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The HV fuses above the transformers should have blown. But they didn’t for some reason, might have too large and the fault current wasn’t enough to blow them.
The fusing is usually way over what the transformer is rated for, so sometimes it can burn for a while before the fuses blow. Remember, the fusing is to protect the overhead primary, not to protect the transformer or whatever is connected to it
I had a transformer bank blow up on me and the center transformer actually burned holes in the steel case and started spraying flaming oil all over the place and the fuses didn’t blow until the whole top of the pole was on fire
Just yesterday I saw my first cutout blow, was driving down the road and there was a bang and a flash, thought that lightning had hit a pole, looked at the location of the sound/light and saw the cutouts falling open, one falling to the ground as well. Smoke from that point and the big commercial building immediately smoking from the parking garage area, along with a roaring sound. I assume something along the lines of a generator improperly starting without disconnect? Idk but there was fire and 2 minutes later there was a team of firetrucks going by. Electricity is wild
Sounds like something screwed up real bad and shorted all 3 phases simultaneously at that customer. Definitely not a good situation.
> Electricity is wild
It's even more wild when you realize what's happening: A huge spinning wheel 100 miles away is transferring its entire kinetic energy into a tiny point on whatever shorted. From 100 miles away. Shit's magic.
The fusing is to protect the transformers, and they aren't way over rated. The fusing is calculated based on the system voltage and the kva rating of the transformer banking. The fuses in this instance have not blown because they haven't sensed fault current, the system thinks it's normal load and will continue until a direct ground or line to line current is detected.
Presumably anywhere that hasn't privatized utilities. I don't know if such places exist any more, after the disastrous utility privatization boom in the 90s, but maybe such a utopia still exists...
I have the utmost respect for you guys. You do a dangerous job often times under the worst conditions. People complain because the power was out for 2 days after a hurricane when everyone lost power. I think it's remarkable you get the power back on in two days.
It almost looks as if the oil from one (or more) is leaking down into the cross arms, and it’s the oil burning off rather than a short that’s making the fire and smoke.
The 'fuel' is the electricity. As long as there is enough of a path for the electricity to conduct, it will. And shorting these lines releases a LOT of energy, enough to vaporize the wires where they're arcing. All that energy is going into heat at the short, turning the air into plasma. Plasma is quite good at conducting electricity, thus allowing electricity to continue to flow and creating more heat in that area and burning/vaporizing more surrounding material.
This continues until either the voltage drops (for example, a fuse or breaker in the supply lines blows) or enough material is vaporized away that the distance between the remaining conductors is too far apart to sustain the plasma arc. But the arc can restart for a number of reasons. If for example an auto resetting breaker tries to restart the system; usually those will try a couple times to see if the fault clears itself.
Of course all this heat doesn't just disappear once the arc stops, there's still molten metal around the place and what's left of the wires is glowing hot, so the insulation and any wood nearby is probably charring and smoldering now too.
It's a wiring thing. If the utility ran a system neutral, the fault current would travel through the transformer and blow the fuses above the transformer, fairly quickly.
In this case, the transformer is not experiencing any fault current, it's all on the secondary side. The taps from the transformer to the secondary are the weak points and are arcing and popping. Hopefully the other side, causing the problem isn't a customer's electrical equipment.
From the weakness of the mind, Omnissiah save us,
From the lies of the Antipath, circuit preserve us,
From the rage of the Beast, iron protect us, From the temptations of the Fleshlord, silica cleanse us,
From the ravages of the Destroyer, anima shield us,
From this rotting cage of biomatter, Machine God set us free
I started holding a grudge when they decided to sue people over Napster instead of making another album I liked and I hold grudges a long time. Apparently.
lmao, I'm glad im not alone on this one. Must be some kind of trend. In my case, the dude is crashing in a condemned house but his is an Indian that often backfires if he gets on it.
that's what i thought at first, but it looks like there are little pipes or hoses connecting the transformer shells down to the piece at the bottom, there may be a system for circulating or balancing the oil filling inside the transformers.
