11 Hours Of Power Outages And House Electrical Fried With 14,400 Volts On Neutral!

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  • Опубліковано 27 лис 2024

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  • @nics-systems-electric
    @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому +26

    I don't trust federal Pioneer/federal pacific Stab Lok as much as the next guy. However this incident has nothing to do with them or their breakers with a non-acceptably high failure rate any panel would have fared the same. This came in on the neutral by the time it hit the breakers it had already gone through all the equipment. If a breaker tripped or didn't it's not going to make a difference, 14,400 V is going to jump that small contact as if it's not there.

    • @KB99KraYziE
      @KB99KraYziE 19 днів тому

      I believe that if I had had, as a common norm in Europe, for over 40 years, a system with, not only magnetothermal circuit breakers, but with a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter), it would have cut off earlier and would not have gone around the house in the hope that everywhere it would discharge to the ground.

    • @niyablake
      @niyablake 18 днів тому +1

      @@KB99KraYziE That panel is at least 36 years old most likely 50

    • @topher8634
      @topher8634 17 днів тому +1

      ​@@niyablake 50 sounds right. FPE panels were common back in the 70s. I've changed out dozens of them over the years. Seen a lot of melted conductors that were near fires.

  • @mitchelltrompeter7658
    @mitchelltrompeter7658 21 день тому +63

    Similar thing happened to my neighbors home last week here in Ohio. One phase of the 27,000 lines snapped and landed on my neighbors overhead coax cable. Blew apart the cable box on the side of the house melted the coax line overhead and I’m assuming damaged quite a bit inside the house. Also nothing tripped when it fell so it was laying on the ground live. Bought my yard on fire, melted the concrete sidewalk and blew a hole in their driveway.

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +15

      Yes I've heard of that happening more commonly definitely a better outcome than your entire service.

    • @tankerkiller125
      @tankerkiller125 20 днів тому +4

      Father and grandfather were both linemen, I have several souvenirs of Glass made from downed power lines made from all sorts of materials (sand, dirt, clay, concrete, etc.). The largest of which we donated to the school system for their electrical safety class (5th grade) as an example of what the power can do (and why you should stay the fuck away from it). It was about the size of my chest.

    • @absolarix
      @absolarix 20 днів тому

      Trying to wrap my head around this and the video... It... I don't.... WHAT?!?!?!

    • @liam3284
      @liam3284 16 днів тому

      This is why we have sensitive earth fault on the primaries. If something falls or fails, the whole feeder gets cut off. Easier to isolate the failed section and reset than deal with a fire.

  • @ugcjackdee
    @ugcjackdee 21 день тому +54

    that house needs a full rewire

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +8

      Possibly will. depend on the insulations integrity and they will likely do a megger test I would think.

    • @darklore7566
      @darklore7566 20 днів тому +8

      ​@@nics-systems-electriceven if they dont you dont know if the flash arc jumped out the wire insulation inside the wall. Most 12/2 wire cant hold that much voltage. In the US that would be a whole re-wire with that much voltage on such a small wire. Also a whole new sub panel as well.

    • @KielGeofersonCeleste-h2t
      @KielGeofersonCeleste-h2t 20 днів тому +4

      Yeah it’s does need to get a full rewire

    • @kevxsi16v
      @kevxsi16v 20 днів тому +1

      Not necessarily we tested out the cabling fine on similar properties

    • @kevxsi16v
      @kevxsi16v 20 днів тому +1

      @@nics-systems-electricexactly

  • @tornadochasingsiege
    @tornadochasingsiege 21 день тому +136

    that feeling when 14,400 volts comes by to say hi and fucking blows up every electronic in your house

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +30

      It likes to visit every now and then

    • @Imakecapcuts87
      @Imakecapcuts87 21 день тому +1

      Yea you just be like let’s plug in my phone 3 seconds later 💥💥

    • @SWAFanPilot
      @SWAFanPilot 20 днів тому

      lol 😂

    • @jimhanty8149
      @jimhanty8149 20 днів тому +1

      Was cussing like that really needed to express your point clearly in this type conversation…..geezz……grow up..

    • @richwater296
      @richwater296 20 днів тому

      @@jimhanty8149 this it the fucking internet. let people fucking swear

  • @c117ls7
    @c117ls7 19 днів тому +10

    Man that's wild! Imagine sitting there in your house and literally everything arcs and blows up at once

    • @DaveAtlas
      @DaveAtlas 19 днів тому +1

      I feel like I've seen something like that in a movie or something, but I don't remember the scene...

    • @Killerspieler0815
      @Killerspieler0815 18 днів тому

      @c117ls7 -
      Yeaha an electric hell of a 4th July

  • @binaryglitch64
    @binaryglitch64 4 дні тому +1

    Wow, I've been doing electrical for 27 yrs and I've never seen anything this crazy.

  • @cpufrost
    @cpufrost 21 день тому +13

    If you want to see what it's like as happening search for Moores Mill Road on youtube. Back in 1988 tree trimmers caused a 33kV (phase to phase) primary to fall on a 13.2kV (phase to phase) primary. This backfed into the overhead secondaries in a neighborhood causing all sorts of damage. Fortunately it was during a work day and most homes were unoccupied. Many homes needed a complete re-wire with all appliances heavily damaged or destroyed. The thing here this fault occurred over several HOURS! That video is used in lots of training documentation to this day for both first responders and line crews alike.

  • @gamerboy12970
    @gamerboy12970 21 день тому +5

    Are you alright am so excited for this video 😊 am happy you are okay it is so cool seeing the system works were you home

  • @charlestrusky6414
    @charlestrusky6414 17 днів тому +1

    Hey! I am an elementary school teacher around Tacoma Washington. Our power also went out while I was teaching on Monday November 4th 2024

  • @anonamouse5917
    @anonamouse5917 День тому +1

    Take a shot every time he says 'Fourteen Thousand Four Hundred'.

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  День тому

      I like where you're going with this

    • @anonamouse5917
      @anonamouse5917 День тому

      @@nics-systems-electric In all seriousness, it probably would have been better if you only would have used the long form once, and referred to it as '14kV' for the rest of the vid.
      It reminded my a little of someone overloading text to speech software for shits n giggles.

  • @jcc3279
    @jcc3279 21 день тому +15

    Nic, Glad no one was hurt my friend. I would honestly look into replacing your Federal Pacific/Pioneer Stab Lock panel also just a pre caution. I mean you have that newer box next to it i would say just when the time comes move all the circuits over from the FPE to that newer box at your place. I went through Hurricane Ian, Nicole and Milton here in Florida and when i lived in Michigan the Polar Vortex of 2014 and several ice storms thank god both my old house and new house both have whole house generators. And the sound of a generator running a school or this case my house is music to my ears. and yes i know it wasn't your panel that got fried Nic I'm just saying now would be a good time to eventually remove yours.

    • @JMWtrainsnstuff
      @JMWtrainsnstuff 21 день тому

      That isn't his panel.

    • @jcc3279
      @jcc3279 21 день тому

      @@JMWtrainsnstuff i know it wasn't I was just saying since nic has one also this would be a good time to start looking into replacing his FPE panel also.

    • @PowderMill
      @PowderMill 21 день тому +1

      FPE is the BEST panel/breaker system for doing home arc welding!
      The breakers never trip.
      All kidding aside, I was a firefighter and licensed electrical contractor for my days off “side work”.
      In NJ, home of Federal Pacific’s Newark ghetto mfg plant, the installed base of Stab-Lok” panels kept me upgrading services for 20+ years.
      On the firefighting side, I’ve seen so many residential fires with FPE panels/breakers.
      Scary stuff.
      NEVER chance using the newer 3rd party (UL listed) breakers.
      Replace the panel and breakers!

    • @PowderMill
      @PowderMill 21 день тому

      PLEASE do NOT re-energize that home!,!
      Obviously, change the feeders and panel and breakers.
      Go Square-D QO. It’s worth the few extra bucks.
      Replace EVERY INCH of branch circuit wiring and EVERY electrical device !
      The damage to the conductors and/or insulation is impossible to detect.
      This should be a completely covered insurance claim.
      In addition:
      Much of the electronics plugged in at the time should be analyzed thoroughly before using !

    • @PowderMill
      @PowderMill 21 день тому

      There’s a good chance that a whole house surge protector (Siemens makes the best IMHO) would NOT have helped.
      They are made to clamp down on extremely short TRANSIENT voltages exceeding the rating of the protection device.
      Having a 14kv primary coming in contact with ANY conductor entering the premises will far exceed the capability of the device.
      They are intended to protect from extremely short transient excessive voltage like that from a lightning strike a mile down the road. NOT from a primary sitting ENERGIZED until the overcurrent protection for the primary trips out.
      If not a fuse in the field, it could end up being a self-resetting breaker along the line or at a substation.
      That’s a LONG time for the damage to occur.
      Another reason to be VERY cautious at the scene of any downed power lines?
      Reclosers! To prevent “nuisance” tripping of transmission lines, many overcurrent protection devices will AUTOMATICALLY attempt to restore power after tripping !! (up to x number of times in x minutes).
      I’ve seen videos of firefighters working to extricate passengers of a motor vehicle crash with primaries down on the ground and vehicle. Everyone “assumed” it was safe to approach. After work began, the recloser restored power, killing several rescuers. The original crash victims were actually protected in the vehicle.
      Always be SAFE!

  • @yannlandry9242
    @yannlandry9242 21 день тому +61

    Whoa! This is NUTS!! I guess I'm gonna fuse the power lines coming in to my house after this, just in case! This is DEFINITELY going to be a COMPLETE electrical strip down.. That house needs a completely new electrical system, from the panel all the way to the outlets...

    • @ferrisr
      @ferrisr 21 день тому +24

      Your incoming lines are already protected at your first means of disconnect. Fuses wouldn't have helped anything here since the voltage came on on the neutral. And even if it was legal to fuse your neutral (it isn't), I doubt fuses would blow quick enough to make a difference.

    • @Cragified
      @Cragified 21 день тому +5

      Also, fuses are rated at 2x expected maximum current. They do not exist to protect equipment, they exist to stop fires. You don't want momentary high current transients popping fuses all the time.

    • @DozIT
      @DozIT 21 день тому +3

      I wonder if a gateway device (for managing Solar/Battery/Line/Generator) would have protected the equipment in the house - acting as a sacrificial node

    • @PowderMill
      @PowderMill 21 день тому +8

      Even a high quality (I love the Siemens whole house 140) surge protector will melt with such sustained power…
      ESPECIALLY on the neutral! Keep the high-end Federal Pacific panel & breakers to install at your worst enemy’s home, 😉
      Replace EVERY inch of wiring and every device in that premises.
      Should be 100% insurance covered.

    • @mysock351C
      @mysock351C 21 день тому +2

      I had this happen at my grandparents house. All the lightbulbs turned into plasma globes and Jacob’s ladders following a lightning strike (Edit: 2:50 that’s pretty much what it looked like, with lots of flames). If I recall the main transmission line and the feeders made a connection. From what I saw at these voltages and currents there was just no way to break the circuit, and ultimately it came to an end when the molten wires came crashing down into the yard. I think what saved the house was the old fuse board with the Edison style screw in fuses ended up sacrificing itself and flashing over internally, which helped clamp it. At any rate we were without power for quite a while. Needed a new transformer, feeders, disconnect, meter, and panel after that one. Quite a sight, tho.

  • @graywolf2694
    @graywolf2694 21 день тому +12

    wow that means you have to replace EVERYTHING, that sucks. lol yep now that you got a power backup system it never goes out.

    • @ZT_1234
      @ZT_1234 21 день тому +2

      @@graywolf2694 I mean, 14KV or not, that pannel was literally recalled for being a fire hazard, so it had to go anyway

  • @musicnerd72
    @musicnerd72 21 день тому +3

    Flipping insane dude! Gotta love Mother Nature!

  • @timcat1004
    @timcat1004 19 днів тому +2

    Retired CATV tech here. I can tell you that the cable TV/Internet lines will have many blown actives and passives. It probably went for several blocks. It will be awhile before those nodes are back online.

    • @eDoc2020
      @eDoc2020 18 днів тому

      I don't know what providers are in the area but I'd guess a few people will be switched over to fiber to the home.

    • @liam3284
      @liam3284 16 днів тому

      Fibre, nice high voltage insulation between buildings.

  • @ElevatorsWithOwen
    @ElevatorsWithOwen 21 день тому +11

    I live in Florida, we recently had Hurricane Milton. And this is about what my town looked like as well

    • @jcc3279
      @jcc3279 20 днів тому

      I'm also in Florida i'm in the Orlando Area Holy Hell Milton was nuts. I moved from the Detroit Area to the Orlando area about 4 years ago and i rode out Ian, Nicole and Milton. Thank god for my whole house generator.

    • @Jamey_ETHZurich_TUe_Rulez
      @Jamey_ETHZurich_TUe_Rulez 20 днів тому

      most insane thing for me is that your electric company knows you have hurricanes there, yet they still wont put lines under ground. how that even makes sense financially, to repair overhead lines two,three times a year, insane !

    • @WeGoingViral10
      @WeGoingViral10 20 днів тому

      @@Jamey_ETHZurich_TUe_Rulezikr

    • @ElevatorsWithOwen
      @ElevatorsWithOwen 20 днів тому

      @@Jamey_ETHZurich_TUe_Rulez some power lines are underground. Mine is. But only when going into the neighborhood

  • @christopherzatalokin8652
    @christopherzatalokin8652 21 день тому +5

    Crazy, that entire house will need to be rewired. Very smart of you to not touch anything. Even pulling one cover off of an outlet would make you liable for meddling with things.

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +1

      Yeah I'm interested to see if that's the case or not it's a situation I've never dealt with. I'm not sure if some locations can be looked at to check the integrity of the insulation or since it's rating has been exceeded it's got to go.

