Gloving Recloser Installation

[Oakland T-Man]

Our company has been gloving for ten years. Their Recloser Construction Standards is as such: Gang By-pass Air Switch , Source side Solid Blades,
Load -side jumpers ampacted to conductor. Any time Line voltage is connected to apparatus such as this, the true test is made as to the electric integrity of the equiptment. Lineworkers use the piggy-back clamp used in ampact hotsticking to tap the load side, then glove connector on.
BY-PASS SWITCH CLOSED...SOURCE DISCCONNECTS OPEN...RECLOSER YELLOW HANDLE OPEN (DOWN) LINEWORKER IS NOT PICKING UP LOAD To install the load side jumpers with a shotgun and temp piggy-back tapclamps(with the final step is ampacting the connector) Please respond with any Rules, Procedures, Methods or viewpoints that are out there

Thanks for your time.

[west coast hand]

Are they picking up load with there gloves

[mainline]

I agree that it is a bad idea to tap up a primary device using gloves. You are too close to a potential fault. Here we use solid blades to energize a recloser that is pole mounted. The bypasses are also solid blades this allows the troublemen to bypass and isolate any bad reclosers using, and then use a stick to remove the hotline clamps that connect the device. We also use sticks to put LAs into service. Distance is safety in this type of circumstance. It would be no fun pick up a primary fault a foot from your face.

[Pootnaigle]

Sounds like some terrible construction to me. If your Load side jumpers are ampacted directly to the conductor there is no way to isolate the Recloser.We always used a second set of disconnects on the load side so that when the bypass is closed the Recloser can be isolated for repairs or replacement.

[BULLogna]

The most important part of a recloser procedure is that you test the load or source side before opening the bypass since it is internal and can't be visually confirmed. We put the LA on the load side. with bypass closed, and load stood off, tap the feed or source. then test for closed on your load side (+ you have tested your LA) Knowing that you have voltage on the load, now tap your load and you are confident that you won't be dropping load with your bypass. I hate ampacts but I would be comfortable making connections with either a PG connector or a hot line clamp for the stick savy. Taping LAs with a stick is a good idea but my way picks up the LA under oil using the recloser. My biggest worry is that the recloser didn't plunge closed and I will be dropping load with the bypass. so testing for close is important.

[Fiberglass Cowboy]

PG&E ? You're way still sounds better than ours here at AQUILA;in Missouri,a smaller (IBEW) IOU in western and central MO. We are expected to ampact on both sides-line and load on all wire sizes 266 acsr mcm (kcmil) and above,alot of 477 acsr mcm (kcmil) though. All new reclosers and re-used reclosers are tested through our shops by our people. We only get to do continuity checks to ground by way of Fluke,like you said earlier before you edited that part out. Don't be embarrassed by that,we do it here as well. It's about all we have besides relying on the word of our test department. However,I'm still not too hip on it,because like you say,there is still a chance at picking up a fault,and I don't wan't to pick up fault amps in front of my face nor come between 2 different potentials. What's usaually in between? Well alot of our newer construction in the recent years has been vertical. So we install regular 900 amp solid blade disconnect switches,(a.k.a. hook switches) in between line and load side. This does not give us our visual open that the safety manual calls for to check for dead and ground down,then leather glove it dead. No visual open. To make matters worse,last time i built a recloser bank,there were no good spots on the vertical construction pole to go with lightning arrestors,so we tank mounted them. The construction standards book shows to ampact on lightning arrestors as well. But we we're not about to ampact on 2 per phase,line and load. Not going to ampact on 6 arrestors by hand with rubber gloves,when it says right in our safety manual that we can only pick up arrestors by HOTSTICK,(a.k.a. shotgun or grab-all). Plus setting up mother linemen in the future. We wound up using hotline clamps for the arrestors. Hell of a deal though. Also our voltage regulator standard has us shooting on arrestors by way of ampac,contridicting the safety rules. Hell of a deal. We are in the process or re-doing those standards,as they are looking at different types of bypass switches to use for these standards. Still an up-hill battle..... sounds like most of you have better ways... :D
STAY SAFE OUT THERE BROTHERS..... :cool:
- ERIC

[Trbl639]

Our specs are Solid blade disconnects for By-pass.......then 3 on Line side, and 3 more on load side (for 3 phase)........on single phase, it's a solid blade line switch on line and load side, and a fused By-pass switch.........our Safety rules say the only way we can Energize Oil-filled Eqpt is by using a stick from the ground, unless the switch/device can't be reached from the Ground with a long stick..........

