Astoria Arc Fault and Manhattan West Side Outage

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I still miss my old appliances

Those too.  Wish I had my 1973 Panasonic twintub back.

 

Besides the nostalgia, there were practical elements.  That machine doubled my salary in return for reducing its failure rate from

1 commercial lost per day, to 1 per week.  The chief kept records of that.  It also let me have on-call weekends off. 

 

BTW there were two of them and both were that well behaved once I got ahold of them.  The guy before me was 'good',

but I'm obsessive when it comes to machinery.
 
The VOA plant is served by a Progress Energy/Duke Power 115Kv 10MVA substation stepping down to 4160V.All of the transmitters but one run from 4160V.The site has a backup/load management 1.8Mw Cat 3816 genset.Since this only 1.8Mw any transm,itters running from the generator must go to low power.The generator is also 4160V can be used isolated from the powerlines or sync'ed to it for load management.Isolate is for power failures.Also the power Co calls us when they are doing work on the 115Kv circuit feeding our plant.It also feed DuPont in Kinston and Weyerhauser in New Bern.If we get a Hot Line Tag" call we disable our genset so it can't start.They have been working on the 115Kv lines a lot lately.The equipment in the substation is largely what you have described.There are PT and CT on both the 115Kv and 4160V lines.Each transmitter has two 4160V fused circuits from the substation.Same with the 4160-208/120V building circuits and 230V LV transmitter circuits.208/120 two 500Kva transformers-230V 2 250Kva transformers.
 
4160 eh?  Count me out.  I'm not too uncomfortable with 25~30kV monitors, the danger parts are well known, easily avoided.  Even if they do bite you, there's no real oomph behind it. 

 

Nothing like power mains can do.  Anything over 240V is pretty unforgiving.  One false move is all it takes.  When you get up in the kVs, that shxt doesn't necessarily wait for you to blunder into it.  It can leap. 

 

Thanks, I'll maintain social distance as the phrase goes these days.   To me, social distance from 4160 is in the next room. 

With the door closed.

 

 
 
Relax--The system here is interlocked so you can't get into the 4160V unless you start unbolting panels that cover 4160V parts or other HV parts.You have to trip the 4160V breaker off to get the lockout keys and vault keys for the transmitter you are working on.Then two techs enter the transmitter and ground all of the HV points with a ground hook before touching anything.We have had one guy get killed out here and that's enough.He did use a cheater key to reach some parts in a transmitter without going thru the shutdown procedures.It was 10KvDC from a charge on a PA tube that got him--from a stuck closed power supply vacuum contactor that supplys secondary voltage from the HV rect transformer to the HV rectifiers.There is a circuit in that transmitter that shuts it down if a HV contactor is stuck closed.Had to replace one of the contactors because of that.The circuit didn't the time the person who was killed.The cheater keys STAY locked up in the Shift Supes office-ME on mid shift.On the RF transmission line-balun encloseres you have to get one of the breaker keys to open them.Before someone got badly RF burned when he got into the WRONG balun that was on air.Open wire 300ohm lines -in the building they are enclosed.Outside-they are open-so riggers and others out there are told to STAY AWAY from the transmission lines.Birds don't follow that and get blown up-pile of feathers under where it happned.One time a pair of bird legs formed a "Jacobs ladder"until they burnt up.If we hear what sounds like a plasma speaker outside and bright arc-TROUBLE-transmitter shut down and a line rigger to check on it.Tx affexted is then locked out until the fault is clear.The transmitter where the single fatality occurred has a 30Kw 40A main power supply.I have that grounded with ground straps and a ground hook while working near it.The ground hooks are in interlocked holders so power can't be applied until they are put back in their interlocked holders.Me and another guy were in one of the xmitters and we are fine.The grounding hook and shut off breakers are your friends here!!!
 
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We have had one guy get killed out here and that's enough

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Pardon the expression, that'snuff for me too.  Not the scaredy type, but certain levels of danger I'd sooner avoid.

