Customer question

[drbond24]

I got this message from one of our salespeople regarding a customer of ours:

We have a customer in xxxxxx, where there have been many storms recently. Their customer installed a pump using PMPT (twisted submersible pump cable). The wire shorted out at 5? above the pump. The insulation burnt through causing the short. The capacitor, motor, pump and control panel are fine. They are wondering why the wire shorted out and why at 5? above the pump.

They are uncertain about a lightning strike causing the damage and blowout. They feel that a lightning strike would cause the capacitor and maybe something in the control panel to be damaged as well as the wire.

Can you help with identifying if lightning or another type of power surge could cause just the wire to be damaged this way?

Do you all have any thoughts?

 

[Mr. Bill]

I'd guess there was some damage to the wire. Maybe while transporting the pump someone closed the car door on the wire and pinched the conductor at 5' from the pump. The damage might not have been very visible on the outside of the cable.

Well, it's a thought.

 

[drbond24]

I'd guess there was some damage to the wire. Maybe while transporting the pump someone closed the car door on the wire and pinched the conductor at 5' from the pump. The damage might not have been very visible on the outside of the cable.

Well, it's a thought.

I was thinking the same sort of thing. A small irregularity in the wire that allowed the lightning to create a large amount of heat in that one particular spot. It actually funtioned like a fusible link and saved the motor. I wonder if we could market that. :grin: :grin:

 

[haskindm]

Lightning is very unpredictable. That is why some lightning arrestor systems are controversial. Because lightning strikes are rare, and lightning acts in different ways depending on many variables, most lightning theroy is more or less anecdotal (sp?). Every time I think I have a little understanding of how lightning will act, something happens that reminds me that I know nothing. To try to explain why or why not lightning acted in a certain manner on a certain occasion is almost impossible. It would be like trying to explain why a tornado completely destroys one home and the home right next door is completely untouched. Sometimes "stuff happens".

 

[drbond24]

It would be like trying to explain why a tornado completely destroys one home and the home right next door is completely untouched.

That is a very good analogy. I'm going to borrow that.

"stuff happens"

That is my answer to some of the inquiries I get within the manufacturing plant I work in, but I try to give customers a little more detail. Of course, when I say something like that it is usually because someone is griping at me about the power flickering during a lightning storm, like I can do anything about that.

 

[zog]

I got this message from one of our salespeople regarding a customer of ours:

We have a customer in xxxxxx, where there have been many storms recently. Their customer installed a pump using PMPT (twisted submersible pump cable). The wire shorted out at 5? above the pump. The insulation burnt through causing the short. The capacitor, motor, pump and control panel are fine. They are wondering why the wire shorted out and why at 5? above the pump.

They are uncertain about a lightning strike causing the damage and blowout. They feel that a lightning strike would cause the capacitor and maybe something in the control panel to be damaged as well as the wire.

Can you help with identifying if lightning or another type of power surge could cause just the wire to be damaged this way?

Do you all have any thoughts?

What testing has been done and what were the results?

 

[drbond24]

What testing has been done and what were the results?

When I copied that e-mail into this thread, you had all of the same information that I have except the location that I x'ed out.

 

[DanZ]

I also think there was some problem with that cord at 5'. This would definitely be a good time to double check everything on that circuit, it may "look" fine, but could have problems somewhere else or problems that can't be seen.