Got a call today from a maintenance man that works full time for a client of mine out on a large ranch/museum. He called to ask me some questions reguarding some water pump controls that had not worked in over ten years. He a decent repair man, but not an electrician.
He said he tested a couple of wires with his fluke and the meter smoked in his hands !!......Then he (dummy)lifts a wire off a screw and when he goes to reland it, it arcs across when he get about a 1/4 inch from the screw......Then he tells me that the power companies pole had one fuse hanging down. I told him to thank god for sparing his life....!!!
So I told him to back away from it and NOT to touch it again, that it appeared that there was a short in winding, or some sort of a fault in the transformer bank, and he could be dealing with 7200v or perhaps higher. So I said call poco Now ASAP so they can pull the other two fuses, and also to caution tape the area off untill they get there. He didnt seem to quite get it, so I asked him, do you want me to come out there? (18miles) he said "AH when ever your out here next" duh....So I knew then that he was not putting enough importance on the issue. So I hung up the phone, turned around and called the service center (power company) directly and told them. They sent out a service man, Havent heard the results yet, but Im curious to hear what happened.
So Im assuming these are oil filled transformers, and a 3phase bank....So is it possible to get a primary to secondary fault? Or perhaps a ground fault with one phase blown, and the other phasing drifting or floating?..trying to figure out what could have happened...or I guess a primary stinger might have fallen down across the secondary connections?
He said he tested a couple of wires with his fluke and the meter smoked in his hands !!......Then he (dummy)lifts a wire off a screw and when he goes to reland it, it arcs across when he get about a 1/4 inch from the screw......Then he tells me that the power companies pole had one fuse hanging down. I told him to thank god for sparing his life....!!!
So I told him to back away from it and NOT to touch it again, that it appeared that there was a short in winding, or some sort of a fault in the transformer bank, and he could be dealing with 7200v or perhaps higher. So I said call poco Now ASAP so they can pull the other two fuses, and also to caution tape the area off untill they get there. He didnt seem to quite get it, so I asked him, do you want me to come out there? (18miles) he said "AH when ever your out here next" duh....So I knew then that he was not putting enough importance on the issue. So I hung up the phone, turned around and called the service center (power company) directly and told them. They sent out a service man, Havent heard the results yet, but Im curious to hear what happened.
So Im assuming these are oil filled transformers, and a 3phase bank....So is it possible to get a primary to secondary fault? Or perhaps a ground fault with one phase blown, and the other phasing drifting or floating?..trying to figure out what could have happened...or I guess a primary stinger might have fallen down across the secondary connections?
