How does a substation work? 

Glad we can relate! 👊🙌🍻

@@Bobsdecline are you a line worker

tee bone yes

@@Bobsdecline 1

Same bro, i changed batteries in my remote ✊

Excellent advice! Thanks for sharing Eric

Can you give me your number or your email? I want to ask you something

And here I thought I was a total badass😎 dealing with a paltry 40kv in the TV sets back in the day.

@@InsideOfMyOwnMind - Flybacks are fun. ⚡⚡✨Played with them a lot years ago, powered with a DIY ZVS driver.

ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-EQQhF4fuGts.html

Thanks fritzy! That's a great thing about our work... We continue to learn throughout our entire career!

Might sound dumb, but "electricity fan" makes me think of a tablefan for some reason. So I chuckled thinking I am reading a comment written by a table fan. And now I am replying to that comment. Internet of things, they said. Didn't know this is what they meant. Imma' head out now.

I prefer "power line nerd," myself. Though I guess I'm an electrical nerd as well. I already know most of the stuff presented in this videos, but I like seeing equipment and soaking in info!

👊👊 Cheers man!

Still wrapping my head around that, the 14kv substations and transformers in my plant scare the hell outta me. The hum from those bastards make the floor shake

You should feel a 500/220kv bank. That is extremely unsettling.

We have 345kv to 138kv. The 138kv there is called the low side

I think, in this context, the "low" was simply relative as it is a _step-down_ transformer.

@@silverdoggg The physical mechanism that generates that hum is also fascinating. The strong magnetic fields in the core of the transformer literally vibrate parts of it, especially the iron/ferrite core.

Great video, but much more factual and science based than magic. The more you understand, the less magical.

Wow thanks for the great feedback!👊 Cheers to you in Texas!

@@Bobsdecline I have a question: when y'all are working on above ground power lines such as 3 phase, y'all connect all three together with cables, why is this? Wouldn't that cause a "short" (if short is the correct term).

@@Antny1973 yes,they open the line and then connect it to the neutral wire which is tied to ground and that drains any induction in the lines because the lines can hold a charge and is very dangerous if not grounded,that is also for if the line would become energized it would blow the fuses or open the recloser because it's a dead short

500kV ? wow, would be cool to see that. Plant Farley which is 90-100 miles from me in AL has a 500kV line, always fascinated when I travel HWY 231/431 and see it cross over. I always wander how far the line can go, before it's "stepped up" again because of voltage drop. Be safe!

Some high voltage substations do have permanent staff non-stop on site. But yeah, a lot of ones powering small towns is fully automated for very long time (since 80s probably).

Had you been hurt the other company could have been held liable for any and all damages to you and your equipment.

Do you have any questions? The flow of power through each half of the substation is pretty straightforward: Tap from the high voltage line - Isolation switch - Branch off to switch to link both sides of the substation together - Load-breaking circuit breaker - Across lightning arrestors - Into 138000V to 7200V transformer - Several isolation switches - Circuit recloser - Down into underground distribution feeders.

Not a pro, but on another video it was said that the sub-station's circuit breaker, on being triggered, initiates a disconnect, then reconnects automatically. It does so a couple of times. And if the fault is still not cleared out by then, it disconnects one last time, shutting down for human intervention. So the dips in power you mention are probably that.

Yes! That's exactly it 👊👊. To correct some of the wording, the substation circuit breaker is our Sf6 gas interrupter that protects the power transformer in the sub. It doesn't automatically reclose as when it goes off, there's a good chance it's something major. The reclosing devices are the cabinet circuit breakers, oil reclosers, vacuum reclosers, intellirupters etc... Exactly as you just described 🙌

What does idk mean?

@@K1OIK I don't know.

@@RustyRogers If you don't know why did you answer?

Burt Fisher idk means “I don’t know”...

@@burtfisher7059 ye, he doesn't know

As he mentioned, it _looks_ like an insulator, but it's not. It's an enclosed load-breaking switch.

Yes exactly! Sometimes it's built into the power transformer. This one has a pole mounted one hanging on the steel you can see on the right hand side about 3/4 through the video

You can see the pole mounted transformer at 05:21. 😊

@@rascalszx2 Exactly. It is called a "station service" transformer.

What if the main power is cut?

@@df0rce that fine most things can run for a bit. There is usually a DC battery bank (132vdc) for critical equipment. The fans don't need to be running unless there is load through the transformer.

Me too! thanks bobs decline

Thanks Jeremy! Hope all is well down your way .. we've got a little tropical en route to hit us in a couple days! It doesn't look too bad yet tho!

Thanks!

