[Joel_Zimmerman]

Hi there, just a random question on electricity and power grids.

I'm in the Philippines, Roxas City at the moment and I was just eating supper with my family at a restaurant outside. All of a sudden, the lights and electrical equipment all switched off, a power outage. Less than a second later, I heard a very loud "bzzzzzz" like high voltages of electricity arcing onto foreign material at the local substation. It lasted about just over a second and say an electrical 'string' of some kind like a solar flare coming out of the sun, except it was white and blue in colour.

Basing my theories on what I think, maybe a piece of wood could have shorted out the electricity? Possibly a wild animal got caught in it? It didn't sound like the fuse just blew, but rather something must have caused it.

The sound was like in this video… after the weird squeal of the moisture being boiled out of the branch. The electrical string was also similar, but in more of a rounded loop.

http://youtube.com/#/watch?v=g4ph-h7l_aM

Thanks for any insights.

[alnamvet68]

Having spent a couple of stints in the PI, many outages occur because someone is or has accessed the power illegaly. A very common occurance in many developing countries.

[trucky]

I bet that hurt.

[hootyhoo]

Hi there, just a random question on electricity and power grids.

I'm in the Philippines, Roxas City at the moment and I was just eating supper with my family at a restaurant outside. All of a sudden, the lights and electrical equipment all switched off, a power outage. Less than a second later, I heard a very loud "bzzzzzz" like high voltages of electricity arcing onto foreign material at the local substation. It lasted about just over a second and say an electrical 'string' of some kind like a solar flare coming out of the sun, except it was white and blue in colour.

Basing my theories on what I think, maybe a piece of wood could have shorted out the electricity? Possibly a wild animal got caught in it? It didn't sound like the fuse just blew, but rather something must have caused it.

The sound was like in this video… after the weird squeal of the moisture being boiled out of the branch. The electrical string was also similar, but in more of a rounded loop.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

Thanks for any insights.

Fixed your link.

[Rootbrian]

Anything that could cause a short could cause outages, or a blown transformer or mega capacitor.

...BANG!!!!!!!

Posted from my CrackBerry at wapforums.crackberry.com using Tapatalk

[dictoresno]

from what i have seen, 9/10 times its a problem with the right-of-way. power companies are careless when it comes to letting trees overgrow and encroach on the lines. this creates a flashover, which short circuits the line. then a fuse or breaker trips...shutting that section of the grid down. also, heavy strain placed on a grid, like in hot temps when EVERYONE is using their AC, the wires heat up under the load. the heating causes wires to expand and droop unusually low and again, end up touching trees or branches causing a trip.

other times, its usually caused by excessive drain put on the grid. one section of the grid may not be able to handle it, so computer programs that balance the load end up shutting it down as a preventative measure. this creates black or brownouts.

[hootyhoo]

Chuck Norris.

[alnamvet68]

Monica Lewinski Whoops, my bad....wrong thread.