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#3710 09/27/01 07:49 PM
Joined: Aug 2001
Posts: 7,520
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Quote
Originally posted by NJwirenut:

I have noticed that line crews often connect temporary grounds to deenergized lines that they are working on, to prevent problems from this kind of coupling (or in case a dispatcher at the substation decides to heat up the line before the work is completed!).

There's also the occasional idiot who decides to fire-up a private generator connected to his house wiring during an outage, and forgets to disconnect from the incoming service first.

One question folks: What's a "Wiggy" ?

#3711 09/27/01 08:04 PM
Joined: Sep 2001
Posts: 806
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At least in the US, permanently-installed generators are SUPPOSED to be connected through a "transfer switch" which prevents "backfeeding" the utility grid. Of course, the incorrect connections outnumber the code-compliant ones by a considerable margin! [Linked Image] The usual illegal setup is a "suicide cord" with 2 male plugs, connected between the generator and a nearby outlet. A serious hazard to the user, as well as utility repair crews.

A "Wiggy" is a solenoid type voltage tester which electricians have been using for years. Less precise than a DMM, but more rugged and less susceptible to false readings and electrical noise due to a low input impedance. Picture/description available at:
http://www.mytoolstore.com/klein/69115.html

#3712 09/27/01 09:42 PM
Joined: May 2001
Posts: 30
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So in reality you could install a large ballast type grid (what the heck would that be?) on the ground below a high tension line and get free power for your house by inductance? Obviously this would only last till the PoCo would come knocking on you door. Uh-Oh.

#3713 09/27/01 10:30 PM
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On the temporary grounding of transmission lines..... don't forget the potential lightning strike 300 miles away! that could travel down the line and ruin someone's day.

#3714 09/28/01 02:56 AM
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Quote
Originally posted by NJwirenut:
At least in the US, permanently-installed generators are SUPPOSED to be connected through a "transfer switch" which prevents "backfeeding" the utility grid.

Same requirement by the IEE here: D.P. switch to transfer both hot & neutral. There aren't too many people with generators, but the lash-ups used with them are sometimes frightening!

Thanks form the link on the "Wiggy." It makes perfect sense now, but it's just a name I'd never seen over here before.

#3715 09/28/01 08:46 PM
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>don't forget the potential lightning strike 300 miles away!

I really doubt it. Lightning is a fairly localized phenomenon. It won't travel 300 miles because it strikes very near to (i.e., with 10 miles of) the highest potential.

It will jump the 30' from the pole to ground rather than travel 30 miles to a utility worker.

However, you could say 'lightning 5 miles away' and be quite correct.

#3716 09/28/01 08:53 PM
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Anonymous
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>So in reality you could install a large ballast type grid ... on the ground below a high tension line and get free power for your house by inductance?
No, not really.

If you tried to extract the energy over a long distance, your losses from resistance would be to great.

If you tried to extract energy from a short distance, your current flow would be too low.

You would need a Ferris wheel winding or something like that under the wire so that your parasitic windings would be cutting through the magnetic field. You gain would be eated up by losses to rotate the Ferris wheel.

The power company would not notice the loss.

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