    • @xnizonyt
      @xnizonyt 21 день тому

      I had an insurance claim from a lightning strike. Luckily didnt need a full rewire but i did get a lot of new IT gear. As long as the adjuster has documented everything you should be good to take a closer peek, but ask the adjuster first.

    • @allangibson8494
      @allangibson8494 20 днів тому

      Insurance claim for “fusion”. Standard house insurance line item.
      Full rewire required…
      Very lucky that it wasn’t a fire claim.

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому

      @@allangibson8494 hopefully they won't require a rewire if the megger test gives fine results.

  • @chadrowland5234
    @chadrowland5234 21 день тому +10

    I have a story about this exact same thing happening. My grandparents lived in a log house back in 1994. In 1997 I believe, they went on a camping trip. Yes, maybe they should have turned off and unplugged everything prior to leaving but who does that? I don't. Anyway, a storm came by while they were gone. Lightning hit the TV antenna on the roof. That lightning traveled down the cable TV line, of course, you know that it melted that. And the TV, of course, you know that it fried it. The lightning then traveled throughout the entire house through the electrical system and took out everything. Washer and dryer, stove, refrigerator so all of the food had to be thrown out, coffee maker, garage door opener, VCR, you name it. Every single last fluorescent light fixture in that house, ballasts had black tar dripping out, ballasts nestled nicely in the potty. Flush it! They lost the whole alarm system. It was a huge mess. And anybody would know that it was academic, all of those things had to be replaced. It even melted the electrical wiring so the house had to be rewired. Bathroom GFCI receptacle, melted. Ceiling fan, gone. That was amazing what lightning can do.

    • @Truckguy1970
      @Truckguy1970 7 днів тому

      Lightning can do some wicked damage! It can actually twist large full I beams. It's been measured in the millions of volts categories

  • @peterking1134
    @peterking1134 21 день тому +19

    All the wiring in the house has to be replaced!

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +4

      It will be left up to the electrical contractor if they find the insulation is no good. I can't say for sure it's integrity.

    • @coreybabcock2023
      @coreybabcock2023 20 днів тому +1

      Definitely

    • @flipschwipp6572
      @flipschwipp6572 19 днів тому +3

      Yes you cant trust anything electrical that was connectet at the time of incident. Safety of Insulation is compromised.

    • @coreybabcock2023
      @coreybabcock2023 19 днів тому

      @flipschwipp6572 definitely agree

    • @DjResR
      @DjResR 11 днів тому

      ​@@nics-systems-electricResidental wiring are rated 500V max, rewire is obligatory or it will cause fire in the future._

  • @anonamouse5917
    @anonamouse5917 День тому

    This is one more reason why trees should not be allowed as close to powerlines as they currently are.

  • @trevorhaddox6884
    @trevorhaddox6884 21 день тому +6

    Some years ago, maybe a decade or more ago, lightning hit the neighbor's yard where they had an electronic dog fence and it backfed though the ground and blew the whole house like that.

  • @BEdmonson85
    @BEdmonson85 12 днів тому

    Wow! That is genuinely terrifying, those folks in that house are so lucky they weren't touching any appliances.

  • @martinaguilar5905
    @martinaguilar5905 20 днів тому +1

    First, the house that had everything electrical shorted by 14,400 volts reminds me of an entire neighborhood that had everything electrical including transformers short out. I was not in the neighborhood but it was big news. The cause was a tree trimmer that had cut a tree branch and the tree branch landed on the power lines including the ones above that are similar to 14,400 volts sending that similar amount throughout the neighborhood blowing lights, shorting out appliances including air conditioners, and even the big transformers on the surface for large buildings including large apartment complexes blew. It was probably in the 90s when this happened and not even surge protectors were spared. All from a tree branch a tree trimmer cut. Second, I had dealt with power outages especially from November to March from storms with gusts powerful enough to knock down trees in 10 years living in the countryside and taking hours for power to be restored. The longest I went through a power outage was 48 hours almost 25 years ago. There was also snow I had experienced every year in the valley when it gets cold enough for valley snow and power outages from the weight of the snow on the trees. Did not have any generator so had to use all that was old fashion to get through the power outages especially the longest I experienced of 48 hours.

  • @MatthijsvanDuin
    @MatthijsvanDuin 18 днів тому

    This makes me glad that here in the Netherlands these cables are always buried. Out of curiosity I did a bit of research and found a press release made a few years ago by the largest dutch utility company (Liander) that their last remaining above-ground power connection to a few homes in the village of Zevenhuizen got destroyed in a storm and was replaced by buried cables. Apparently the next lowest distribution level, mostly 10 kV but up to 23 kV, is also all underground, and even new 50 kV cables get buried (but still has existing above-ground lines).

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  18 днів тому

      There are pros and cons to both we have both here and I've seen both cause lots of problems

    • @MatthijsvanDuin
      @MatthijsvanDuin 18 днів тому

      @@nics-systems-electric It does at least seem much less likely to create hazardous situations compared to having energized bare conductors all over the place. It probably does help that earthquakes are pretty rare here.
      Also, I just discovered I was wrong: apparently the Netherlands _does_ still have some above-ground "low voltage" (

  • @ghostrider-be9ek
    @ghostrider-be9ek 2 дні тому +1

    so glad I left the lower mainland years ago - between the wind storms and multi day power outages, 40 days of rain in a row, and the monster inevitable earthquake (M8-9 ), there is not a lot to like

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  2 дні тому

      Much worth it to me. I wouldn't ever want to live not near the coast. The beauty is worth it.

    • @ghostrider-be9ek
      @ghostrider-be9ek 2 дні тому

      @@nics-systems-electric the beauty of 6 months of grey and drizzle? lol no thanks - Iived 26 years on the wet coast , move across the rockies - never again

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  2 дні тому

      @@ghostrider-be9ek yes all sessions are nice. There is beauty and all of it if you go to the right places.

  • @SWAFanPilot
    @SWAFanPilot 20 днів тому +1

    Welp, that happened. Stay safe Nic!

  • @lelandclayton5462
    @lelandclayton5462 20 днів тому +2

    As a low voltage tech I see stuff like this every year here in Florida. Either from hurricanes or what I call the rain season through August and September when we get a lot of thunderstorms. I've seen alarm keypads blown off the wall, transformers and wallwarts blown apart. Seen homes that are not even a year old get hit like this and I feel for the customer. Spent anywhere to 500,000 to a million on a new home and six months later everything electrical wise blown to hell.

  • @neohistoryfan1014
    @neohistoryfan1014 21 день тому +12

    There's a reason I call the Federal Pacific STAB-LOK "the electrical panel from hell"

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +14

      They aren't good panels however this incident would have happened to any brand.

    • @River-ek7ev
      @River-ek7ev 21 день тому

      I’m back everybody

    • @River-ek7ev
      @River-ek7ev 21 день тому

      @@nics-systems-electric I’m back

    • @KevinLyons-gn7eu
      @KevinLyons-gn7eu 21 день тому

      @@nics-systems-electric what you was it when the power went out when you were a little kid date month number of year

    • @TitaniumTurbine
      @TitaniumTurbine 20 днів тому

      @@KevinLyons-gn7eu What makes you think someone would remember that? Weird question. 😂

  • @firealarm421
    @firealarm421 21 день тому +3

    I’m glad you didn’t lose power at home. Great video too

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +4

      I was hoping I would all day I never get lucky with it.