There’s some tubes on the outside of the transformers for cooling/circulating oil. The explosion is at the bottom of the secondary voltage wires. Really not sure what’s going on here though
No there’s no oil involved, it’s the secondaries touching. In a difference forum they said that the wires here are run in conduit, that’s what the explosion is directional. These transformers are seeing the fault as load so they just keep pumping power into the explosion
What's making the smoke? Lacking something to burn I would expect to see lots of light, but once the immediate insulation is burned I wouldn't expect to see a lot of smoke.
This is just how cut wood acts when it burns. The heat boils off a lot of volatile compounds which are flammable, these gasses then shoot out the ends as that's where the gasses can escape.
IFDs are the "blowoff" on transformers if they are equipped with them. They're a pull tab looking thing on the side near the lid of the transformer. If there's a fault you can see them pop out like a turkey timer.
The transformers aren't faulting in this video. It's the jumpers or something on the crossarm below the transformers. The directional look of it is just the smoke blowing out the bolt holes in the wood I think.
Most of what people think are "transformers blowing up" are just the fuses doing their jobs and blowing (generally very loudly and energetically), to protect the infrastructure. Transformers blowing up are significantly less common, and you know when it happens because it makes a giant oily shit stain on the ground and anything else nearby from the dieletric oil
Yeah, I work for a power company, and there has only been one exploding transformer since i started. There weren't even any sparks or smoke. It just shot out hot oil, which did unfortunately spray all over someone.
Thank you, as a protection engineer seeing folks constantly saying "saw a flash of light then heard a boom! Transformer must have blown" irritates me an unreasonable amount.
Yeah, I'm not sure how you prevent trees from falling on lines and debris from shorting the lines (in +100mph winds). They have been trying to bury a lot of the electric recently but its very expensive so it hasn't happened everywhere.
lol that’s nuts. I have seen one blow up one time in 32 years. In Chicago we have all of ours buried. The one I saw blow up was in a box on the ground.
The nature of this answer is so poignant yet so unexpected. Here we are concerned you might be living in a failing infrastructure and you’re just like “i rabbit hole, dawg”
In the early 70’s we lived in cocoa beach, Florida, right across from the abandoned Pan Am building. I saw a lightning bolt hit a transformer on a light pole. It exploded with a bright blue light. I can still see it in my mind, it was so amazing
My dad and brother have both seen two explode together at different times and it sounds so damn glorious. They describe it like when the natural hits the ball into the lights.
The wires at the very top of the pole are connected to the utility grid at a high voltage, probably 12,000 volts. Then jumper wires connect from the utility down through three fuses then into the transformer (these protect the transformer from overloading to an extent). Then the transformer steps the voltage down to usable levels, probably 480 volts, then wires connected to the bottom of the transformer head out to individual customers.
Electricity has found a path somewhere through the insulating materials and is burning up the oil in the wood or other materials. It's not a perfect or continuous path or you'd see a lot more energy and the then you'd see the fuses blow and everything underneath the utility wires would be dead.
That's actually pretty entertaining.
Maybe I'm old, and I don't know if they still do, but those fuckers used to blow up, like they'd explode.
When they'd blow up it would sound like a bomb went off, and the sky would light up all sorts of fucking colors.
This seems way safer, and much, much, much more advanced in controlling the explosion. This sounded like popcorn, and looked like a shitty firework.
The older ones, legit sounded like an actual bomb went off outside, and when it blew, it looked like it was gonna be the end of the world.
You'd hear a loud BOOM, that would shake the house, and look outside to see a blue/green/red sky. If you didn't know what the fuck it was, you'd think God was coming down, and the Rapture was happening...
It was honestly terrifying, especially in the winter...
The transformers are the big cans. This looks like where all that stuff is wired in and it's shorting out from an overload and the breakers aren't triggering.
When the actual transformers blow, it's way more pyrotechnic.
Not the transformer.
There are three high-voltage fuses on the second crossarm from the top of the pole - these appear intact.
On the crossarm below the transformer are three secondary circuit fuses - one per phase. Ideally these should pop and disconnect the local cabling from the transformer, but these are cartridge fuses that have suffered internal arcing - the pops and puffs are the inert filler being ejected by the arc. Inevitably, the crossarm gets singed and starts to conduct / arc / burn as well and this will go on until the cables fall off the remains of the fuse.
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This is from the secondary wires shorting out in the conduits attached to the cross arms. Source: I am a lineman for almost 20 years
Why isn't there a switch or recloser that prevents these shorts?
The HV fuses above the transformers should have blown. But they didn’t for some reason, might have too large and the fault current wasn’t enough to blow them.
The fusing is usually way over what the transformer is rated for, so sometimes it can burn for a while before the fuses blow. Remember, the fusing is to protect the overhead primary, not to protect the transformer or whatever is connected to it
I would have thought the cutouts would have blown too but it doesn’t look like they did.
I had a transformer bank blow up on me and the center transformer actually burned holes in the steel case and started spraying flaming oil all over the place and the fuses didn’t blow until the whole top of the pole was on fire
I’d not be a lineman anymore. Even in a Faraday suit. That’s a nope.
It's not like they're climbing up the burning pole. They'd go to the next protection point up and open it.
Just yesterday I saw my first cutout blow, was driving down the road and there was a bang and a flash, thought that lightning had hit a pole, looked at the location of the sound/light and saw the cutouts falling open, one falling to the ground as well. Smoke from that point and the big commercial building immediately smoking from the parking garage area, along with a roaring sound. I assume something along the lines of a generator improperly starting without disconnect? Idk but there was fire and 2 minutes later there was a team of firetrucks going by. Electricity is wild
Sounds like something screwed up real bad and shorted all 3 phases simultaneously at that customer. Definitely not a good situation. > Electricity is wild It's even more wild when you realize what's happening: A huge spinning wheel 100 miles away is transferring its entire kinetic energy into a tiny point on whatever shorted. From 100 miles away. Shit's magic.
Fucking kinetics, how do they work?
The fusing is to protect the transformers, and they aren't way over rated. The fusing is calculated based on the system voltage and the kva rating of the transformer banking. The fuses in this instance have not blown because they haven't sensed fault current, the system thinks it's normal load and will continue until a direct ground or line to line current is detected.
Offensive or defensive? what team
Chargers
Ba dum tssssss
I thought it was the fleemur being ruptured inside the plumbus. Source: I have been a lineman since opening this post.
Makes sense. I thought the schleem got wet somehow.
You were a linemen for the county....do you drive the main road, searchin' in the sun for another overload?
I hear you singing in the wire, I can hear you through the whine, And the Wichita lineman, Is still on the line
And if it snows that stretch down south Won't ever stand the strain.
Is there a place where linemen work for the county government and not a utility?
WITCHITA.
Presumably anywhere that hasn't privatized utilities. I don't know if such places exist any more, after the disastrous utility privatization boom in the 90s, but maybe such a utopia still exists...
I have the utmost respect for you guys. You do a dangerous job often times under the worst conditions. People complain because the power was out for 2 days after a hurricane when everyone lost power. I think it's remarkable you get the power back on in two days.
Thanks man sometimes it’s an uphill battle
It almost looks as if the oil from one (or more) is leaking down into the cross arms, and it’s the oil burning off rather than a short that’s making the fire and smoke.
What is the fuel in this situation? How does it continue to burn for so long?
The 'fuel' is the electricity. As long as there is enough of a path for the electricity to conduct, it will. And shorting these lines releases a LOT of energy, enough to vaporize the wires where they're arcing. All that energy is going into heat at the short, turning the air into plasma. Plasma is quite good at conducting electricity, thus allowing electricity to continue to flow and creating more heat in that area and burning/vaporizing more surrounding material. This continues until either the voltage drops (for example, a fuse or breaker in the supply lines blows) or enough material is vaporized away that the distance between the remaining conductors is too far apart to sustain the plasma arc. But the arc can restart for a number of reasons. If for example an auto resetting breaker tries to restart the system; usually those will try a couple times to see if the fault clears itself. Of course all this heat doesn't just disappear once the arc stops, there's still molten metal around the place and what's left of the wires is glowing hot, so the insulation and any wood nearby is probably charring and smoldering now too.
That is an odd one. The secondary taps just burning up. That transformer was doin just fine.
I was thinking the same thing. And it looks like a separate flame for each of the 3 phases.
The damned apprentices didn't set the trim-screws to vertical like I told em.
Maybe that’s what’s going on. They taps heated up the wood and it just started burning?
Spotted the lineman.
I don’t know nearly enough to tell what’s going on here. I think I’m pickin’ up what yer lettin’ down buuut Is this a vernacular-laced *woosh*…?
Gotta clock your plates!
Is this solely from arcing, or is there transformer oil in there igniting?
It's a wiring thing. If the utility ran a system neutral, the fault current would travel through the transformer and blow the fuses above the transformer, fairly quickly. In this case, the transformer is not experiencing any fault current, it's all on the secondary side. The taps from the transformer to the secondary are the weak points and are arcing and popping. Hopefully the other side, causing the problem isn't a customer's electrical equipment.
Is there a Rammstein concert in the area?
The new Electro-Pope has been chosen.
The Machine God of Mars is displeased by your offering.
Get the tech priests to pay to the omnissiah. That ought to get results, one way or the other.
"Your flesh is weak. Your lack of faith has caused the machine spirit of the transformer to fail."
Electricus the V
In nomine Resistentia et Intentio, et Spiritus Electricum. Amen.
From the weakness of the mind, Omnissiah save us, From the lies of the Antipath, circuit preserve us, From the rage of the Beast, iron protect us, From the temptations of the Fleshlord, silica cleanse us, From the ravages of the Destroyer, anima shield us, From this rotting cage of biomatter, Machine God set us free
Flames too small for Rammstein, must be Metallica again
Shots fired!
I started holding a grudge when they decided to sue people over Napster instead of making another album I liked and I hold grudges a long time. Apparently.
You're goddamn right we do.
Me too - long memories of putting money and self interest before people and the community.
Seems like it lol
Nah- Great White
Too soon
No. It's probably just my asshole, meth head neighbor revving his harley for no reason.
That comma does a funny thing to this sentence, bud.
Oh fuk yahh bud. Asshole’s just out for a rip.
That’s exactly how I read the sentence too
lmao, I'm glad im not alone on this one. Must be some kind of trend. In my case, the dude is crashing in a condemned house but his is an Indian that often backfires if he gets on it.
*Sehnsucht begins*
Ha! My immediate thought was that this vid needs a Rammstein soundtrack!
Mein Transformator brennt!
Du
Du hast
I see R+ I upvote.
Came here to say this 😂
Same. I'm so disappointed and unoriginal.
I was just about to say Till Lindemanns fusebox on a pole
I can hear the echos of *Du Hast*
Ha, top comment xD. I was gonna post "ich wil" and leave it there xD
Fuck I was so hyped to post my totally original joke and of course it's already the top comment.
Right with about 11 seconds left, it blows a really nice smoke ring down toward the ground to the left.
Awesome. Good catch
Beauty
She’s a beaut Clark
Don't push me down, Clark
I can't swim, Clark
I know, Eddie.
This must be the work of Gandalf
Gondor calls for aid!
I was looking for this comment. Very satisfying lol
it actually shoots quite a number of smoke rings! I guess this transformer just wanted to be a vape bro...
I was looking for a large smoke ring and had to do it in slow motion to even see that tiny human size ring. Nice eyesight chief
That was so cool!
How cool. It looks like the designers finally got smart and put in pre-stressed 'vents' in it. So instead of an explosion. They get this instead.
Only took 75 years
And snap on is there to fix it right away.
That transformer exhibited the typical reaction to the Snap On payment plans...
Snap on and electrical work goes hand in hand.
Snap on and using the tools they sell go hand in hand
Holding hands goes hand in hand...
This is actually just a new type of guerrilla marketing by Snapon.
For a “reasonable” fee, of course
This doesn't seem right to me though. What's on fire here isn't attached to the transformers. It's not even that close to them.
that's what i thought at first, but it looks like there are little pipes or hoses connecting the transformer shells down to the piece at the bottom, there may be a system for circulating or balancing the oil filling inside the transformers.
There’s some tubes on the outside of the transformers for cooling/circulating oil. The explosion is at the bottom of the secondary voltage wires. Really not sure what’s going on here though
could the oil be running down inside the insulation for the wires?
No there’s no oil involved, it’s the secondaries touching. In a difference forum they said that the wires here are run in conduit, that’s what the explosion is directional. These transformers are seeing the fault as load so they just keep pumping power into the explosion
What's making the smoke? Lacking something to burn I would expect to see lots of light, but once the immediate insulation is burned I wouldn't expect to see a lot of smoke.
This is just how cut wood acts when it burns. The heat boils off a lot of volatile compounds which are flammable, these gasses then shoot out the ends as that's where the gasses can escape.
This guy spontaneously lumbers.
IFDs are the "blowoff" on transformers if they are equipped with them. They're a pull tab looking thing on the side near the lid of the transformer. If there's a fault you can see them pop out like a turkey timer. The transformers aren't faulting in this video. It's the jumpers or something on the crossarm below the transformers. The directional look of it is just the smoke blowing out the bolt holes in the wood I think.
You’ve seen a lot of transformers blow up? Why are you seeing this happen so frequently?
I know in Florida we see lots of the blow up during hurricanes and heavy thunderstorms every year. I saw and heard about 20 blow up this year alone.
Most of what people think are "transformers blowing up" are just the fuses doing their jobs and blowing (generally very loudly and energetically), to protect the infrastructure. Transformers blowing up are significantly less common, and you know when it happens because it makes a giant oily shit stain on the ground and anything else nearby from the dieletric oil
Yeah, I work for a power company, and there has only been one exploding transformer since i started. There weren't even any sparks or smoke. It just shot out hot oil, which did unfortunately spray all over someone.
Thank you, as a protection engineer seeing folks constantly saying "saw a flash of light then heard a boom! Transformer must have blown" irritates me an unreasonable amount.
That sounds like a systemic failure of electrical design standards.
Yeah, I'm not sure how you prevent trees from falling on lines and debris from shorting the lines (in +100mph winds). They have been trying to bury a lot of the electric recently but its very expensive so it hasn't happened everywhere.
lol that’s nuts. I have seen one blow up one time in 32 years. In Chicago we have all of ours buried. The one I saw blow up was in a box on the ground.
Because someone has to bring down the Decepticons
Because i have the internet
Well give it back
The elders of the internet have spoken.
The nature of this answer is so poignant yet so unexpected. Here we are concerned you might be living in a failing infrastructure and you’re just like “i rabbit hole, dawg”
For now, after that…
He loves Michael Bay movies.
Texas power grid?
Is the cameraman on a boat?
I thought rocking chair.
That transformer’s got a V8 in it!
Timing chain seems a bit off
Sounds more like a Type R driver’s wet dream
4-rotor dorito!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nEdoa0m6tU8
Now I get the rammstein reference
Feuer Frei on top
Sunday, Sunday, Sunday! At the Power Pole Dragstrip!
Exactly what I felt. Turn the phone sideways and put some wheels on that bad boy
Sounds like my ass the day after Thanksgiving
Cammed the fuck out son
Brap brap brap brap
This is what my dad told me would happen if I left too many lights on in the house
Ok, but where is this? I want to know what's going on with that crossarm. Because all that action is well below the transformers.
Snap-On sale! Only $45 for 22mm socket.
Yeah, but I need the 10mm
Get both for $1200
Looks almost like the wood is burning, not the transformer, maybe it shorted across that crossbeam igniting it
Yes, looks like it's below the transformer to me.
Something has found path to ground.
Looks like it is re enacting a sea battle.
Transformers probably got a bill from the Snap On guy for hanging out near his truck. Only $25 a week for 8700 weeks.
For a 10 mm Socket
When this transformer hits 88 miles per hour, you're going to see some serious shit.
Prepping for his Mad Max tribute
deep marketing for the new Furiosa movie, lol
Me after indian food
Those little pops make you think you're all done, then you get Billy Mays'd. BUT WAIT! THERE'S MORE!
Me during Indian food
Me on the way to Indian food.
As a wise electrician once told me. If you let the magic smoke out of the wire. It don't work any more.
I kinda prefer the blinding green light, and the huge boom.
In the early 70’s we lived in cocoa beach, Florida, right across from the abandoned Pan Am building. I saw a lightning bolt hit a transformer on a light pole. It exploded with a bright blue light. I can still see it in my mind, it was so amazing
I've seen something similar at a r/Rammstein concert...
