A closer look at Padmount Transformers

Hey Everyone!

⚠️ First off... This stuff is absolutely not to be touched by anyone other then a representative from your power company whom is both trained and authorized to do so.

*** These video's are NOT intended for training or D.I.Y. Only properly trained and authorized personal are allowed to work on this equipment. Always adhere to work methods and procedures particular to the company you are working for. ***

These things come in many shapes and sizes! I did manage to find an old clip showing how to remove the high voltage fuse and will be sure to make a video in the future showing how to actually change the fuse link.

Be safe Everyone. Cheers! 🥂

Don't forget to drop a 👊 along with where you're watching

#Bobsdecline, #Beingalineman, #Lineman

[Bobsdecline]

⚠️ First off... This stuff is absolutely not to be touched by anyone other then a representative from your power company whom is both trained and authorized to do so.

I filmed this one last year and never got around to doing any editing with it. I've since captured a clip while I was removing the fuse cartridge to do work on the secondary bushings but didn't show how to change the actual fuse link. I'll be sure to post a vid changing the fuse link in the near future!

Cheers all!

[MarkMasonLNIM]

As an EE that sits at a desk and drinks coffee,  I have mad respect for people that do this work.

[turbokatzenburg]

Excellent explanation of what's inside the humming green box.

A few things that should also be mentioned: Never place bushes, trees or anything closer than 6 feet from the doors and 3 feet from any side. Crews need the space to work safely. Do not ever paint or attach anything to a padmount. Do not attempt to drill into or cut open a padmont. Do not cover a padmount with dirt or anything else. Instruct you kids not to play on or near any power equipment. (Padmounts can run hot and failures, while extremely rare, can happen.) Also, call the power company immediately and give the location and equipment numbers if any padmount is leaking, making loud noises, smoking or is damaged or shifted on the pad. NEVER approach any padmount or other equipment that is leaking, making loud noises, smoking or damaged. Stay at least 30 feet or more from it.

True story: Was working with one of four electrical contractors on a commercial service upgrade (800 to 2000 amp services.) A competitor had finished well before us, and was having the service energized by the power company.

They had screwed up the secondary wiring creating a dead short on the brand new transformer (which did not have internal fuses like the one in this video.) The power company closed in all three cutouts in rapid succession, and that padmount literally blew apart in a matter of seconds. Total damages were in excess of a million dollars.

[rb]

As an electrical engineer, this is one thing I would not do. Work on lines. They may not have a PhD, but they know their stuff. Key to staying alive and keeping our world working.

[HiVoltish]

Great video! I've been a lineman in the midwest US for 30 years and this gentleman has been well trained and informed. Hopefully the public can learn from videos like this.

[ronwalsh]

Had one of these behind a shop I worked at. One day we noticed there was oil leaking out of it. We called our power company, trying to explain what we were talking about. It took four calls before someone understood what we were saying. Next thing you know, we have FPL, Florida Power and Light, a couple EPA guys asking how it sprung a leak. At least the guys thanked us for letting them know about the leak.

[chrisstromberg]

Always wondered what was inside one of these, of course I knew better than to go look inside! There is another youtube video online of a crew working in a rural community working on a smaller padmount transformer. It was deeply disturbing to watch them work with no rubber insulated gloves nor any safety glasses. Your professionalism and attention to safety is very evident in all of your videos, thank you for posting.

[kwgm]

When I was a kid in the States, the cartoon character line man was named Ready Kilowatt. I'm not sure if I remember what he looked like -- that was over 65 years ago -- but I believe his message was safety around electrical sockets, fuse boxes, lines, transformers, etc. In my area, the linemen do a great job in every kind of weather. Thank you all for keeping us powered up.

[carlubambi]

Keep up the good work .As a master electrician I appreciate what the linesmen do !Dangerous and heavy work .You have my respect and gratitude !

[jar_of_nonalcoholic_gin]

New sub found.
I'm an underground utility locator in Wyoming. I learned more about the electric facilities I locate in this 8 minute clip than I have in the last five years of locating and working with the power company.
Awesome stuff.

[CKOD]

The biggest "is everything in life a lie?" moment Ive ever had was when a linesman came out to work on a transformer that was for a pretty small service. It looked like one of the normal 2-3 foot tall residential type green-box pad mount transformers. He opens the door on it and im looking on from a distance, because why wouldnt I be, not something you see every day. And behind the door when it opened was a small pole-mount transformer sitting in the box. HV running up to the single HV bushing, LV on the sides, like a normal pole-mount transformer install, just with a protective box over it. Not what I was expecting to see.

[brkbtjunkie]

My step uncle was a lineman in Virginia for decades. Thanks for the work you do!

[travistibbs]

😲 The only things I thought I knew about the “green boxes” were that they hurt my shins when I accidentally trip over them and that they change the voltage for different load. But, even if I were tempted to ever get into one, I now understand that I have no idea how technical and complicated they are inside. I had no idea they had oil in them. I love the insight into the complexity of tapping into an underground line. I expect that that translates into the cost of tapping into power for new construction, which means that opening a new business or building a new home gets more expensive.

[carl]

You can't pay me enough to do this, even though where I work, I have to deal with the unpredictability of the ocean. High voltage and amps are a completely different beast that I personally don't want to deal with. Big respect to you for doing this for a living.

[SeattlePioneer]

I used to work for a gas& electric utility. The company management was pretty self confident and did things the way they wanted, except with things that affected linemen. The linemen they feared, because if they pissed them off, there were going to be real consequences that the company management wasn't going to be able to fic until the linemen said they were fixed.

That represented not only their critical skills, but their solidarity, where an injury to one was understood to be an injury to all.

[dousiastailfeather]

I worked wind turbines and our fields were from the eighties and had all sorts of pad mount transformers. Most were live front and many had a bank of breakers for seperate smaller turbines mounted on right side. Twice a year we did service-cleaning, torquing etc. Yes, a snake across the phases blows the left door wide open! And a re-connect of a shorted gen by an unknown service guy can blow up a padmount in two seconds flat! True tales from the wind farm!

[rickroberts]

Electrician for 30 years and have always had great respect for the high voltage guys.

[FosterFarmsOk]

appreciate all you lineman. Secondary side of that is my world but I love learning what yall work with.

[heatherkohlwey]

Very cool to see inside of one of those. Thank you for showing that. A lot of people don't understand that underground cable can be very vulnerable to lightning damage and is much more difficult to repair. University of Florida has a rocket triggered lightning testing ground that has proven how much damage can be done to underground. Thank you for the great video! Stay safe and God bless.

[magnusatheos]

Cool to see inside one of these. Had one in front of my house as a kid and we used to hang out on and around always climbing on it. As kids we used to just call it the voltage box since we didn't then fully understand wtf it was. All we knew it said "Danger high voltage" and made a buzzing noise.