    • @ZT_1234
      @ZT_1234 21 день тому +3

      Half of Nick would say: "ah dammit"
      The other half would say: "Content"

    • @Defianthuman
      @Defianthuman 21 день тому +1

      @@nics-systems-electric yeah that's me too sometimes all the times we have lost power i didn't have my 1000 watt pure sign wave inverter, and now we never lose power. We also never lost it for more than 4 hours so we didn't need to run the fridge we would just tape it shut.

  • @topher8634
    @topher8634 17 днів тому

    Its a miracle a fire wasn't started. There was a similar scenario where I work back during hurricane Helene. Transmission lines came down feeding one of the facility's transformers. The recloser didn't open all three legs, just one of them-single phasing about 40 3 phase motors and compressors. About half of them went up in smoke because its an old place that has seen many hands over the years and unfortunately the motor starters didn't have the right heaters in them to trip the overload relays in time to save the motor. Some of them were bypassing the overload entirely. Luckily, the refrigeration compressors have an inherent protection built-in to take it offline in the event of an overload. Motor burns inside of a sealed system wreak a lot of havoc.

  • @akana_
    @akana_ 20 днів тому +2

    there was a flying patio table cover that shorted three phases at the white rock substation lol
    never knew you lived in bc! that's awesome tho! i went watching planes struggling to land in the wind at YVR, that was fun. the wind was pretty harsh.

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому +1

      I've Plane spotted at YVR many times definitely would have been fun to watch.

  • @mysock351C
    @mysock351C 21 день тому +1

    I’ve seen this same type of incident first hand. All your outlets and appliances do really, really scary things. Fortunately nobody was hurt here, but it’s not something I will ever forget, and I’m sure they won’t, either.

  • @mikeross880
    @mikeross880 20 днів тому

    Interesting to see that an FPE/Federal Pioneer panel responded but I guess that this was just such an event that even the cheapest of breakers would have tripped anyways.

  • @VitorFM
    @VitorFM 20 днів тому

    Crazy! I was watching this video about power outage, and simply got a power outage myself due to bad weather 😮. At least it was short! P.S.: I live in Brazil

  • @ZT_1234
    @ZT_1234 21 день тому +4

    I mean, that stab lok panel had to be replaced anyway, that in itself is a fire hazard

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +2

      Yes they have a high failure rate there's still millions of them here in Canada.

  • @RoySATX
    @RoySATX 20 днів тому +4

    And people laugh at me for unplugging everything during storms.

    • @kirkanos771
      @kirkanos771 19 днів тому +1

      Not just simply unplugging. But get the stuff away from the plug. So much courant arcs far. And the lines in the wall burn literally.

  • @javaman2883
    @javaman2883 20 днів тому +1

    What really sucks is their insurance will resist paying what they should and will drag it out for at least 6 months.

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому

      Hopefully not, so far they have provided them with an electrical company however they will likely still be without power for a week since this happened.

  • @5Dale65
    @5Dale65 19 днів тому +1

    If this happens never try to unplug anything from the wall. Your equipment would already be long gone at that moment, and if you pull a plug you will draw a high voltage arc that might potentially jump onto your hand and fry you alive. It's pretty scary for someone who lives in Europe, as high voltage lines are mostly well separated from the low voltage distribution part. I heard about such a case once, when a 15kV line went across someones yard and had fallen over the low voltage house feeder line during a storm. The outcome was similiar, most of the sockets had black soot around them, some cables were ripped from the walls, and all electrical equipment was non existent. Fortunatelly this is such a rare condition here, that I have heard about in the main national news programme.

  • @cosmiccolossus668
    @cosmiccolossus668 20 днів тому

    WOW! This storm hit you all on my birthday!

  • @retrozmachine1189
    @retrozmachine1189 21 день тому +6

    I see people talking about fuses, breakers and surge arrestors. There's no practical, as in will work at a price that can be afforded, defence against this for a householder. The only viable option is for the MV to be turned off by the power company when winds exceed a certain speed. This is actually done in areas prone to hurricanes / cyclones. Of course you then get bombarded by people that complain the power is off. Even in places where the neutral is switched (yes the UK and others, I'm looking at you), 14kV is just going to look at the piddly gap that a 240V breaker has and leap across it.

    • @davidmenjivar6328
      @davidmenjivar6328 19 днів тому

      recloser.... on MV line

    • @retrozmachine1189
      @retrozmachine1189 19 днів тому +1

      @@davidmenjivar6328 Umm no. For starters it'll blow the crap out of your installation before it opens the first time. Then it'll close and give the installation another blast. Then depending on the programming it'll do it again. Then after it's completely destroyed everything in your house with 2 or 3 whacks it'll decide, right - I'll stay open this time since we have a hard fault.

    • @liam3284
      @liam3284 16 днів тому +1

      A few options for the utility. Change the transformers to be line to line, add earth fault trip (GFCI) or REFCL to the primary, add circuit breakers or fuses to each section.

    • @retrozmachine1189
      @retrozmachine1189 15 днів тому

      @@liam3284 L-L of the transformer really doesn't make any difference if you still run a grounded neutral in the MV. All of what you've said is still reactive so by the time any of the protection goes off the electrical in the house is still destroyed.

  • @Hyd_mobiletech
    @Hyd_mobiletech 19 днів тому

    Wow, hope y'all okay, I live in the state, September 27th hurricane helene hit me here in South Carolina, was almost out of power for 3 weeks, theres a lot of stuff down still, barely have cable internet lol

  • @Isaacsaviation380
    @Isaacsaviation380 7 днів тому

    Jeez could been a strong hurricane last time on October 9 we had a hurricane name Milton it was a category 5 but hitted us in Florida as a category 4 hurricane lots of flooding lots of power lines down after Milton Florida had 3 million people without power!

  • @DieyoungDiefast
    @DieyoungDiefast 21 день тому +2

    Looking at the damage, I'd say for peace of mind and safety's sake, it's a 100% rewire job.

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому

      Would be interesting to see what happens maybe they can do a megger test and determine the insulation integrity.

  • @JoeCdaYT
    @JoeCdaYT 21 день тому +1

    Well, time for the panel to get replaced under the insurance since it is an old Stab-loc panel.

  • @v12alpine
    @v12alpine 20 днів тому

    Neighbor once lost their nuetral connection at the utility pole, almost everything 120v powered instantly blew up.

  • @RoyHess666
    @RoyHess666 20 днів тому +12

    Nobody is in the school building, still being lit brighter than the surface of the sun -> wasting electrical energy

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому +7

      That is emergency and 24/7 lighting it has to stay on and can't be shut off.

    • @RoyHess666
      @RoyHess666 20 днів тому +2

      @@nics-systems-electric I see this is some regulatory stuff then, still odd that it is so bright, are these at least LED lights and not those old fluorescent ones?

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому +2

      @@RoyHess666 50/50 LED fluorescent. stairwells are required to be 100% illuminated in a power outage and the corridors are 50% of the regular lighting or less. Atrium and large occupancy spaces only have a couple light fixtures on back up lighting probably 20% or less.

    • @atlasz911
      @atlasz911 20 днів тому +3

      It still sounds like a waste over night when nobody is in the building. That generator eat a lot of fuel just to illuminate an empty building. A smaller generator supplying the fridges, alarm and boiler control circuits (if it's a gas boiler) would have saved some money. The big generator could remain fueled for the case there is a need to evacuate people into the school or to power the building during school hours.

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому +4

      @@atlasz911 It's already a relatively small generator. It's only powering life safety. No HVAC as the air to water heat pumps, which are the primary source consume a lot of power. Running the emergency lighting is only 30% of the generators total capacity. Running all of the emergency lighting only consumes about 23 A but needs to be capable of running the atrium smoke exhaust fan system in case of a fire.

  • @lukedavis436
    @lukedavis436 20 днів тому

    Good god!, hopefully they didn't have anything vintage plugged in at the time as there's a very slim chance insurance will be able to replace it.

  • @RailBuffRob
    @RailBuffRob 16 днів тому

    I live in a city where the majority of intersections are 4-way-stop, maybe 20% of drivers have a clue what to do, most seem to think that stopping for half a second gives them total right of way regardless of other traffic.

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  16 днів тому

      Is it not first to get there has right of way after stopping?

    • @RailBuffRob
      @RailBuffRob 15 днів тому

      @@nics-systems-electric That's the law, nobody including cops cares about that. These days, if you stop for half a second, every other driver at that intersection is violating your rights by existing and needs to be put in their place.

  • @TheLiamerator
    @TheLiamerator 20 днів тому

    Down here in south africa, specifically the province of Eastern Cape, there are many traffic lights that are out, mostly due to rampant copper theft, leaving many intersections without power, for years, still no one uses them as 4 way stops

  • @hygri
    @hygri 20 днів тому

    Wow, what a mess. That poor house... no way that'll pass a megger test. Even if it's mostly OK the insulation will still be damaged, lucky the house is OK! Great report, a follow up would be interesting

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому +1

      Yeah it would be interesting to find out what the megger test shows if they go ahead and do that.

    • @hygri
      @hygri 20 днів тому

      ​@@nics-systems-electric Would be... probably a dead short 😬

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому

      @@hygri I wouldn't be surprised by anything I've seen 600 V from a fluorescent ballast cause a mess with 300 V insulation can't imagine how it would handle 14,400 lol

    • @hygri
      @hygri 20 днів тому

      @@nics-systems-electric Probably not well eh, I'm imagining lots of pinhole shorts everywhere - what a mess. The arc flash says it all, that must have been terrifying.

  • @aksuarez
    @aksuarez 17 днів тому

    When I bought my home in 2007 (my father was an electrical engineer and I was slave labor until I graduated college) it had some knob and tube...So, since I was replacing it, I upgraded to 200amps, buried the power lines (SEC), then bonded the grounded connector at a Safe Disconnect I installed right after the meter. Then wired the rest of the home (main panel which was now a subpanel etc.). Well, I bought the BAD WOLF Surge Arrestor (on steroids, even for EMP, nuclear joules level, for about $250) and installed it at the Safe Disconnect (to meet any voltage tsunami even before it entered my home), then another surge protector for 80,000, at the first panel (distribution), then two subpanels after that one, each with another surge protector. I also tied the neutral to the gas ad water lines. Then, in heavy appliances, I bought a surge protected outlet (not GFCI, SURGE). We has a nasty storm in 2013, insurance had to pay for replacing my roof shingles...BUT NO DAMAGE INSIDE, NONE! My electrical system as intact. Yet, five of my neighbors fried their homes and I could see trucks taking out drywall and replacing wires for weeks afterwards.
    I knew if the BAD WOLF was not enough (it was), then whatever leftover reached my first electrical panel would be much less, and so on. Also, being a bad storm, I turned off the breakers for the AC, dryer, Etc. If OFF, then the path is interrupted and will not reach those appliances.

  • @LawsonandMiley
    @LawsonandMiley 21 день тому

    Hey NIC for November testing for garage doa detector in the generator room and for house pull by the Fire panel.

  • @Sotzrem2007
    @Sotzrem2007 18 днів тому

    Same day blew out my UPS on my server that night. Fried 1 pc power supply, thankfully no data lost. Live in the same city on the island.

  • @FI-TECH-250
    @FI-TECH-250 21 день тому +7

    Horrible, but cool. Imagine telling someone "You got a 230v service? W E A K. I HAVE A FUGGIN 14,4KV SERVICE!" if you accually had devices for that voltage, the effinciency would be insane!

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +6

      That shit comes in on the neutral so you ain't even paying for it either haha

    • @FI-TECH-250
      @FI-TECH-250 21 день тому +4

      @@nics-systems-electric QUICK, CHARGE THE BATTERIES ( with a 15kv step down module ofc lol)

    • @aaronjamt
      @aaronjamt 21 день тому +3

      ​@@nics-systems-electricProblem is you'd still have to ground off something, likely the hot, so you'd still be sending it through the meter. Although, it'd be going backwards, at really high voltage... I wonder how many kWh your meter would rewind by from that, lol

    • @liam3284
      @liam3284 16 днів тому +1

      it goes back on the hot, to the transformer ground. It's probably toast too.

    • @Jon-hx7pe
      @Jon-hx7pe 8 днів тому

      @@nics-systems-electric need to not report it and buy own step-down transformer for free electricity!

  • @ATSNorthernMI
    @ATSNorthernMI 21 день тому +3

    What happened to the grounding system in the house? There could've been some resistance from corrosion of an older grounding system that it couldn't handle enough current and voltage to blow the fuse on the primary before it cooked everything. Those FPE panels are dangerous themselves, surprised the breakers tripped at all. Had a similar incident where a house that had one of those panels was hit by lightening and stuff like that happened when they still had power. None of the breakers tripped and it actually started a fire in the living room because of electrical outlets cooking in the walls arching out. The home owner and wife watched their brand new at the time flat screen tv show a lighting bolt through the center before it blew out the screen and said the receptacles all the way along with walls had sparks and flames shooting out. It would be at least a complete tear out and rewire.

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +4

      I don't think grounding system would have helped regardless of its condition. The grounding system alone I don't think would stand a chance to trip that line. That line feeds over 3000 customers it's a major feeder. I've seen tests done with a grounding system by itself without neutral often doesn't even trip a 15 amp breaker. The neutral/multi grounded system of the utility is in my opinion the only thing that would trip it and those older lines did not have their neutral as frequently grounded. And I would think it's pretty undersized for a primary conductor supplying such a large part of the city to come in contact with it it's resistance was probably way too high to trip quick enough.