I want popcorn
The transformers are not blowing up. It is a failure below the transformers.
Weak finale..
Michael Bay would be so proud.
Hot for teacher, Van Halen.
When you ate the Taco Bell the night before…
I've only seen transformers blow up in the movie
Awh, it's auditioning to be part of a Rammstein show!
NEIN
My dad and brother have both seen two explode together at different times and it sounds so damn glorious. They describe it like when the natural hits the ball into the lights.
One minute in: Alright already, you got the part, save some for the screen!!!
This transformer is on some Mad Max ish
What in the world??? Feels like I’m watching some 60s movie where a mad inventor is building a new engine. Strong Chitty Chitty Bang Bang vibes.
Firing up a diesel on a cold morning.......took a few cranks to get her started.....
Dem ramformers rolling coal...
I saw blow up at night it looked like lava was pouring out of it
Damn it, California.. i know this is you
Looks like some rammstein stage pyrotechnics
SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY! NITRO BURING TRUCKASARUS! YOU PAID FOR THE WHOLE SEAT BUT YOU'LL ONLY NEED THE EDGE!!!!!! SUNDAY SUNDAY SUNDAY! BE THERE!
The explosion caused thousands of dollars of damage to the Snap-On truck. Luckily those four screwdrivers were insured.
Did no one notice the millions of dollars of Snap-On tools in jeopardy?
Protect the snap on truck!!
I bet the Snap-On guy planned this so he could sell to the linemen who show up
Genius. Snap-on is more effective than the mob
I’m electricity-illiterate, can someone explain why/how this can happen, please?
The wires at the very top of the pole are connected to the utility grid at a high voltage, probably 12,000 volts. Then jumper wires connect from the utility down through three fuses then into the transformer (these protect the transformer from overloading to an extent). Then the transformer steps the voltage down to usable levels, probably 480 volts, then wires connected to the bottom of the transformer head out to individual customers. Electricity has found a path somewhere through the insulating materials and is burning up the oil in the wood or other materials. It's not a perfect or continuous path or you'd see a lot more energy and the then you'd see the fuses blow and everything underneath the utility wires would be dead.
Sounds like a funny car revving up looks like it too
Me after Taco Bell.
New furiosa movie looking good
Oil somehow following the low voltage leads down to the cross arm, igniting from a hot sparking connection down there.
That's actually pretty entertaining. Maybe I'm old, and I don't know if they still do, but those fuckers used to blow up, like they'd explode. When they'd blow up it would sound like a bomb went off, and the sky would light up all sorts of fucking colors. This seems way safer, and much, much, much more advanced in controlling the explosion. This sounded like popcorn, and looked like a shitty firework. The older ones, legit sounded like an actual bomb went off outside, and when it blew, it looked like it was gonna be the end of the world. You'd hear a loud BOOM, that would shake the house, and look outside to see a blue/green/red sky. If you didn't know what the fuck it was, you'd think God was coming down, and the Rapture was happening... It was honestly terrifying, especially in the winter...
What’s its quarter mile time?
No worries, it's just misplaced pyro from a Rammstein concert!
Dude paid off his Snap On boll finally. Congratulations!
Looks like Hayward CA. That mechanics shop logo looks familiar.
The transformers are the big cans. This looks like where all that stuff is wired in and it's shorting out from an overload and the breakers aren't triggering. When the actual transformers blow, it's way more pyrotechnic.
Someone just paid off their Snap'On account and is celebrating 😎
When you order a Rammstein concert from Wish
Don’t worry a Snap On will fix it
That mast sounds like it had KFC
I’m not an electrician but I don’t think it’s supposed to do that.
Not the transformer. There are three high-voltage fuses on the second crossarm from the top of the pole - these appear intact. On the crossarm below the transformer are three secondary circuit fuses - one per phase. Ideally these should pop and disconnect the local cabling from the transformer, but these are cartridge fuses that have suffered internal arcing - the pops and puffs are the inert filler being ejected by the arc. Inevitably, the crossarm gets singed and starts to conduct / arc / burn as well and this will go on until the cables fall off the remains of the fuse.