conundrum -- Induced voltage in 14 g romex

[ajohnvoyager]

Conundrum

Conundrum

I want to thank you all for the great discussion. I certainly will go review electrical theory.

Thanks again

-- Bob Johsnon

 

[K8MHZ]

The theory is true

Now your going to make me go try it!

The lines in the pic might be 765's. The biggest we have here is 345's. But they are only a few miles from my house.

I have a whole box of 3 foot tubes, the old kind, that I really don't have anything to do with.

Now I do.



If I have success, I will post the pictures here.

On Edit: The site the pic came from is not about electricity, it is more of an art / media site. The pic may be real, or may be Photoshopped. Either way, it would be fun to try to duplicate it. I won't believe it's true until I can do it myself.

Some things I noticed about the pic. One end of the tubes are stuck in the ground, shorting out one filament. Also, they are perpendicular so the least amount of energy is passing through the tubes. When I saw tubes lighting up with no connections, the ends were open and the tubes were more or less parallel to the machines.

Still, it's a cool pic!

 

[K8MHZ]

Here is more on the pics, I thought something was up, still cool pics though!

Keep in mind that the bulbs do not necessarily glow that bright on their own. Many of the images taken of bulbs in these scenarios are long exposures. However, the bulbs do glow enough to see with the naked eye, so the awe in seeing this occurrence will surely still be there if you were to try this for yourself.

http://www.doobybrain.com/2008/02/03/electromagnetic-fields-cause-fluorescent-bulbs-to-glow/

 

[Twoskinsoneman]

It is a very nicely done pic with the long exposure. Kinda beautiful.
But they DO glow enough to be seen by the naked eye.
That is pretty impressive considering the distance the bulbs are from the wires.

 

[K8MHZ]

I want to thank you all for the great discussion. I certainly will go review electrical theory.

Thanks again

-- Bob Johsnon

I hope your review will fascinate you and not frustrate you. If you are fascinated, troubleshooting will fun, great fun, actually. If you are frustrated, troubleshooting will be something you will become to hate.

I became fascinated with electricity decades ago. I own a bunch of test equipment, nothing real fancy. I have three 'Meggers'. I also have a geiger counter, but so far it's been a conversation piece. My hobby is amateur radio, which can delve into some pretty deep theory. For instance, do you know that there are three types of reactive impedance? Besides inductive and capacitive, we also have radiation reactive impedance. That is how antennas work. A 50 ohm antenna may read a DC short or an open, depending on the design. If you connect an antenna analyzer to an antenna, the capacitive/inductive component is displayed separately from the radiation reactance. An antenna that is resonant at the measured frequency will have no capacitance or inductance but will read 50 ohms (if that is the desired impedance), even if the antenna reads a DC open. That 50 ohms is radiation reactance.

In my entire apprenticeship, radiation reactance wasn't even acknowledged. It wasn't until I became an amateur radio operator and started designing antennas that I found out what it was.

Many people, most in fact, that use the antenna analyzers don't know what they are looking at. All they know is that if the standing wave ratio is less than 1.5:1, the antenna won't make the radio fold back or if there is no fold back circuitry, harm the radio when transmitting.

Most people don't know why an antenna may be resonant at a different frequency than the frequency that has the lowest standing wave ratio.

Many don't know where to connect the analyzer, or what the differences mean in the readings at one end of an antenna feed line and the other.

If you like playing with test equipment, learn as much as you can by reading and talking to others that know the equipment. Then actually play with it. Test known circuits to make sure your readings match what you know exists. Make changes in the circuits (like adding resistors to imitate bad connections) and re-test. Test a bunch of random stuff just to see what is out in the real world.

Like I told Bob, lucky me, my work is play.

I used to work on cars for a living. That sucked. Being an electrician is like being on vacation compared to having to make your living turning wrenches and getting paid by a rate in a book instead of by the hour.

 

[Open Neutral]

Eons ago, I worked on ~5KW RF heaters used in making plastic dishes. They heated the powder right before you dumped it into the press. This plant was something out of a horror show about circa 1800 sweatshops. The heaters had covers but leaked 27 Mhz ISM RF at every seam. To freak out the so-called supervisors, one of who liked to screw with things he shouldn't... We would fish a 8' fluorescent tab from the trash, and hold it near the heater. It would illuminate for 2-3" at the case seams. Then we'd push the lamp lengthwise, and the light would move down the tube....

 

[K8MHZ]

It is a very nicely done pic with the long exposure. Kinda beautiful.
But they DO glow enough to be seen by the naked eye.
That is pretty impressive considering the distance the bulbs are from the wires.

