Downed Power Line Video

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I miss the theatrical zapping and spitting from the downed lines. But it is good not to have people think that always happens with energized lines. :)
 
GoldDigger said:
I miss the theatrical zapping and spitting from the downed lines. But it is good not to have people think that always happens with energized lines. :)
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One fell on the concrete in an alley in back of my home and burnt holes through the concrete. Dr as mned hu!mbling to say the least.
 
K8MHZ said:
I didn't see the part where the guy finally made it all the way to the girl that was driving while texting.

I wan't to see if he Gibbs slapped her.
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Did you miss the part where the guy wasn't watching the road either??
 
templdl said:
One fell on the concrete in an alley in back of my home and burnt holes through the concrete. Dr as mned hu!mbling to say the least.
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One night, many years ago, I was awakened by what sounded like ice falling from my roof.

But it was July.

Then came another boom, this time with a big bright light.

Car hit a pole across the street from my house, broke it at the base, lines fell down, transformer blew up and was now on fire atop the pole the car was smashed into.

The lines were on the road, sparking and jumping up and down as they burned holes into the pavement and melted the bare conductors. This continued until the lines had burnt off the ground completely. They must have been the primary feeds to the now smoldering transformer.

The car that hit the pole was an old Ford LTD. It wrapped the front end around the pole so the headlights were pointing at each other. And they were still on!!

The driver was nowhere to be seen. Until I found out he was standing next to me trying to blend in with the crowd. He didn't have a valid license.

I sure don't miss living on that road. Four lanes and crashes all the time.
 
GoldDigger said:
I miss the theatrical zapping and spitting from the downed lines. But it is good not to have people think that always happens with energized lines. :)
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Like when they pull a fire alarm and the sprinklers go off. That doesn't happen unless you have a deluge system and they're rare.
Gotta love Hollywood.
 
Pizza said:
Got anymore videos with that chick in em?
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Not really. I'd have to call the POCO to see if they have any more :cool:

This was an informative video (not a Stephen Speielberg quality) but a couple of peculiarities I noticed :
  • I saw a braided aluminum line (which I'm assuming was the neutral from a triplex) so, I'm guessing this wasn't a primary
  • The air bag seemed to deflate rather quickly
  • Both drivers took their eyes off the road for different reasons
  • The guy rolled the window down to talk to the young lady - why did he roll it back up ?
  • The guy spoke to the young lady WHILE he was on the phone with his wife - and the wife is supposed to believe this ?
  • The guy decided to jump from the car onto energized ground. He seemed very calm. I would have wet myself.
  • The guy shuffled his way over to the side of the road where the girl was. The whole intent of the shuffle was NOT to lift your feet above the ground
  • The guy gets a call right in the middle of his shuffle to the girl. Doesn't your wife ALWAYS seem to call at the wrong times:lol:
 
I always thought it would be best to hop on one foot. The most you could get is a zing through one foot even if barefoot.

We had a TV news crew contact primaries with their mast one morning while it was still dark out. I believe it was fatal. They sat there for some time not knowing about the contact and when the driver stepped out, he was toast. It was about 20 years ago.
 
Observer 1: "You said thirty-five feet? Awesome! I just so happens I have my 35 ft FatMax with me that I can use to be sure. Give me just a sec..."

Observer 2: "Hey, I got this. I can step that off for you right quick..."
 
mgookin said:
Like when they pull a fire alarm and the sprinklers go off. That doesn't happen unless you have a deluge system and they're rare.
Gotta love Hollywood.
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Sorry to burst your bubble, but....I've seen many a pole/car accident where the lines DO spark and spit. Depends on conditions. Moist soil, line voltage, etc. Assume ALL lines are hot! But honestly, most people who are in a car/pole accident are not as rational as this guy. First thing they do is jump out to see how bad they smashed their car. Great video, though. Exactly what you're supposed to do. We get quite a few every year...tourists who underestimate the snow covered roads. No fatalities, so far, though. Most times (but not always) the fuse or recloser on the circuit operates, killing the line. We saw a safety video of a car/pole accident where the driver was unconscious and the linemen who showed up assumed the line was dead, since it was on the ground. Stepped over it several times. When the paramedics arrived, one of 'em brushed against the line with his head and ZAP....dead. Re-enactment of a true event. Like I say in many a post...if it isn't grounded, it isn't dead.
 
Car clipped pole not long ago about a mile ahead of me. Line was hanging just above ground and car had disappeared into woods. When I pulled up folks were already walking towards treeline to look for the car and did not notice the purple arc the line was making to the weeds. Not much noise to speak of.
 
I do want to point one thing out... Ungrounded delta distribution systems and to a lesser degree 2.4/4.16kv system often have downed wired that appear to be dead but in reality are very much live.
 
2.4 kV was bad about laying on the ground and not having enough fault current for protective devices to clear.

7.2/12.47 kV was a definite improvement as you at least get into the 100 amp range at main feeder ends. 25 kV gets you to the 200 amp range.

While the higher voltages help with clearing high impedance faults, you can't clear everything because at some point the fault looks like a big load to traditional protective devices. There are tools with modern electronic relays that help extend the protection capabilities but you simply can't protect against everything.
 
mivey said:
2.4 kV was bad about laying on the ground and not having enough fault current for protective devices to clear.

7.2/12.47 kV was a definite improvement as you at least get into the 100 amp range at main feeder ends. 25 kV gets you to the 200 amp range.

While the higher voltages help with clearing high impedance faults, you can't clear everything because at some point the fault looks like a big load to traditional protective devices. There are tools with modern electronic relays that help extend the protection capabilities but you simply can't protect against everything.
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This raises a question: Aside from tradition, why don't we use delta-only distribution with ground fault protection? All downed power lines would immediately trip the substation breaker. The same number of conductors would be required, the only additional expense would be insulators for the second phase (which is now a neutral in single-phase runs), but you'd save a conductor on three-phase runs because no neutral would be required. It would almost completely prevent injuries from downed power lines.
 
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