    • @stillthakoolest
      @stillthakoolest 21 день тому +2

      Yeah im curious what the electrodes in use were. Maybe water or ground rods? The grounding electrode system is designed to deal with this sort of thing, though its not perfect. Even at a few hundred ohms resistance to earth, there should be enough current to flow to trip the primary breakers at 14,400V. (Wouldnt do anything at 120 or 240, of course), but of course thats an ideal situation and there are so many variables at play, including time​@@nics-systems-electric

  • @theonewhowas7709
    @theonewhowas7709 20 днів тому

    nov 4th.. even here in alabama.. the wind was blowing like crazy.. i had my window open cause it was feeling nice.. and all sudden.. got gusts all night like crazy... i was like WOW

  • @Josb_Bluebird2143
    @Josb_Bluebird2143 20 днів тому

    I think its odd that all of the lights in the school came on when the power was out and they stayed on. Back on June 22nd 2016 my parents have a huge oak tree in their front yard, it got struck by lightning. Fried a bunch of electronics like our TV, router/modem, printer and a stereo I had. It even set our smoke detectors off. Scares the crap out of you when you are asleep and then hear a loud clap of thunder and them smoke alarms. That was fun!

    • @liam3284
      @liam3284 16 днів тому

      Was at parents house in the country, lightning struck and the security alarm sounded. Wall panel was displaying "FIRE". opened the main board and no smoke/fire input was even wired to it (?!). Had to cut power and remove the battery to stop it sounding. Fortunately nothing else was damaged.

  • @UKsystems
    @UKsystems 21 день тому +1

    This is why it is recommended to have arc flash gear on if the panel is not isolated external as it can happen in your face in the event of this issue surge protection could help but it is a very special industrial version.

  • @mina47879
    @mina47879 17 днів тому

    I think a surge protector would have "worked" in the sense that it would have blown the surge protector into little bits along with everything else in the house lmao.
    Surge protectors usually use Metal Oxide Varistors, basically reaistors that become a short above a voltage threshold to cap spikes. So they will work in both directions not just one.

  • @bradwilmot5066
    @bradwilmot5066 17 днів тому

    You are correct that a surge protector would not have done anything (except become another grenade when the 14.4k flashed over inside it as well)... In fact, it might have made it worse, as the MOVs would have briefly shunted the 14.4k even more directly onto the hot conductors (before the MOVs finished vaporizing...).

  • @dashcamandy2242
    @dashcamandy2242 21 день тому +2

    18:32 - We have the law on the books in Connecticut, and I can't imagine it NOT being a law in all the other states, that you treat a non-functioning/malfunctioning traffic signal as an "all-ways stop." I can't tell you how many times I've almost been rear-ended for stopping at a traffic signal that has no power, even when public works puts out portable "STOP" signs in the street itself.
    18:41 - And that's pretty much what I shout, almost word-for-word, although there's usually an obscenity or three thrown in for good measure. Of course, I'm in a car with the windows mostly-up. 😆
    19:28 - I appreciate the fact that the pump house isn't built to look like Generic Pump House.
    19:55 - Hey, buddy, where you gonna charge that Tesla right now, eh? 🤪 (I'm part Canadian, I can say that, right?)
    My house has ~300' buried feed, I've never felt better about that than I do after a major storm. Trees can fall in the woods, trees can fall across the driveway, but I don't have to worry about the power lines. As long as the neighbors who back out of their driveway at 20 MPH at 6 AM without looking have power, we have power. 😆

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +1

      Yup same thing here nonfunctional traffic lights is to be used as a four-way stop. There are so many idiots out there though I'll just stop and then go and make the other is not stopping have to do it very abruptly.

    • @jacksonledford6874
      @jacksonledford6874 20 днів тому

      No it depends on the intersection. If im going down a 5 or 6 lane mahor roadway im not going to stop for every little light esecially when i see there is nobody on either side of that intersection. And at large intersections at heavy traffic you need to go in groups of 2 to 4 cars to get though with any efficiency

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому +1

      @@jacksonledford6874 well if you try that here you are probably going to get hit.

  • @All_ConsumingBandu
    @All_ConsumingBandu 21 день тому +2

    Here in Alberta, I feel lucky and thankful that I have never lost power once for as long as I lived here, especially because my smoke detectors are not battery backup which is very bad. Also is monthly testing on Saturday?

  • @FOHGeek
    @FOHGeek 18 днів тому

    Surge absorbers might help reducing damage of sudden HV intrusion into mains system. When the voltage goes beyond a certain value, it immediate shorts out and bypasses almost all the HV current directly to the ground before the main breaker pops.

    • @liam3284
      @liam3284 16 днів тому

      The problem is "gound" must take the primary fault current. The ground conductor will probably melt.

    • @FOHGeek
      @FOHGeek 16 днів тому

      @@liam3284 The ground conductor only need to hold this current for a fraction of second before the main breaker senses the abnormal current and block all the following high voltage crap outta the circuit.

  • @Spechtlerimwald
    @Spechtlerimwald 21 день тому

    Woow. At least the meter also is zapped and probably no more metering until everything fixed.

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +1

      I was thinking about that and thought the metre might've actually made it out ok since it doesn't have any neutral connection just the two hot legs.

    • @Spechtlerimwald
      @Spechtlerimwald 19 днів тому

      @@nics-systems-electric If it's a electronic/smart meter, it reallly should have a connection to neutral,....

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  19 днів тому

      @@Spechtlerimwald yes they are all smart metres and I've never seen one connected to neutral.

  • @josefmazzeo6628
    @josefmazzeo6628 20 днів тому

    The voltage was so high, the outlets made a scary face 😲.

  • @West_Kootenay_railfan
    @West_Kootenay_railfan 21 день тому +1

    Holy shit, hope ya'll are ok.

  • @nightmareinaction629
    @nightmareinaction629 16 днів тому

    This makes me want to add a tvs on my likes i got some huge indistrial ones for solar inverters these will surely blow ip but will also trip the breakers saving my equipment.

  • @KB99KraYziE
    @KB99KraYziE 19 днів тому

    I believe that if I had had, as a common norm in Europe, for over 40 years, a system with, not only magnetothermal circuit breakers, but with a GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupter), it would have cut off earlier and would not have gone around the house in the hope that everywhere it would discharge to the ground....

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  19 днів тому +1

      Any breakers would be useless if they trip or not 14,400 V will have no problem jumping the small gap of the contacts.

    • @KB99KraYziE
      @KB99KraYziE 19 днів тому

      @@nics-systems-electric closing and interrupting power, of a GFCI has protected the house without flames from sockets and switches, but obviously not the majority of electronic equipment, about twenty years ago, someone who lived 500 meters from my native house, who gets the 15000 volts line dropped down due to falling trees caused by a violent thunderstorm with a whirlwind, from a 15k V line used by a near small textile twisting factory. The GFCI had literally exploded, despite the fact that the protection current is normally for household GFCI, 6000 or 10000 Amperes (it is the thing that is put first, and after, the circuit breakers) and at least, in Europe, since they have existed when lightning strikes inside the line electric, at least the electrical system saves it.

  • @DrHarryT
    @DrHarryT 19 днів тому

    Surge protectors are for relatively small voltage fluctuations under 100V. 14KV with massive current available is WAY beyond the capability of standard household circuits and devices.

