Things you wish you could say

[Sally PB]

Here's the long story.

10 am, walking the dog, see the downed lines. Get home, call the power company. I went through the automated system, asked to get called back by a person.

11 am, person calls. I tell her that, yes, the power is still on, and no the tree in question is not on fire. (I had not seen any smoke then.) Yes, I know they are busy with more serious problems, but this needs to be address. She said it will be.

2 pm, walk by that spot again. See a puff of smoke coming where the tree is on the wire. Get home, call the power company to report it. Past 2pm, I can't get through to a real person. I call the neighbor who lives right there to tell her about it. I call two other neighbors; one I leave a message, I talk to the other one.

3 pm, the other neighbor I talked to says she actually talked to someone and explained that there are wooden houses out on this back road that could all catch fire and it would be a while before help could arrive, as we are very remote.

I walked my dog out to get the mail about 4:30 and nothing has been done. I saw a couple small puffs of smoke while I stood there.

And that's the story.

@Ascholten, thank you for your concern. Yes, everyone is staying away. What is step voltage?

The line in question is between two poles, not a pole and a house. (They asked that specifically.)

Thank goodness for the pouring rain we had last night. Everything is very wet.

 

[Isadora]

Here's the long story.

10 am, walking the dog, see the downed lines. Get home, call the power company. I went through the automated system, asked to get called back by a person.

11 am, person calls. I tell her that, yes, the power is still on, and no the tree in question is not on fire. (I had not seen any smoke then.) Yes, I know they are busy with more serious problems, but this needs to be address. She said it will be.

2 pm, walk by that spot again. See a puff of smoke coming where the tree is on the wire. Get home, call the power company to report it. Past 2pm, I can't get through to a real person. I call the neighbor who lives right there to tell her about it. I call two other neighbors; one I leave a message, I talk to the other one.

3 pm, the other neighbor I talked to says she actually talked to someone and explained that there are wooden houses out on this back road that could all catch fire and it would be a while before help could arrive, as we are very remote.

I walked my dog out to get the mail about 4:30 and nothing has been done. I saw a couple small puffs of smoke while I stood there.

And that's the story.

@Ascholten, thank you for your concern. Yes, everyone is staying away. What is step voltage?

The line in question is between two poles, not a pole and a house. (They asked that specifically.)

Thank goodness for the pouring rain we had last night. Everything is very wet.

I had a similar situation this past summer but I called 911. We had outages in the area so I knew my power company was aware, but I figured 911 would be a faster way to address it.

 

[GregnLety]

S P E C I A L and S P A T I A L can both be pronounced the same but have unique and similar meanings. They both have special needs.

Where I grew up most folks sound they are saying spatial when they're really saying special.

 

[Ascholten]

Step Voltage - When there is an electrical fault to ground, The potential of the wire, bleeds into the ground. It creates a field around the grounding point. In this case that would be the tree. From the point of contact, the voltage decreases from line potential... can be hundreds of thousands of volts, (however in residential areas, it's probably distribution primaries, not transmission voltages so may only be 26k or so on a really high line) each company, neighborhood is different on how it's wired and what voltages they use..

anyways.

Lets say it's at 26 000 volts. that is the primary voltage at my house so I'll use that. At the point the tree touches that's at 26KV, the hot line is right there, as it dissipates and bleeds out into the ground, the voltage spreads out in a radius and decreases until it hits zero, ie is finally at ground potential.

Lets say if you touch that tree, you get 26000 volts through your ass, you are dead.
now 5 feet away it dissipated to 18 000 volts
10 feet it dissipated to 10 000 volts
20 feet it dissipated to 5000 volts
30 feet it dissipated to 500 volts

you get the idea. these are NOT the real numbers, each dissipation field is going to depend on a ton of factors, how high the voltage, how wet the ground, what it is made of, how much contact the lines has etc etc. each scenario is unique.

Step voltages, lets say you are standing right close to the tree, and your left foot is at 15000 volts potential, because that is what the ground is right there, and your right foot, which is 2 feet away is at 11000 volts potential, because that is what the voltage is at that point, as it dissipates.

that puts 4000 volts across your body.

4000 volts can potentially run up one leg, go through you and out the other leg.

What do you think that can possibly do to you?

Welcome to the world of substations

Aaron

 

[B-Goock]

I posted a I quit "wish I could say"... that's in process.

 

[Jeri B]

This one is my favorite:
https://chinesegrandma.com/2012/11/pecan-pie-no-corn-syrup/

I followed this one this year, it's pretty much the same as the one above with different tips:
https://www.thegunnysack.com/easy-pecan-pie-without-corn-syrup/

I used a ready made crust this year, but its definitely a tad better with a homemade crust.

Thank you! I’m planning a pecan pie for Christmas and it will be inspired by these.

 

[Crazy Maizie]

Just a few ... and this is just this morning.

After reading a post, "That's probably for the best."
After reading through a closed thread, "That spiraled fast."
After reading some thread titles, "This already sounds like drama." Keep scrolling..."No"...."No"..."Yes"....."Do some research." <----- Oops, I actually have said that a few times.

 

[Sally PB]

Step Voltage

Thank you, @Ascholten, for the explanation. Very informative, also very scary.

They are fixing the issue right now. WHEW!

 

[Ascholten]

Thank you, @Ascholten, for the explanation. Very informative, also very scary.

They are fixing the issue right now. WHEW!

Im glad they finally got on it. That as you can tell, can also start fires too. If it happens in a wooded area, and it's been dry, you can set 100's of acres on fire. Just look at california as an example.

Aaron

 

[Sally PB]

If it happens in a wooded area,

Yup, like right here. I'm very thankful for the heavy rain the night before.

Everything is done and fixed. The power was off for about 1.5-2 hours. I'm breathing a HUGE sigh of relief. I think I'll sleep better tonight!