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Joined: Jul 2002
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Trumpy Offline OP
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I've been manning the radio gear at the local Civil Defence Comms room for the last two days and from reports given from the response teams working around the district (checking on the elderly and rural folks) the damage sustained from this storm is a lot worse than first thought.
Now that the snow is starting to melt, there have been a couple of bridges washed out, poles and lines draped over roads and the biggest problem we have with the loss of supply to the rural areas is the fact that the majority of people use electricity to power submersible well pumps, so if you have no power, you also have no supply of water either. [Linked Image]
Electricity Ashburton has Line Crews in from as far away as Wellington working here to get our HV network up and running again, with local crews and Faults staff performing the isolation and tagging of damaged lines.
It's a very slow process, but we'll get there in the end.
I just hope that the next dump of snow that they are predicting for tomorrow/Monday, never eventuates.
Everyone down here that I've seen lately looks really worn out, another dump of snow would not be good at all.
I'll keep you posted. [Linked Image]

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The U.K. is quite a way north. Even the most southerly point in England is only at approx. 50 degrees N, roughly on a level with Winnepeg, Manitoba. The Shetlands Islands, the farthest northern extent of Scotland are beyond 60 degrees, level with the Yukon Territory and the southern tip of Greenland.

It's only the Gulf Stream which keeps the country as mild as it is. Without that, we'd be much colder in winter.


[This message has been edited by pauluk (edited 06-17-2006).]

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Trumpy Offline OP
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Paul,
I've always wondered about that.
As in how far you guys in England, Ireland and Scotland are from the North Pole.
I always thought that you guys were closer to it, than say we were to the South Pole?.
I've never really sort of looked into it. [Linked Image]

[This message has been edited by Trumpy (edited 06-17-2006).]

Joined: Jul 2002
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Trumpy Offline OP
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This just in:
A home-owner up-country from here has had his Service Line cut after it was found that his Generator was found to be back-feeding the LV lines outside of his property.
A Faultsman doing tests on the lines to effect a disconnection found that 1 phase was still live, even though the ABS's (Air Break Switches) had been opened at each end of the block circuit.
The Faultsman then cut the Service Line away from the pole at the take off point.
Charges are pending.
This is the last hour of work for the Lines Crews here.
It will cost a lot to get the power re-instated.
My heart bleeds. [Linked Image]

Joined: Sep 2003
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Backfeeding? Was there a reason for this? [Linked Image]

Sorry, but I can only think of not wanting to pay for an authorized install. A diy mess-up.

Gene


[This message has been edited by GeneSF (edited 06-17-2006).]

Joined: Mar 2005
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Hi Mike!
By Gad, it's 90F today, but with a nice breeze coming across the bocage.
We're growing melons, yum! yum!

You wrap up warm now!

Alan


Wood work but can't!
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Trumpy Offline OP
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Gene,
Back-feeding is one of the most un-desirable situations that can happen in a power distribution network.
Considering that the guy used a "Suicide cord" to power his house, without bothering to shut the Main Switch off before starting the Generator, I hope that this guy gets all that is coming to him.
If I had have been the faultsman attending to this, the guy would have got a bloody good dressing down thrown in for free!.
It's bad enough enough that we should have to work out in freezing and wet conditions, being electrocuted by some numb-skull, isn't part of our working conditions.
I'd also back the faultsman up on cutting the Service Line away from the pole, I'd do the same thing.
This guy, if he doesn't go to prison, will be at the BOTTOM of the re-connection list, where he belongs.

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Trumpy Offline OP
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Alan,
I wonder why we can put a man on the moon, but we can't make a melon without seeds?.
Melon sales would hit the roof, if there were no seeds in them.
I know I'd be buying, I love watermelon, the seeds I hate.

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Quote
I've always wondered about that.
As in how far you guys in England, Ireland and Scotland are from the North Pole.
I always thought that you guys were closer to it, than say we were to the South Pole?

We are. By my reckoning, even Stewart Island barely makes 47 degrees S. If you transpose that to 47 deg. N., you end up just south of the Loire Valley in France, or about level with Quebec City, Canada for our North American readership.

Auckland at around 37 deg. S. would equate to southern Spain or Richmond, Va. in the northern hemisphere.

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