Dairy, again.

[ptonsparky]

Yup, same dairy more voodoo.

The owners of a local dairy have contacted someone that has looked at their electrical problems via internet. I asked owners for permission to look at the equipment that has been installed to make the diagnosis of a "short" somewhere on the premises. Answer: There isn't any installed test equipment. He just looked at the farm via the internet and knows their is a short. OK.

Anybody up to snuff on a web site that allows us to peruse the electromagnetic fields of central NE. Much like Google Earth, I imagine.

I am suppose to be on site Monday to talk with the distant tech via phone and would like to know more before then if I can.

 

[ultramegabob]

what kind of scam is this guy trying to pull?

 

[ptonsparky]

Haven't figured it out yet, but I am sure it involves money sent his direction.

 

[wirenut1980]

The only question you need to arm yourself with going into this phone call is, " how do you know there is a short?" And then let your expertise take over from there.

It may be that the internet guy had the owner shut off power at the main, and the stray voltage went away. That tells me that there is most likely a line to ground short somewhere on the secondary using the earth to get back to the transformer...unless there is underground primary cable shorted somewhere in the vicinity, but at all the farms I have been to, there is no underground primary cable.

If no short can be found, the culprit could also be line to neutral loads unbalanced causing increased current to flow on the neutrals. This effect would be magnified by poor neutral connections along the path. Could also be multiple neutral to ground bonds on the secondary.

 

[jrannis]

Utterly ridicules,
Maybe thats why on-site dairy troubleshooting can be a such a challange, you are too close.
Its best to google the problem by street address and subject, then view the "reading" via Satellites:grin:

 

[gar]

080801-0908 EST

It is an obvious scam.

Was this an unsolicited call from the scamer to the farmer?

Or was the call initiated by the farmer? If so, then from where did the farmer find the Internet site and why?

.

 

[cschmid]

tom I am a professional and know how to use the interned swing some of that business my way..did not know there was that kind of cash in dairy any more..all the operations around here are living paycheck to paycheck..kind of like us..

 

[ptonsparky]

They are living check to check and costs have skyrocketed lately. An extra 1% production makes all the difference. They are searching for the magic bullet and trying to ignore PP wiring practices and lack of maintenance.

 

[cschmid]

when you find out the web site let us know..maybe we can learn or be teachers...:grin:

Edited: I would bet this farm is many years old and the whole wire schem is just funky..want you to perform mircles with nothing..can you make a ground grid in an area that is not in an animal usage area and bond on the areas to it with insulated wire..

 

[mdshunk]

I guarantee you that I can walk onto any dairy farm in the U S of A and find a "short" (leakage). It's just how it is. Very darned few dairymen have leakage monitors in use. I have a prototype that I built and installed on two farms. It works well, for little cost, but neither dairy operator was interested in having any problems corrected. I'm hunting one that is interested in spending a little dough to have some of these problems solved so that I can do a proper case study report.

 

[wbalsam1]

Yup, same dairy more voodoo.

.............

Moo Moo Voo Doo.com ? :grin:

 

[mdshunk]

Moo Moo Voo Doo.com ? :grin:

In fairness, some dairymen do hire a specialist ground leakage tester guy a couple times a year to provide them a leakage report, and a "map" of sorts of their farm with the areas where the leakage seems the worst. These guys are not doing any voo-doo, just doing some tests with expensive instruments and composing a simple report for pretty good scratch.

 

[wbalsam1]

In fairness, some dairymen do hire a specialist ground leakage tester guy a couple times a year to provide them a leakage report, and a "map" of sorts of their farm with the areas where the leakage seems the worst. These guys are not doing any voo-doo, just doing some tests with expensive instruments and composing a simple report for pretty good scratch.

I totally agree. I'm only having fun with the voodoo remark made by others. I sincerely know of the importance of stabilizing voltages and reducing objectionable currents around agricultural areas. I wish you success with your endeavor to provide a valuable service locating such faults. :smile:
I've read a lot of material authored by David Zipse, P.E. and always find his work of great benefit.