I once visited (as a 10yo kid), a high voltage (7 400kV feeds, 13 200kV) substation close to major power plant (8 generators). It is a major station for the country and cross-border distribution network as well. It was (and still is) massive. It had huge control room (more like a building), a lot of monitoring, and permanent staff there 24/7. It was built in 1975, and modernized in late 90s to be highly computerized, and modernized again and extended in 2015-2020. It is 20ha (200,000m2), about 50 acres. It is huge, I couldn't enter the switch yard (nor the person that was accompanying me), and as kid I couldn't see a horizon, because of some many lines, equipment and buses. The control system was also pretty amazing. The nearby power plant tour I got in 1996, was also amazing. It was like a small town, and the generator hall was enormous. :) So yes, I would love to visit or see it again, now when I understand things a much better.

As distribution lines get further from the substation, the voltage drops. It drops both from the distance and the load put on the lines. A voltage regular is just a fancy big transformer that can change the ratio automatically to output a consistent voltage (e.g. 7200 volts or whatever) no matter the input voltage. Capacitor banks are designed to correct inductive reactance. Over long lines, the internal capacitance of the lines themselves begins to inhibit the free flow of electricity.

Thanks!

Thanks for the feedback!

One can never gain enough knowledge😉 good for you!

I have an innocent question for you. Have you found that the things autism brings with it get better with time as you learn more about how you are affected by it or is it just what it is? Best to you.

@@InsideOfMyOwnMind Hi there. I am not the same autistic person as Megan but the answer to your question is that it depends greatly on the individual and just how high of function they maintain. I also used to obsess over power distribution systems, phone lines, etc. But I can say that for many of us higher functioning individuals it can in fact get better if we get the help we need and we grow up in an understanding environment. For example, I used to draw a lot. I have thousands of drawings of systems like power distribution and the other stuff that I have mentioned. I eventually was able to (with help) translate it into a passion where I work on electronics both vintage and new. This is an example of the potential people with autism have. It's just I still struggle with empathy not because I don't understand others' emotions but rather because often times the emotions I feel are rooted in very different sources. Hopefully this answers the question for at least a few people who don't have much experience or understanding with the autistic community and how we tend to function.

you should study electricity, i not autistic but if im not learning i get bord easy. im a red seal tile installer. once i mastered that craft and have been doing it for 20 years i spent 8 months studying electricty went to school and took the first year exams. may never do my 4th year but it opend doors to give me something to continue learning about. i think ill do welding next (:

I'm autistic. I've always been, since I was very little, fascinated by pylons, substations and the infrastructure and how it all works. These videos are a wonderful explanation. Thank you. The irony is that they also terrify me.....the buzzing freaks me out a tad......the clicking noise on the video, like a slow geiger counter. What is that?!

Thanks!

Thanks man!

Awesome! Thanks for taking the time to give some feedback! 👊👊

Bobsdecline - Lineman Awesome! Years ago, I was lucky enough to be allowed to take pictures inside a converter station in Kent, England where 270kV DC comes in from France. The guys there said I could go anywhere I liked within the compound except up... wise words! That place crackled and hummed and I kept getting little zaps off the tripod I was using - there was so much energy in the air ⚡️😀

If you have any specific questions, ask. The only part I thought could be ambiguous is the primary side of the transformer. 4:03. The tall, bumpy-looking items held out far away from the transformer are the lightning arresters. The ones right over the big transformer are the input bushings for the transformer. The tall bushings provide for lots of surface area separation of the high voltage electricity from the grounded metal case of the transformer.

ocsrc You can actually kind of tell how much voltage is usually on one of the big lines by looking at insulator length and the number of conductors per phase. In North America, the highest AC voltage you'll see is 765,000 volts. That's carried on huge towers, with massive insulators and 4 conductors per phase. The other common voltages you'll see are 500,000 V (3 conductors), 345,000 V (2 conductors), 230,000 V (2 conductors) and 138,000 V (1 conductor). Now those are typical numbers of conductors, so of course there may be variation, but usually those are what you'll see. This is because as voltage goes higher, yes you can transmit more power, but due to the way the electrons move in the wire, most of the current actually flows near the surface of the cable. This so-called "skin effect" gets stronger with larger voltages, so they combat this by adding more surface area in the form of more conductors. Also, that crackling is known as "corona discharge". In the dark, you may actually see a little blue glow near sharp edges that are energized. Although, to be honest, power companies typically have metal rings in such spots because they help to minimize the effect as such sharp points can actually cause a fair amount of power loss.

@@KyleJ61782 Skin effect only happens at higher frequencies and at 50Hz or 60Hz would be negligible. They use more conductors for current carrying capacity.