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Thread: Work procedures

  1. #1
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    Default Work procedures

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    Now I realize that nowadays fellas are being trained to treat all primary voltages the same, it doesn't matter if it is 4kv, or 34.5kv. I'm sure a lot of fellas remember the days of working 4kv in leathers, not acceptable today. Now 4kv behaves a lot different than say 27.6 kv and the practices that used to work well on 4kv do not work on 27.6 kv, such as laying a rubbered up phase on a screwdriver for temporary support. A shame really because it takes the thinking out of the trade. Now people condemn that practice altogether even though it still works. I suppose you could stretch the point to say everything has to be worked on like it was 230kv. Not very realistic though is it. But by the new way of thinking it is energized.

  2. #2
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    Ummmmmmm I would hate to think THAT a newbie read this and thought he mite could get by working 4 Kv with leathers...... Never ever heard of that...... Maybe 2300 delta back in the day But leathers on 4 KV has never been an acceptable practice and any attempt at it would be very short lived

  3. #3

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    I'm pretty new and at my company we wear rubber gloves and sleeves regardless 4kv or 35kv ground to ground, anytime opening any pad-mounted equipment. We are taught we can work 4kv (rubbered) hands on off the pole, 13kv sticks only off the pole hands when in a bucket, and 33kv sticks only. never would I try to work anything bare handed. I hear a lot of older guys say how things use to be different. All of our incidents since I've started involved guys with 15- 30 years. complacency kills. You don't wear PPE 100% of the time for what happens 99% of the time.

  4. #4
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    If you read carefully I mentioned using leathers on 4kv as a past practice that is not acceptable
    today. I have never done it myself nor would I condone anyone doing it. Some old rellas I used to work with told me about doing it years ago

  5. #5
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    I too have heard the stories from old timers wearing leather gloves on a cold dry winter day, but obviously not something we do today. That is why we have all of the rules & procedures we have today because of all of the fatalitys & accidents back in there day. Today with link sticks auxiliary arms & an abundance of RBDs & bucket trucks there is no need for the short cuts like having a covered phase on a screw driver or on the lip of a bucket.

  6. #6

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    "old" linemen working "old" 4kv systems with leather gloves? Yes, it was done and thankfully the practice is over. Most of those systems are also gone too, so don't confuse what they did with what we do with today's systems.
    Think about some of those old 4kv "ungrounded" 3-wire delta systems. There are still a few around. There is no theoretical potential to ground on those old systems. A lineman could ground any one phase and not change the system at all. Same as placing a corner ground on a 3-wire, 480v delta secondary we have today.
    So, if you can put a ground on any one phase, why couldn't you work one phase off the pole with leather gloves? No potential difference because of the type of system. Remember...those systems are just about all gone.
    Anyone disagree?

  7. #7
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    No disagreement here. Thankfully it is a practice that is long gone. There is a considerable amount of old 4kv wye still left around theses parts. I just recently heard about a fella I know just had a big blowup while switching in a poletrans. Now thats a real hazard, and thankfully there is not many of them left

  8. #8
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    Ummmmmm I stand corrected..... I never knew of a 4 kv delta system

  9. #9

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    4kv delta systems are not very common any more at all, but there's still some out there. Be careful if you run into one of them. They're probably so old they're about to fall down. And don't confuse them with 4kv wye, which is a 4-wire system; three phases and a neutral just like any wye system.

  10. #10
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    I hear Detroit still has lots of 4kv delta.

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