ECN Forum Forums Photo Discussion Forums Photos for General Discussion Electricity on San Andres

Are you kidding me? So Cal Edison here in sunny California has had a major love affair with 3 wire delta primaries for years!! There are always exceptions, though: my palatial estate (ok, the dump I live in) is served with a 4kv wye primary, (feeding an unfused transformer!) but there is a 34.5kv class delta primary over it, which serves a lot of the neighboring homes.

But if you're in the LADWP area, I think most of their service was/is wye. Any POCO guys here who can confirm/deny this?

I cringe at the idea of trying to close in those cutouts! Who knows what's on the other end of that UG drop?

I must admit, that i was also in temptation to organize an isolated rod, close the cutouts and see or hear, what happens ... but the imagination of making experiences with columbian jails just let me refrain from this idea

Regards

Herrmann

Tony,
I'd venture to say that there's more than likely a HV step-down transformer on the end of it.
One thing that line workers hate to turn up to is a pole with all three drop-outs fallen, it's a worry!.

Hi Mike;

yeah, I've been around when those cutouts blow under fault and also when an unfortunate lineman reclosed one into a bad transformer. We both let loose with some colorful language in that event.

One thing I've always wondered..would it be possible to make a cutout "fault indicating"?

For example, plug fuses in homes, when blown, could give clues as to the nature of the problem. A clear window with a broken link was usually just an overload, while a blackened window indicated a short.

Seems that these line cutouts simply drop open no matter what happened, giving no clue as to the nature of the fault.

Or maybe the links used in the cutouts could somehow be modified to tell the tale?

Hmmmmmmmm.......

The end result, if you survived, would most likely be a very loud boom and some serious damage to your eyes and undergarments.

In any event I think the colombian jails would be the least of your worries.

The dropouts will certainly show if they have exploded under a major fault or some overload or corrosion.
In the first case the fuse cartridge has just completely exploded and ripped the connecting wires away.
Under ageing or small overload most of the remains are still with the ddo.

Thanks for that explanation, Rodalco.

Can you usually tell from the ground, or do you have to bring the door down to get a closer look?

Tony,
What usually happens here with these drop-out fuses, is you put the hook end of your telescopic hotstick, through the loop on the fuse body and push it upwards to release it from the bottom of the fuse trunion, it can then be bought down to where you are on the ground with the stick.
It's easier to do than actually explain.