One more question for URDU?

[bobbo]

Ten years ago when we would upgrade transformers. We would close the loop. Close the open two point the elbows and never heat tested because we knew each others workmanship. Drop the two point in the hole. Replace it and put everything together. Plug it in. Reverse switch and go home. One hour.

Now you got so many people in the pie and take so much precaution because people are building so much junky ****. Does everybody else have to do two thousand tests?

I remember if the cable took a dump,either secondary or primary, we would plug it in to find the fault quick by seeing where it was shook the most. And we found where we had to dig.

I know that's wrong now, but that's how these 40 year experienced guys would do it.

If we had bad cable ever body would have their ear on a can to listen to it hum as we closed the open. It would take us no time at all. Now they got all these procedures because some crackheads cant do elbows or mislabel everything.

Is it we are safer now? Or we can't trust anyone one anymore? Because nowadays I can't trust anyone's work rather than being safer.

[Lineman North Florida]

Because of mis-marked cables and bad info caused me some grief in a couple of situations working on URD, i now follow all the procedures for isolating and testing and finding faulted cables, it's a long story so I won't go into it but assuming and skipping one step could have caused me and some other experienced lineman to have had a major accident, we were extremely lucky, long story short I'm not for skipping steps on something I can't see (URD), and for the record, I hate undeground.:D

[bobbo]

Because of mis-marked cables and bad info caused me some grief in a couple of situations working on URD, i now follow all the procedures for isolating and testing and finding faulted cables, it's a long story so I won't go into it but assuming and skipping one step could have caused me and some other experienced lineman to have had a major accident, we were extremely lucky, long story short I'm not for skipping steps on something I can't see (URD), and for the record, I hate undeground.:D

Those two old guys knew everyone out of the local that built everything. They were there when the Urd was put in. They knew how it was built and who built it. If those guys would come across some stuff built by a yahoo carpetbag poser then they would be suspect. They weren't cutting corners in the old days like how people are saying. Everyone knew each others work and it was done properly. And it was built for the next guy their friends, or their sons. Now everything is built to make money. Not taking the time to double check, make your money, get your money, get the hell out of town. That's the new line work. I am saying I don't think that we are safer with everything now. But in the day we built stuff better, took our time and did it right. Get my drift. We all knew each other and we built for our friends or family!

[rob8210]

Yep , Bobbo, you are so right. The new way of get 'er done and get paid isn't better. It is very hard to get fellas to take the time to build for the guy coming behind ya , or even for the poor trouble guy in the middle of the night during a storm. I tell any apprentice I work with to think about his work, it could be him coming back to under dreadful conditions!

[reppy007]

Ive been around urd for years,,and would notice which ones had frequent faults....Id ask who did the make-up.Once that was known,you might as well start over....a couple of guys wouldnt install the probes properly....that caused problems.....the same guys wouldnt tighten the insert bushings right....that caused problems.....the same guys installed elbows wrong,they bent the primary right below the elbow.....which caused faults.....Other guys that I knew did their work well/right.....those loops never failed often....sure they would go out due to weather/ect.