  • @jimmydandy9364
    @jimmydandy9364 6 днів тому

    FPE has a solid reputation as Fire Producing Electric. I'm surprised many of the likes of these dbs have gotten away with it, just like Zinsco and the rest.

  • @DigitalIP
    @DigitalIP 20 днів тому

    Good example of how unplugging your stuff can be a good idea. So heres something im curious about.. With all that being affected, had the breaker been off for say certain rooms or for certain equipment, would that have protected anything or would it not have mattered with such a large surge?

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому +1

      I am almost positive, no matter what position the breaker is in it would not have made a difference. Not only it's coming in on the neutral so once it gets to the breaker it's already gone through all your equipment and stuff. But 14,400 V can definitely jump a pretty large gap, much larger than the open contacts in the breaker. Therefore it would jump that no problem and it would make the breaker effectively irrelevant.

  • @RJARRRPCGP
    @RJARRRPCGP 19 днів тому

    August 4, 2023=Had lightning that almost hit the house, multiple times!

  • @the333ryan
    @the333ryan 21 день тому

    Welcome to what my town looked like after the October 2021 nor'easter (it was bad, a utility pole was broken straight in half not far up the street from my house due to a massive tree)

  • @m9ovich785
    @m9ovich785 21 день тому

    Why Censor Signs ???
    ANd if that School was concerned about Fuel, why did the leave so much lights on

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +1

      To help maintain some privacy. I would recommend you watch my videos on testing the emergency generator system. Those lights are essential emergency lighting they cannot be turned off. The school has no control over the lights or the fuel situation. That is the job of management to fill it when told by the electricians which they were told but did not get it refilled.

  • @NSaw1
    @NSaw1 21 день тому

    A whole house surge protector doesn't care if the surge is on the neutral or hot. All it does is keep the voltage down between it's terminals to reduce the spikes.
    Although it *might* have helped a tinny bit, there's not hardly anything that can keep thousands of amps at 14kv from blowing everything up, including a surge protector lol
    Surge protectors aren't a reliable protection from constant high voltage, or direct lightning strikes. (Some are, but not the regular residential surge protectors)
    It really only helps for surges from line or tap switching or other smaller voltage surges.

    • @allangibson8494
      @allangibson8494 20 днів тому

      Actual lightning protectors are available but the duration of a HV fault to distribution would probably destroy those too. Lightning strikes don’t last longer than seconds and this sounds like the HV didn’t have earth fault detection.

  • @rarelampcollector
    @rarelampcollector 16 днів тому

    Even if it were code approved to have functional breakers or fuses on both the hot and neutrals (this means NOT Federal Pacific Electric or Zinsco) complete with whole home surge, protection, with a sustained 14,440 volts on the neutral, it's still very unlikely any electrical items in the home would have survived.
    Fun fact: In the U.S., some very old electrical systems installed in the 1930s and earlier, had a double fused system (Edison base fuse on the hot and neutral of each circuit) . This was deemed very unsafe, because a blown, loose or missing neutral fuse will cause everything on that circuit stop working, leading the homeowner or electrician to start fiddling around with what appears to be a dead circuit that is in fact, live at 120 volts relative to ground, and because wiring systems of this vintage were two wire with no equipment ground, whoever is working on it becomes the path to ground.

  • @CapStar362
    @CapStar362 21 день тому +1

    "That turbo is probably red hot, you never want to shut down a hot turbo like that"
    Genny shuts down due to low fuel
    Nic - Well shit LOL
    ------
    Also - Nic, you have quite possibly the LARGEST highschool i have ever seen in my life. there are some big ones near me in Atlanta GA, but not even close to your former HS's campus.
    MY LORD

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому +2

      Yes more reasons management should listen to the guys that work on this stuff when they suggest to refill it so there isn't a repeat of last time but of course what do the guys in the field know…

    • @CapStar362
      @CapStar362 21 день тому +1

      @@nics-systems-electric you have no idea how many times ive been down that argument as well, management exists to manage things, based on information received from the experts who facilitate your management.
      You wouldn't have anything to manage if it wasn't for us tradesmen!

  • @75sRax
    @75sRax 16 днів тому

    ElectroBOOM would love 14kv at his disposal

  • @hotpuppy1
    @hotpuppy1 День тому

    Going to be expensive. EVERYTHING will needs to be replaced>>>wiring included.

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  День тому

      They would've done a megger insulation test and I think the wiring was fine.

  • @gallowaylights
    @gallowaylights 20 днів тому +1

    00:17:00 Why are we illuminating an empty school? 😮

  • @r3tr0nic
    @r3tr0nic 14 днів тому

    A whole house surge would not of made a difference here, not with the fault energy amount available in this scenario. The 120/240V secondary of a transformer has it's neutral earthed, and that is ultimately where the 14kV is looking to go. The neutral on the secondary is centre tapped, so the two 120V legs are essentially parallel paths back to earth, going through the transformer windings being one path, and any load (dryer, devices, lights, everything) being each multiple additional paths. Does not matter which primary phase shorted to neutral; The result would be the same since the neutral/earth is common between all primary phases and secondary. There are so many parallel paths, and a typical electrical system to a house has multiple bonding/earthing points. The result is a complex matrix of paths, and makes for an interesting fault case study. Some paths would have greater energy then others. Surge protectors are almost always just MOVs, and they would of just burnt up/exploded instantly much like the dryer and boombox power supply and would have had basically no effect. The sheer amount of energy available on primary lines is intense (just look at all the videos out there of arcing and faults). Electricity demands so much respect

  • @arp_catchall
    @arp_catchall 20 днів тому

    Stay away from switches/receptacles during storms. My neighbor got killed after lightning strike hit their supply pole.

  • @rovitogaming
    @rovitogaming 21 день тому

    We have underground power lines here, so that provides some piece of mind

  • @solawiking
    @solawiking 20 днів тому +1

    The electrical grid in Scandinavia is better designed
    400 V 3Phace in the homes
    HV poverlines are on different places
    In rural areas all is in the ground

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому +2

      I'm not sure what you mean by being on different phases as every line in a three phase system is a different phase. The thing is the cost involved with bearing everything underground is massive so in rural and non-densely populated areas it's not realistic. Especially in a country many many times larger than Scandinavia.

    • @wired-up
      @wired-up 19 днів тому

      @@nics-systems-electric He said different Places. Not running high and low voltage lines on the same poles.

  • @bdblazer6400
    @bdblazer6400 20 днів тому

    SPD would go short circuit over all legs and dissapate current so the voltage would not build up a differentcial. If there are many kilo amps it will blow up.

  • @MadScientistsLair
    @MadScientistsLair 18 днів тому

    A distribution circuit (MV/HV) shorting to a utilization circuit (LV) is the worst case scenario surge. It's only 14.4kV vs the megavolt+ that a direct lightning hit can deliver, but unlike a lightning strike, the surge lasts not microseconds but many milliseconds, causing the total energy delivered to the house to be much higher. It likely sounded like several small bombs went off in that house. The entire house needs to be rewired; the insulation in the cables is almost certainly damaged, especially where the cable makes a sharp bend. Time of exposure greatly affects the severity of insulation breakdown and this surge, as previously stated, was long in duration.
    The house's grounding isn't to blame really; even if it was up to code it wouldn't have a low enough impedance to shunt that much current to ground without massive voltage drops across the grounding electrode system. Only a ring ground with huge conductors (AWG 4/0+) with multiple rods would have given this house's electrical system a snowball's chance in Hell. Such a grounding system would cost you at least half of the house's entire rewire budget so they're only installed for critical infrastructure or such as the substation itself, radio towers, telephone exchanges, datacenters etc.
    Are there any surge protectors that would have helped? Perhaps, but they probably cost more than the downstream device you're trying to protect in most homes and it would have likely only worked on circuits far from the panel. Depending on how fast the upstream fuse on the 14.4kV side popped, a VERY LARGE (rated for several kJ on a slow waveform, likely needing to be custom built) surge suppressor may have reduced damage if installed on a lower capacity downstream circuit. The down stream circuit's own impedance would limit the fault current and the receptacles themselves would arc over and reduce energy and voltage delivered to the load. This also explains why UL does not test 120V plug in surge suppressors beyond 6kV; the receptacle just won't deliver more than 6kV before it arcs over and acts as a shunt mode surge suppressor itself!

  • @jfbeam
    @jfbeam 20 днів тому +1

    Just like any built into their various power strips and UPSes, a whole home filter would just be one more smoking thing in the house. (or more likely "pile of charred black bits") No surge suppressor technology in existence would've helped here. Even OPENING the main breaker would not have helped. 14kV will arc right the f... across those breakers, and even the bus bars behind them.
    (Looking at the box of Square D breakers here, they're rated to 10k AMPS, not VOLTS. And they're not rated for DC, either - they depend on the zero-crossing point of AC to quench any arc.)

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому +1

      I agree 100%. I've had lots of comments saying a surge protector would help but I'm not sure I can agree.

    • @jfbeam
      @jfbeam 20 днів тому

      @@nics-systems-electric Did that house have any power strips with surge limiters? Pry one open and be amazed at the circuit that's no longer there. Yes, they're "designed for million volt lightning!" but not on the ground/neutral - and not a direct strike, which as you've said, is where those things are going to try to put all that excess energy. If you get the chance, cut some of those breakers apart, and get pictures of the bus bars behind them. (14.4kV can arc nearly 1.5" - over 3.5cm)

  • @VOLTRONDEFENDER4440
    @VOLTRONDEFENDER4440 21 день тому

    Geeze yesterday night I had a power outage and it wasent form a storm and it fluctuates on off then complety off before PG&E managed to fully restore it

  • @Computergk91Gaming
    @Computergk91Gaming 21 день тому

    After Helene came our area we were without for a week with no generator because my dad did not to have to deal with fueling a portable generator

  • @thephantom1492
    @thephantom1492 3 дні тому

    Surge protectors are not for high energy events of long duration. They are for low energy short evernts. If a powersupply get ripped open (JBL psu) then the event is way too high in energy.
    Surge protector in powerbars are usually fused at 2A or so.
    Panel wide goes to a breaker. Like a 30A. If multiple breakers got tripped, it would have also tripped the surge one, and allowed the surge to pass fully.
    Then, a breaker is designed to cut 120V, not 14.4kV. When it would trip, it would continue to arc internally, allowing the current to still flow. So the breakers won't do much protections.

  • @chuckr7871
    @chuckr7871 20 годин тому

    I would question whether the grounding bond was adequate and up to code with the correct gauge wire.

  • @leggysoft
    @leggysoft 21 день тому

    This is why floating with tied fuses is so much better.

    • @ZT_1234
      @ZT_1234 21 день тому +1

      @@leggysoft it's 14KV, a little fuse won't do anything. Because electricity can, and will find a path

  • @danielelise7348
    @danielelise7348 14 днів тому

    In short,no a surge arrester would not do anything in this case.

    • @Манлетопия
      @Манлетопия 7 днів тому

      maybe if it has a failure mode where the unit cuts the power like the tripp lite brand does

  • @sqeekykleen49
    @sqeekykleen49 19 днів тому

    We have 13,600 7200 wait maybe 13,200 7,600 volts newton iowa..... When in California 34,500...spicy LA shit! Hey anyone remember an old 80s movie PULSE?

  • @mfbfreak
    @mfbfreak 20 днів тому

    4 way stops aren't sensible because it requires stopping in all situations. 'Yield to traffic coming from your right' makes more sense, or if there is a small road crossing a large road, 'yield' signs on the smaller road, making the large one a priority road.
    I don't drive in the americas, but it took me forever to understand what a 4 way stop is, being used to intersections where people can continue at moderate speed.
    Stop signs exist here - but they are equal to a yield sign, but with a mandatory 'come to a full stop'. Whereas 'yield' means that you can continue at moderate speed if there is no traffic to yield to.

  • @patrickstahl2006
    @patrickstahl2006 20 днів тому

    1:04 Naah bro why does the front of that red thing look like a Genesis speaker strobe 😭

  • @dvljet
    @dvljet 21 день тому

    Odd last i knew from a lineman the primary lines are 7,200 volts each at least for homes and when a tree brings down the lines usually a fuse on the pole will blow or if its equiped with reclosers they will try 3 times before locking out and automatically send a signal to the power company stating a problem on the lines . the primary lines sound to me like they werent tied correctly to the pole insulators because thats far to much slack for those lines to reach the triplex .

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  21 день тому

      7200 V is also a common voltage, probably more common than the higher than regular 14,400 here. And if the line was straight it probably wouldn't have dropped enough to hit the triplex. However it was around a curve on the road and it was pushed by the tree towards the inside of the curve.

  • @lawrencecavens5760
    @lawrencecavens5760 20 днів тому

    That Whole house will have to be rewired, actually will have to be opened up wall after wall and inspected and stripped out the old wire and every thing replaced to bring it back to code...Wire/Panel/Power meter/ all the junction boxes/switches/plugs and not to mention all the appliances will be destroyed/ Everything electrical will be destroyed - Im surprised the house didn't burn down with that kinda power surging through it..Holy Power Spikes!!🤯

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  20 днів тому +1

      That may be the case, will depend on the results of the megger test I would assume to verify the condition of the insulation however, most appliances and panel and devices likely will need to be replaced definitely.

  • @flipschwipp6572
    @flipschwipp6572 19 днів тому

    Why does a school have to be lighted this much in an outage at night

    • @nics-systems-electric
      @nics-systems-electric  19 днів тому

      Stairwells are legally required to be 100% illuminated. The corridors in this school are 50% or less illuminated and large occupancy areas many are 20% or less illuminated. Not much is actually illuminated other than what legally has to be.

  • @retrostudio5600
    @retrostudio5600 20 днів тому

    The Voltage Is SO HIGH That it will blow up and damage your machines.

    • @allangibson8494
      @allangibson8494 20 днів тому

      It will also destroy equipment with the circuit breakers OPEN through over current damage.