It seemed like the tubes were all 8 footers. I wonder if my 3 foot tubes will do the same thing.

Also, since I am kind of into photography, this might be a fun project. I did a long exposure pic at night of a factory a few years back. It was dark and the lights from the factory were illuminating the smoke, which was nearly horizontal due to the wind. The effect made the smoke look like water. You can do some neat things with a camera if you know how to use it. Like make money. Back in the day I could make nearly a thousand dollars in one day taking pictures at weddings. Now with 70 dollar cameras taking pictures as good as a thousand dollar set up used to, along with not having to pay for film (we averaged $150 worth of pro film per wedding) the demand for a pro photographer at a wedding as dropped and so have the fees.

 

[George Stolz]

Mark, I've got some 230 kV lines running over my driveway, and 4' tubes do glow softly when you stand under them with the tube pointed up in the air. It's pretty neat.

 

[K8MHZ]

Eons ago, I worked on ~5KW RF heaters used in making plastic dishes. They heated the powder right before you dumped it into the press. This plant was something out of a horror show about circa 1800 sweatshops. The heaters had covers but leaked 27 Mhz ISM RF at every seam. To freak out the so-called supervisors, one of who liked to screw with things he shouldn't... We would fish a 8' fluorescent tab from the trash, and hold it near the heater. It would illuminate for 2-3" at the case seams. Then we'd push the lamp lengthwise, and the light would move down the tube....

I'll bet that was the same technology we used on the seal presses. The presses were to seal a hem on the bottom of a window shade made of plastic. We would just put a tube in the trash can next to the seal press and it would light up every time a shade was sealed.

There were no guards. And yes, there were injuries, and I mean severe ones. That was back in the 70's when safety rules were just starting to be enforced.

 

[George Stolz]

Watch out Bob, he's got a virtual hammer! I think your making him mad! HILLARIOUS! Next he'll be telling you to stick your tes

Your enthusiasm is appreciated, but I'd appreciate it if you'd simmer down a bit. I was not attempting to "bring the hammer down" on Mr. Johnson, just trying to clarify that this was in fact idle experimentation and there was not a wiring problem being troubleshot. It seemed to me that everyone was getting a little excited about "fixing" this "problem"; there was no problem, just a guy describing what was happening during his investigation.

 

[K8MHZ]

Mark, I've got some 230 kV lines running over my driveway, and 4' tubes do glow softly when you stand under them with the tube pointed up in the air. It's pretty neat.

Now you have me thinking.....

Here is what I have:

A dozen or more brand new 3 foot tubes, still in packaging that I have no use for.

A digital SLR with an exposure setting up to like 3 minutes.

Wireless remote control for said digital SLR.

A 345 kV transmission line 6 or 7 miles from my house.

A couple of friends that are conspiracy theory nuts.

Does this sound like a formula for fun, or what????

 

[rattus]

Would you believe 10 megohms?

Your DVOM is a very high impedance device, I'm thinking around 100 thousand ohms or more.

 

[Volta]

Now you have me thinking.....

Here is what I have:

A dozen or more brand new 3 foot tubes, still in packaging that I have no use for.

A digital SLR with an exposure setting up to like 3 minutes.

Wireless remote control for said digital SLR.

A 345 kV transmission line 6 or 7 miles from my house.

A couple of friends that are conspiracy theory nuts.

Does this sound like a formula for fun, or what????

Lol, send us the picture of two of 'em balancing an illuminated lamp on their tin foil-clad heads!

 

[K8MHZ]

Would you believe 10 megohms?

I have no reason to doubt that!

 

[CONTROL FREQ]

Your enthusiasm is appreciated, but I'd appreciate it if you'd simmer down a bit. I was not attempting to "bring the hammer down" on Mr. Johnson, just trying to clarify that this was in fact idle experimentation and there was not a wiring problem being troubleshot. It seemed to me that everyone was getting a little excited about "fixing" this "problem"; there was no problem, just a guy describing what was happening during his investigation.

Sorry George, just trying to have a little fun with it. No harm intended.

 

[CONTROL FREQ]

Now you have me thinking.....

Here is what I have:

A dozen or more brand new 3 foot tubes, still in packaging that I have no use for.

A digital SLR with an exposure setting up to like 3 minutes.

Wireless remote control for said digital SLR.

A 345 kV transmission line 6 or 7 miles from my house.

A couple of friends that are conspiracy theory nuts.

Does this sound like a formula for fun, or what????

Sounds like a blast! Throw in some alcohol, tobacco, and firearms and I'd almost be willing to drive to Michigan!!! REALLY interesting stuff about the radio signal to serbia and everything.:thumbsup: