Power Outage - November 2021 about committee HOT 3 CLOSED

Meany Linemen Team

Shortly after successfully repairing the line on November 26, 2021.

from committee.

Today the MLT met at the monthly Fossil Luncheon and discussed the "what next" phase. Considerations were brought up:

• the hot cutout failed to disconnect, leaving the hot conductor to lie on the ground and arc until PSE disconnected it
  • if this had happened in the summer, it could have started a forest fire
  • using an insulated hot could greatly reduce this risk ("tree wire", runs ~$3.50/ft, so about $4k)
  • we've never had a tree fall on the line in the summer. Trees tend to fall in the fall and winter during wind storms.
  • after some failures, hot dripping insulation has started fires
  • insulated overhead wire is much heavier
• max system load with all (3) 50KVA transformers fully loaded is ~20A
  • the fuse size of 65A on the hot cutout is 350%, consider downsizing it
  • each transformers is rated for 7A and we have 15A fuses on them. Consider downsizing.
  • transformer fuses could be sized closer to 7 * 125% = 9A
• which type of wire, AAC or AAAC?
  • Ray remembers previous version of the line was ACSR, suggesting that AAC wasn't strong enough
  • measurements taken of the strands and conductors suggest current line is AAAC
  • 2-gage AAAC is rated at 191A, at max we push 20A. Plenty of headroom
  • maintain 2-gage in order to provide tensile strength for ice loading
• to simplify future repairs
  • have only 2-gage Auto Splices on hand (make it harder to mess up)
  • discard existing short pieces of wire
  • assemble a repair kit with all the needed tools
  • isolate guy wire from conductors
  • after breaks, aim to replace pole-to-pole segments
• TODO:
  • contact PSE and ask them to replace cutouts
  • buy a supply of 2-gage Auto Splices
  • buy a supply of 2-gage AAAC overhead wire
  • walk the line and note the precise locations of fuses
  • measure pole to pole distances

from committee.

from committee.