Underground feeder testing

Status
Not open for further replies.
I

ishium 80439

Senior Member
Location
Denver foothills via the Horn of Africa
On a call today that has an obvious problem w/ their feed. I'll spare you all of the details of how I saw single phase voltage go between 70V and 165V depending on what loads were turned on.

Here is the scenario. Single phase 120/240V service There is a pole set w/ meter and main disco at the bottom of the property 300MCM URD runs from the disco about 800' straight to the panel (no disco on the outside of the house, MB panel). The wire is exposed in two places in that run (the HO was able to locate and uncover it).

My question is what is the best way to locate the problem? I remember years ago the POCO using a "thumper" to try to locate a problem by actually trying to disrupt the soil when the fault blew. I certainly don't have one of those in my back pocket. I'm just not familiar with any equipment for this purpose.

And for what it is worth with the equipment we did have (essentially just some Ohm meters) we are fairly confident that there are multiple issues.

I know that one option is telling the HO that they need a new 800' trench but I would certainly like to reserve that for a last resort.
 
I

ishium 80439

Senior Member
Location
Denver foothills via the Horn of Africa
Thanks for the input. I'm sure this varies by region but my next question is what do you think my luck w/ renting one of these will be? I have a hard time shelling $1,000 for a piece of equipment that may be on the proverbial shelf for the next 10 years. Do you think I would be better off punting and trying to find someone who already owns one (I hate that idea of telling a customer that you can't do something but know someone who can)? Also if I do manage to find one is there a learning curve or is it as "point and play" as it claims to be?

Thanks again.
 
ptonsparky

ptonsparky

Tom
Location
NE (9.06 miles @5.9 Degrees from Winged Horses)
Occupation
EC - retired
They are as easy to use an you can imagine, for most jobs. My first locate was in the middle of a county road. Talk about nervous. It was dead on. Okay, maybe a bit less than that. Within a 50 cent piece at least.

Otherwise sub it out to someone who has the equipment. Never hurts to have a good working relationship with competitors, sometimes they send things your way too.

Where did you say you were located? I could use an expense paid road trip.
 
480sparky

480sparky

Senior Member
Location
Iowegia
ishium 80439 said:
Thanks for the input. I'm sure this varies by region but my next question is what do you think my luck w/ renting one of these will be? I have a hard time shelling $1,000 for a piece of equipment that may be on the proverbial shelf for the next 10 years. Do you think I would be better off punting and trying to find someone who already owns one (I hate that idea of telling a customer that you can't do something but know someone who can)? Also if I do manage to find one is there a learning curve or is it as "point and play" as it claims to be?

Thanks again.
Click to expand...

You're looking at this all wrong.

If no one else can do fault locating, and you can't find a unit to rent, that's a huge sign there's a market for doing this.

Yea, I kinda cringed at the price of the machine, but I bought one anyway. By the third job, it had paid for itself. Keep in mind I charge a premium price for using it instead of my regular trouble-shooting rates as I am using a high-dollar machine.

A customer would much rather pay me $500 to locate a fault and fix it than pay me $4000 to retrench the line.....
 
I

ishium 80439

Senior Member
Location
Denver foothills via the Horn of Africa
Thanks for the input. It turns out that the HO's son had a contact who had the equipment and they turned to him.

I was definately thinking about the investment part of it and having it make money for me but the thing I keep coming back to is the fact that in the past umpteen years I've never needed one and don't know when I would again. Of course it could be one of those things that open doors once you have it. Hmmm I need to ponder that.

In terms of the spouse aspect we have a little agreement- I don't ask her how much her horsey stuff costs and she doesn't ask me about my toys.:D
 
480sparky

480sparky

Senior Member
Location
Iowegia
ishium 80439 said:
Thanks for the input. It turns out that the HO's son had a contact who had the equipment and they turned to him.

I was definately thinking about the investment part of it and having it make money for me but the thing I keep coming back to is the fact that in the past umpteen years I've never needed one and don't know when I would again. Of course it could be one of those things that open doors once you have it. Hmmm I need to ponder that.

In terms of the spouse aspect we have a little agreement- I don't ask her how much her horsey stuff costs and she doesn't ask me about my toys.:D
Click to expand...


When I bought mine, I had no need for it at the moment. I was in the same situation as you, and had borrowed one. I was impressed with the accuracy, so it went on my 'wish list'. When the funds came available, I got one. Within three months, I used it three times, twice in one week. That pretty much paid for it. From now on, it's frosting instead of just the cake.

Don't be afraid to charge for it's use. It's a specialty tool, and my pricing structure reflects it.
 
C

Cow

Senior Member
Location
Eastern Oregon
Occupation
Electrician
480sparky said:
Don't be afraid to charge for it's use. It's a specialty tool, and my pricing structure reflects it.
Click to expand...

Exactly. If your locating the fault it usually means you saving the customer a considerable amount of money considering the alternative. That....you can definitely charge for.
 
C

cmanningjr

Member
We have 3 of the Progressive 2003 thumpers. We locate secondary faults for the Power Company here.

Look into the market for locating for them. I had up to 12 2 man crews doing this. CoOp's, City's and Private Owned Utilities have all types of Direct bury services as well as street lights that need to be located and repaired.:grin:

Also consider Mobile Home parks. Most are responisble for their own services.


Just a thought. The thumpers will pay for themselves in just a few weeks.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Top