Currently I hold the master record at an industrial facility here in MN. Both of our utility transformers are on the verge of failing and the utility has been pushing us to take over the primary. Much more responsibility I realize which I'm not opposed to, however, I'm not a lineman. I think when the company does the math and figures out the substantial costs savings taking the primary will bring, they will be pushing for it as well. Has anyone taken or know of some high voltage transformer maintenance courses I'd be able to take and (preferably) get certified?
HV transformer maint. training
- Thread starter MN-Guy
- Start date
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
You should probably start by calling them medium voltage.
If you are not comfortable with it hire someone who is. A lot of places do that. In house guys do up to 600 V and above that they call in the guys who have experience with MV stuff. There really is not a lot of maintenance on MV stuff so having them come in a couple times a year is not that expensive. It's also handy to have a crew that works together on this stuff rather than trying to do it all on your own.
We own our 13,2 xfmrs (poco of course owns the two switches onto property) and they are ours to maintain-or not. It is a loop system so if there are projects going on or an issue with incoming that requires isolating a line or section etc...that is on me. I agree with petersonra that there is not an awful lot to maintain....I am just talking pad mounts here. Oil samples once a year to watch for issues (we sub out). I will look to get into them at least once a year and just visual , housekeeping and thermal cam the LV side. I will shoot the MV side though if I am catching an issue at one of the elbow terms, its time to get on the phone. Not much help to your question I suppose but there it is.
co-worker left and went to poco. He asked around a bit and they certainly were not going to let me "get in on some xfmr training". I understand their take on that.
It's not they are mean about it, learning to bank, clearances, stick work, coverups, and maintenance takes quite a while to learn. And it can't be done in a week
I’m 36+ years in and still learning. Becoming a field engineer a few years back has knocked my edge off a little
I've had this conversation with management several times. A qualified worker doesn't mean they can do everything.
ggunn
PE (Electrical), NABCEP certified
- Location
- Austin, TX, USA
- Occupation
- Consulting Electrical Engineer - Photovoltaic Systems
True, but an unqualified worker is worse.
zbang
Senior Member
- Location
- Roughly 5346 miles from Earls Court
An unqualified worker who thinks they are....
(I also agree with the rest of the comments.)
petersonra
Senior Member
- Location
- Northern illinois
- Occupation
- engineer
If they can't do the job safely they are not qualified, despite what other tasks they might be perfectly capable at.