Not too hip on going straight from the low or high side bushings to a hot phase, cause I can't see the contacts inside the tank, and if you ever have....they ain't very far apart!!!!!! If that's they way your company wants ya to do it, I'd get em to buy some Load Pick-up Mechs!!!!!

[Trbl639]

Our specs are Solid blade disconnects for By-pass.......then 3 on Line side, and 3 more on load side (for 3 phase)........on single phase, it's a solid blade line switch on line and load side, and a fused By-pass switch.........our Safety rules say the only way we can Energize Oil-filled Eqpt is by using a stick from the ground, unless the switch/device can't be reached from the Ground with a long stick..........

Not too hip on going straight from the low or high side bushings to a hot phase, cause I can't see the contacts inside the tank, and if you ever have....they ain't very far apart!!!!!! If that's they way your company wants ya to do it, I'd get em to buy some Load Pick-up Mechs!!!!!

[JD426H]

We have a new procedure that we have to use when hanging or changing out reclosers. It was implemented because somebody had a flash from a bushing that was cracked. Everybody that has ever moved a recloser around in the back of the truck has handled them by the bushings.....me included,lol. Our new procedure involves using a temporary cutout that hangs directly on the primary,and attaching the stinger from the recloser to the bottom of the cutout. Using this procedure, the easiest way to test both bushings and the guts of the recloser is to leave the load side stinger off during testing,and close the handle of the recloser before you close the cutout with a long stick. When/if it tests good, you then de-energize it with the cutout,remove the temp cutout, open the recloser handle and attach the stingers as you normally would. We use big hot line clamps. Everybody bitched about it at first, but it only takes about 3 extra minutes.

[Trbl639]

We have a new procedure that we have to use when hanging or changing out reclosers. It was implemented because somebody had a flash from a bushing that was cracked. Everybody that has ever moved a recloser around in the back of the truck has handled them by the bushings.....me included,lol. Our new procedure involves using a temporary cutout that hangs directly on the primary,and attaching the stinger from the recloser to the bottom of the cutout. Using this procedure, the easiest way to test both bushings and the guts of the recloser is to leave the load side stinger off during testing,and close the handle of the recloser before you close the cutout with a long stick. When/if it tests good, you then de-energize it with the cutout,remove the temp cutout, open the recloser handle and attach the stingers as you normally would. We use big hot line clamps. Everybody bitched about it at first, but it only takes about 3 extra minutes.

Hey Jackie! Hope all is going well with ya!!!

Never thought about using the Temp cut-out for the recloser..we have/are using the temp cut-out when we've got a regulator that we can't get back on neutral, and gotta take it out of service...........but have been told not to use it, cause the engineers don't know what the fault current inside the reg., might be, and are worried about damaging the reg!!!!! they'd rather us drop the circuit to take it out of service!!!!!

[md2]

if you can't zero out a regulator, dropping load to remove it is the best bet to remove it...the closer to zero the regulator is makes it worse, less impedance more fault current

[Trbl639]

if you can't zero out a regulator, dropping load to remove it is the best bet to remove it...the closer to zero the regulator is makes it worse, less impedance more fault current

That's right!!! that's the way we did it for years, and then were told to use the Temp cut-out, now they tell us not too.......hell they've started leaving feeders out all night long now, even not in storm situations, so outages are no longer a big deal to them...but they sure are to the customer!!!