Substation voltage regulator

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121116-1115 EST

Hv&Lv:

Thanks. This gives me some idea of what is inside of a switch.

There was a major failure of the switching mechanism at a Rouge Steel substation. How many transformers are there I do not know, but it is a very large power center. Failure of a switch shutdown at least part of the plant. Thus, a severe emergency condition.

Apparently the transformer is Siemens. My son got involved because the limit switch plate, about 10" in diameter with many teeth and slots was damaged, and the service people needed someone to transfer the components on the damaged plate to a new plate. Apparently there was one disk in the country down south somewhere that was flown in. This new plate is not of the quality of the old plate. Thus, my son has been asked to quote machining one or more new plates.

This seems to be an indication of of cutbacks in spare parts.

Back in the 70s in automotive plants there was major emphasis on having spares on hand in the plant to keep the plant running with minimum down time. As plants have moved to just-in-time operation and air shipment is quite common there seems to be a movement in the maintenance areas to reduce the spares stocked. I am not sure this is a good balance.

I might also point out that just-in-time is not new. Henry Ford had evolved this concept at least in the 20s. Going from raw materials into the Ford Rouge plant to a finished car in Kansas city, or something like that, could be done in 5 days. To be more accurate I would have to check my references.

This country has become much too dependent upon very large systems in recent years. The great eastern blackout is an illustration. In the 1940s the US and Germany were far less centralized. Consider the tremendous bombing of Germany, 2000 or more bombers per night, yet the Germans were able to continue much of their production of war goods.

With more load sharing across the country, and thus a reduction of local peak capacity, we are more vulnerable to small attacks having a big impact. We seem to be reducing our redundancy.

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gar said:
121116-1115 EST

Hv&Lv:

Thanks. This gives me some idea of what is inside of a switch.

There was a major failure of the switching mechanism at a Rouge Steel substation. How many transformers are there I do not know, but it is a very large power center. Failure of a switch shutdown at least part of the plant. Thus, a severe emergency condition.

Apparently the transformer is Siemens. My son got involved because the limit switch plate, about 10" in diameter with many teeth and slots was damaged, and the service people needed someone to transfer the components on the damaged plate to a new plate. Apparently there was one disk in the country down south somewhere that was flown in. This new plate is not of the quality of the old plate. Thus, my son has been asked to quote machining one or more new plates.

If the regulator is the type that has the cap in the tank, now would be the time to install it in the control cabinet.

One thing here. If it is the type that has the cap in the tank, now would be the time to install it in the control panel. It can be frustrating because a regulator won't switch because of a bad capacitor.

One thing here. If it is one that has the Cap in the tank, now would be the time to install it in the control cabinet. It is aggravating when a regulator won't switch because of a bad capacitor

This seems to be an indication of of cutbacks in spare parts.

Back in the 70s in automotive plants there was major emphasis on having spares on hand in the plant to keep the plant running with minimum down time. As plants have moved to just-in-time operation and air shipment is quite common there seems to be a movement in the maintenance areas to reduce the spares stocked. I am not sure this is a good balance.

I might also point out that just-in-time is not new. Henry Ford had evolved this concept at least in the 20s. Going from raw materials into the Ford Rouge plant to a finished car in Kansas city, or something like that, could be done in 5 days. To be more accurate I would have to check my references.

This country has become much too dependent upon very large systems in recent years. The great eastern blackout is an illustration. In the 1940s the US and Germany were far less centralized. Consider the tremendous bombing of Germany, 2000 or more bombers per night, yet the Germans were able to continue much of their production of war goods.

With more load sharing across the country, and thus a reduction of local peak capacity, we are more vulnerable to small attacks having a big impact. We seem to be reducing our redundancy.

.
Click to expand...

OH. Then try this one. It gives a better exploded view: http://www.energy.siemens.com/us/po...downloads/JFR-Instruction-Manual-10-09-08.pdf

Many power companies have went to the just in time approach because of the high cost of equipment sitting around. We have a spare power XF sitting on our yard, along with spare regulators. This equipment isn't cheap, and the ROI isn't realized for a few years, until it is needed or rotated into service. Not to mention the two mobile subs sitting waiting to be called into service. We use these when we need to have a permanent part(s) sent in.
 
Last edited:
OK. I have tried to add this twice, and for some reason it won't save.

If your regulator is the type that has the capacitor in the tank, now would be the time to install it in the cabinet.
 
I still recall the Prof. explaining how tap-changers were make-before-break, and making err letting us calculate the peak currents during same.... None of that helped, of course, when PEPCO's regulator stuck at 0230 and all my UPSi woke me howling over a 128VAC line voltage.

As for spares, didn't I just read of some FEMA exercise where they have some large multi-voltage tapped xformers ready to go, and be substituted in ASAP?
 
121117-1320 EST

Following are some photos of the damaged disk. There are 36 teeth on the disk (positions).

PICT3396.jpg
P1 - The above photo is the overall disk.

PICT3393.jpg
P2 - Teeth that are in fairly good condition.

PICT3394.jpg
P3 - Damaged area.

PICT3395.jpg
P4 - A very damaged area.

.
 
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