 

I was fine with heights.  Climbed straight up the front of Diamond Head hand over hand, cliff jumping into water, going up 1400ft tower elevators.  Until the third time.  Suddenly I was terrified and have been ever since.  Now get a little shaky just watching 'Emergency'.  What changed?  Turning 40 maybe.  Lost my immortality.
 
at this point I don't like heights,either.Save the tower work for the rigger staff.At least I can control the electric power going to the xmitters-but CANNOT control gravity-you CANNOT shut it off or lock it off!It ALWAYS wins!!!We are especially careful with the transmitter where the fatality occurred.Part of the incident was the operators fault.Use of cheater keys is tightly controlled now since that happened.Some older guys that used to be here would be in a transformer vault while someone operated the Tx to wee what was wrong in a vault.Won't do that on MY shift----NO WAY!!and its now prohibited under site safety rules.Most of the time when something in the vault burns--you hear it,see it and smell it!!!But----remember more people are killed off 120V than 4160!!!Folks know the 4160 is very dangerous and stay away from it-not so with 120V!!!Too many think it won't hurt you!
 
More people are killed by chevrolets than ferraris.  Not because chevrolets are that much more dangerous,

there's just a helluva lot more of them.
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I've brushed across 120V a number of times.  Gets my attention, is about all.  Bee sting hurts worse.

Graciously, my skin resistance is over 10X normal.  That doesn't help much at 240V and not at all at kV.
 
High amperage is also

more lethal than higher voltage at lower amperage. I think in the USA, our high tension pole lines in our neighborhoods carry about 44,000 volts. In countries with stabdard 230-240 volt service, is more efficient as the amerage draw can be less while providing the same amount of power per home. I don't recall off the t.o.m.h. what the line amperage is on either system, but their grids are more stressed than ours is. More people per square kilometer, and they utilized their electrfied railroads much more. water from the Alps provides hydro power in some areas. My dad knew a lot about electricity, and told me ome amp can kill if the curcunstance is optimal. Perhaps if one is standing in water, or on a solid ground.
 
Neighborhood (distribution) levels should be 7~14kV.  Austin was 7.2k; I hung out with some line guys, told me that.

 

Then there's lightning.  Unmeasurably high voltage and current, yet only kills an average of one in ten people it strikes.
 
Been bit by 120V and 230V(CEMCO transmitter LV primary supply)120 made me jump-the 230V just pissed me off!-And turned the 230V breaker OFF to that transmitter.Lesson learned-check the breaker BEFORE working on the Tx!We have the same setup for newer CEMCO transmitters-230V 3ph for the blowers,pumps,filament,LV supplies,then 4160 for the HV plate supply.The 230V supplies ARE NOT interlocked or covered.The 230V that bit me was in an older Tx made before more modern safety regs were in effect.The newer Continental Electronics have the 230V areas covered with warnings on the cover.The warnings are good reminders what lurks beneath!Been bit by AM RF-that's another issue!NOT fun!
 
Friend had a Tesla coil.  Don't know what the freq was.  Threw about an inch arc.  Could touch it with your finger, no sensation of shock at all.  But when you looked at your finger there were holes burned in it.
 
When I got burned by the RF-didn't feel it until LATER when the nerves rehealed!!!Was like you put your hand in a fire.At a station me and a friend serviced in Baltimore.The studio operator called and said his remote tower readings were funny.Roger and I went to the site and found the copper tubing feeders from the ATU(antenna tune unit) were missing.Got to the last tower-one of three-bits of skin hanging off the remaining feedline.Someone wanted copper real bad!Had to go to Home Depot and use some refrigeration copper tubing.Your knew works well for making the surge loop.Reinstalled the feeders after turning the Tx off of course!!!The remaining tower was fed with the transmitter 5Kw-AM site then running non directional.With the other towers reconnected after the copper jacker fried his hands-the station remote tower readings were normal.Bet that fellows hand HURT after awhile-bet won't do that again!!!The old RCA 5H transmitter kept on going!!!And RF burns can get infected easily because the burn is deep!So you have to keep the burn CLEAN until it heals!!!And cover it if you can.VHF RF-you feel it when you get close to where it is radiating-your hand feels like it would be in a microwave oven!!!If you feel that-get your hand out QUICK.Found a "leaky" transmission line joint on a FM transmitter line going to a tower.A safer way is to use a fluorescent bulb-the bulb glows when you get to the RF area.Same with TV.And for fun a neon bulb glows purple instead of orange when exposed to VHF and higher frequency radiation.
 

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