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Lightning Damaged Equipment

Lightning Damaged Equipment Danger Recently one of our staff responded to a no power call. Seeing that the disconnect was broken by lightning, he removed the primary riser with his telescopic fusing stick. He then climbed the pole and visually inspected the 15KVA, 14.4kv-120/240 transformer for any burn marks or other marks of damage. Not seeing any damage he removed the broken disconnect. He did not have another disconnect on his truck at the location so he connected a trip-o-link fuse between two pieces of copper with hot-taps on either end. He positioned himself on the opposite side of the pole from the transformer. He then “brushed” the line with the fuse using a 10’ Grip-All hotstick. The fuse did not blow, so he proceeded to install the hot tap completely. Just as he was giving one last turn on the hot tap, the polymer arrestor on the transformer blew up, sending pieces in all directions. One of the pieces contacted the lineman’s hand cutting through his glove, leaving a small cut and bruising to his pinky finger on his right hand. This could have been much more serious had he been in any other position on the pole. Remember folks that if you suspect that ANYTHING has been hit by lightning, there is an extreme possibility that it is internally damaged. Use telescopic sticks where possible to give yourself the greatest distance between you and the equipment being energized. We have also had several (F200) oil-field metering units hit by Lightning. When attempting to energize the service, the 3phase meter or internal connections would then short out and sometimes explode causing injury or damage. Again always stand clear of the meter when energizing. Hope this info is of help to someone.   DN