waross
Electrical
- Jan 7, 2006
- 27,786
Hello friends:
I will appreciate some suggestions on testers, specifically a reliable tester to indicate the presence of voltage on a distribution system running 7620 volts to ground.
Recently there was a tragedy at the little power system out on the island in Central America. There was a mixup and the wrong cut-out was pulled. The lead lineman lost an arm above the elbow and a leg above the knee.
This is a very small system. The field crew who maintain the lines and read the meters consists of two linemen and 1 to 3 helpers. The general manager often assists the crew himself on new transformer installations.
The manager has asked for my help in selecting some test equipment to prevent any incidents in the future. I supply a lot of the technical advice to the manager and an engineer in Florida has also given a lot of his time and a lot of good advice over the years. When they had a problem they would call me and I would be on the next plane out to the island. I have relocated to Canada and can usually only respond by phone or e-mail. They have recently called me down from Canada to resolve a metering issue and I am in Central America now.
The point, however, is that there is not a lot of immediate technical assistance available to the people here.
With this in mind, we are looking for recomendations for a light rugged dependable tester for 7620 volts.
For the most part there are no roads. Often the crew will travel first by small boat as close to the problem as possible and then walk in carrying their tools. At the far end of the system they have about 2 or 3 miles of road and an old line truck. It is still a long ride in an open boat to get to the truck.
We are looking for a tester that can be used and tested by semi trained workers.
I am sure that it will be splashed with salt water from time to time.
It should be light and easy to carry or it may be left behind in the boat.
The manager is also going to purchase 600 volt testers for the boys for secondary work. I am familiar with a couple of models of Fluke capacitive testors.
Notwithstanding, any suggestions or anecdotes are welcome.
Thanks to everyone
Respectfully
I will appreciate some suggestions on testers, specifically a reliable tester to indicate the presence of voltage on a distribution system running 7620 volts to ground.
Recently there was a tragedy at the little power system out on the island in Central America. There was a mixup and the wrong cut-out was pulled. The lead lineman lost an arm above the elbow and a leg above the knee.
This is a very small system. The field crew who maintain the lines and read the meters consists of two linemen and 1 to 3 helpers. The general manager often assists the crew himself on new transformer installations.
The manager has asked for my help in selecting some test equipment to prevent any incidents in the future. I supply a lot of the technical advice to the manager and an engineer in Florida has also given a lot of his time and a lot of good advice over the years. When they had a problem they would call me and I would be on the next plane out to the island. I have relocated to Canada and can usually only respond by phone or e-mail. They have recently called me down from Canada to resolve a metering issue and I am in Central America now.
The point, however, is that there is not a lot of immediate technical assistance available to the people here.
With this in mind, we are looking for recomendations for a light rugged dependable tester for 7620 volts.
For the most part there are no roads. Often the crew will travel first by small boat as close to the problem as possible and then walk in carrying their tools. At the far end of the system they have about 2 or 3 miles of road and an old line truck. It is still a long ride in an open boat to get to the truck.
We are looking for a tester that can be used and tested by semi trained workers.
I am sure that it will be splashed with salt water from time to time.
It should be light and easy to carry or it may be left behind in the boat.
The manager is also going to purchase 600 volt testers for the boys for secondary work. I am familiar with a couple of models of Fluke capacitive testors.
Notwithstanding, any suggestions or anecdotes are welcome.
Thanks to everyone
Respectfully