cable. I Don’t think that the Case here in the Midwest US since Electric Co. Replaces it.
isnt the pad mount fused and should of popped?
That lineman coffee come with whiskey already in it?
☕
How did the initial failure happen? Was is the power company’s transformer that cooked the lines? If it was the transformer wouldn’t that make the power company liable for the damaged wires.
It was all cause by the house fire...
The heat melted the customer owned wires, along with the wires feeding neighbouring units :/
What is the biggest pad mount transformer in your area
Shout out to Jonny!
Appreciate your vids, I am not a lineman but have an electrical background. My question is I noticed when you remove a cutout how is it actually hooked at the bottom. It seems to just slide out, what prevents contact resistance. I know the top of the door has a solid slip connection. Curious old man!
Basically it’s like a notch in it the only way it can be pulled off is when it’s open and hanging
Top of the cutout has a spring loaded latch with a notch that accepts the top of the cutout door. Put a switch stick in the ring of the door & pull. That releases the door from the latch. Let the door open completely then you can easily lift the door straight up out of the bottom hanger.
🍀🙏🏻
In Poland and probably other european countries we have main fuse before meter cabinets, short circuits on meter can't cause fire because main fuse will blow, we use low voltage distribution, one 15kV-3x230V/400V high power transformer can feed few house estate streets. Houses gets three phase power, main fuse for street usually is rated 200-400A independence from houses quantity, some short circuit on house service mains before meter can cause fire when fuses before meter don't exist, main fuse for street can not react for it when house is on end of line
For his house I'm 99% certain that there is a main circuit breaker in the main panel immediately after the meter just on the other side of the wall.
That's right, there was a fuse just on other side of the wall.
Next fuse back is on the high voltage side I'm the Padmount
looks like they would have you replace all the way to the pole looks like the trouble would have back fed that far
If it didn't blow the cutout, it's very unlikely to have hurt the feeder lines. (100kW @ 7kV isn't that much current, but at 240 it sure is.)
may Allaahu bless you
Question... Why do they have to place grounds up on the pole if the wires are disconnected?
Underground primary cable acts like a capacitor and will hold a charge. Adding a ground to it is a safe work practice to discharge the cable.
@@scott78911 Thanks!
@@scott78911they always add a ground. Doesn't matter if underground or not
@@DavidJohnson-tv2nnIIRC in another video he said in case someone backfeeds into the cable (with a generator for example).
@@Jehty_ it's also common to find stray voltage on other grounds from cable tv and telephone, which may be tapped into the utility company grounds. Once you start disconnecting things, you never know where something has a crossed wire... right or wrong. Extra grounds while working just covers those bases for safety.
Wait how did the cables melt and not blow a fuse? Isn't the point of the fuses is to protect the wires?
Fuses only provide protection against overloading. Here the wires melted because of a separate fire.
Good evening from germany. I´ve got a question: Why arent there any fuses for the low voltage wires in the pad mounted transformer or are they? And second question: How do you guys disconnect the high voltage cables if they arent coming from an overhead line? Are there some kind of high voltage switch stations?
Im curious because i only know how these things are build here in germany, where most lines are build with cables. Here you go with your high voltage into some kind of switchfield inside your "Trafostation". Usually there are 2 switches for the line (one coming, one going) and one for the transfomer, witch is equipped with high voltage fuses. Then you go with your low voltage out of the transformer and through low voltage fuses into you fuseboard. From there you go to the customers or into smaller fuseboxes along the street, but with a seperate fuse for every cable.
the cutouts have a fuse in them on the pole. the transformer will have high voltage fuses that pull out. he has some videos doing that. as for low voltage i don't know.
That's just not how it's done here.
High voltage → Tap → Fuse (cutout) → Transformer → Low Voltage → Meter → Main disconnect, often the main panel.
There was a time when individual transformers on poles were not typically fused, and the fuse for the whole HV circuit would be the over-current protection. But that time seems to have passed. Pad or subterranean transformers have always been especially fused.
Different jurisdictions will not agree on where the utility company's wires and responsibility end and the end-customer's begin.
@@jovetj So if there is some kind of short circuit on the low voltage side, it "burns" until the high voltage fuse cut it? Seems kind of dangerous.
@@Offizier3ids More or less. But it isn't generally a huge problem, either.
@@jovetj Oh ok. Thanks for your answers. I guess here in germany people are more freaked out from the dangers of electricity and local black outs.
Why are you having to warn that worker so often about the Hot areas?
Why aluminum wire? I thought that had been banned since it was such a fire hazard. At least it is in USA. Is it just used in those boxes and poles?
Aluminum is banned for inside wiring because it is more brittle than copper, and connections will loosen over time due to the wire and connections expanding and contracting. Those loose connections will cause arcing and faults that start fires. Outdoors and underground that is less of an issue but can still deteriate with age.
@@superhuman2889 Not to mention the resistance is lower in copper. And, ALL installation require moving the wire back and forth a number of times, until there is a solid connection.
Aluminum is banned here as well except for the main wires into meter/panel and the underground/overhead wires directly connected to our system. They're sized larger than what would have been chosen for copper. Cheaper and doesn't get stolen!
Actually in the states copper-clad aluminum is accepted (of course depending on the ahj) if it's UL-listed and much like with a feed it's generally the next size up that it would be his copper.
for houses seems no one uses it in usa . i use it in our factory in large sizes . i just ordered 1000 ft of 350 mcm mc armored cable 3 conductor + ground in aluminum.using it in parrallel on 2 500ft runs for a large machine. right now it's 40% cheaper than copper. 3 years ago before covid it was 1/5 the cost of copper. but it went up 400% in cost after covid. .
Who is Bob, and from what has he declined?
I think this is the first time I seen him do a shot from his own home.
11-11-23
Can you not just open the cut out at the road , test your first elbow off the riser, and ground it instead of flying up and doing that all
We could have if the contractor wasn't digging underneath the concrete pad.... That's where the other cable passes through.
@@Bobsdecline thank you! Always nice to how other men get that job done safety!