A loose power line shocking the ground.

[cfdcadet]

now jeff

yea paw

i want u to go over there and grab that spark machine

ok paw

[deviance87]

that looks like a potential safety hazard

[DarrenMalla]

GOD poor lizards and worms D: ..

[mathscirocks]

beware of ground potential rise

[1234Iloveguns]

damn squirrel!

[mrgordons]

I'm always surprised to see power lines above ground. Where I live they're all buried five to six feet below ground. 

[d240786]

Must be a bad earth....tut

[ShuRugal1]

I just wanna know what the hell kind of power grid doesn't throw a breaker when a line has a dead short like that...

[d240786]

@ShuRugal1 The type that shocks you to death and then keeps on shocking you until you get your damn cremation

[ourtortsystem]

odd... a heavy metallic power line with little wind resistance flying in the wind like a string of yarn... something's off about this video.

[ShuRugal1]

@ourtortsystem look at how quickly the smoke is blowing off. That looks like a steady 30 mph wind

[BlueXiiter]

Rip worms!

[coolfsfreek]

If there is someone to close to the line... is he death!

[javier96s]

songs like a jedai laser sword!! lol

[clarkloveselevators]

Is that the GROUND THAT IS BLACK!!!

[julesJY]

someone should really do something about that...... LOL

[jaffabend]

Guess who will end up paying for all that wasted electricity...?

[xxjacobxx3]

what would have happened if it would have swung around and hit a car?

[rdmbox95]

@xxjacobxx3 The electricity would have flown through the car body and gone to ground. The car may get burned, and anyone touching the car body and earth would probably get blown apart.

[sanosukke]

That's a nice weed killer ;)

[flyingpigstuff]

Hundreds of little lawns died to bring you this video

[kaas94]

throw some meat over there. instant cooking :D

[humanidt]

@kaas94 but how do you get it bak?

[embie]

My lawn!!!!! MY LAWN!!!!!!!!

[CanadianWorkDivers]

Smartest thing a guy could do is hop on that wire and ride er' like Seattle Slew.

[flukes777]

@CanadianWorkDivers It would be smat if the guy had no interest in living.

[NoobHunterzInc]

Thats when the wind gusts and it hits you in the face DX

That would suck

[JBofBrisbane]

Wondering why the circuitbreaker or transformer fuse isn't tripping.

[HoneycombAgent]

@JBofBrisbane The circuit is open

[multigunlover]

luckly it wasnt dry grass...

[etzenmichi]

Go and hold it down, so it wont get on the Street ^^.

[Peon546]

is the ground ok?

[Riot454di]

when this happens the dirt getting current through it turns into rubys and gold

[JBofBrisbane]

@Riot454di - quite the modern alchemist, aren't you?

[9hello123]

@Riot454di no it doesn't.

[Riot454di]

@9hello123 Yes it does.!.

[9hello123]

@Riot454di No it really doesn't. Take a course in either physics or chemistry.

[Riot454di]

@9hello123 OK it seems you are right, seems like the bedtime stories I was told were a load of BS! Well moms dealing with that now. Anyway I just signed up for a dip SCI/ Chem so soon I will know as much as you great master!

[9hello123]

@Riot454di I don't study chemistry I study particle physics.

[cmommsen1]

What a good opportunity to take off your shoes and go play Tether-ball...

[Engineer9736]

Burying or not is a question you have to decide by looking at the circumstances. Locally in cities it's better to bury them, since the risk that somebody gets in contact with them will be much higher over there if you put the lines on poles. There are no dirtroad scrapers in cities, and everything is written down onto maps. Over long distances through deserts etc, high voltage and physically high poles are more useful of course (finding broken pieces etc).

[psiloshroom]

where is GI JOE when you need him?

BODY MASSAGE

[videotjes]

not funni

[Tommyvegas11]

i am a lineman and we do have underground lines and they blow up more often  anyways and cause explosions that injure people as well.

[ndaguanno]

I remember as a kid a few blocks away from my house a line came down, and that sucker had a lot of power, it was actually dancing around once it fell, I don't remember how long it even took Detroit Edison to show up. Seems like a lot of people never learned not to touch downed lines, sure those things could cook you in less than a minute.

[Sreewtyui]

Gawddamn 'lectric snake it what that is

[dangerousman11]

poor grass

[dangerousman11]

poor grass

[ohbobsaget22]

Poor Grass

[randomvideowatcher]

I dare you to put your tongue on that.

[007shagman]

that was either 7200 volts or greater.its what we call overhead distribution lines and yes it will blow youre body parts off or even blow a hole in you.primary power is no joke.i did powerline work for over 21 years had some close calls and worked with guys that got into primary eletrocution LUCKY TO BE ALIVE.when primary hits the ground allways consider it hot.sometimes it wont arc and still be hot.it radiates a 360 degree ring of power get too close and you could die from electrical shock.

[Gunsnclapton4]

I heard that if you lick it, your tongue will get stuck to it

[neogastropoda1]

@Gunsnclapton4 i heard that if you touch it it will blow your arm off and vapourise your skin

[Artoooooor]

@Gunsnclapton4 Just try XD

[mccunecp]

even with buried power lines with how this country seems to put the money in there pockets instead up upgreading there inferstructure its about to fail just as soon as an over head line.

[Thingamajigs]

DANGER, DANGER, HIGH VOLTAGE.

[andykins118118]

if you can dodge a wire...

[Rapster70]

i dare you to touch it

[WindowsFan1]

DID IT START A FIRE AFTER THE VID ENDED????!!!!!

[cowsrock94]

good thing its windy so it can fly around and hit stuff!

[djmihok]

I also about 10 years ago this was in the yard

[grandtheftyoshi88]

go poke it with a stick lol

[VinciGT2]

24 ppl were playing over there and got, zapped

[jerisergcool90]

luckely in holland are powerlines under the ground

[2008waterloo]

And suddenly, the wind shifts towards the road....

[azzy314159]

shocking display

[HappyDiscoDeath]

somebody needs to pee on that

[gokart55z]

don't touch that

[TheMonsterEagle]

fucking dangerous

[stephanosanio]

Ground: Awwwww, I'm getting shocked by a power line! Help me!

[pastro2]

@stephanosanio Kml

[Jadama0]

it looks like a snake.

[redq182]

IF U EVER Come ACross a DOwNed powerline, do whatever people are supposed to do in that situation!

[jocheen]

@redq182 pull out your phone and film it? :D

[LGTheOneFreeMan]

@redq182 Eat it?

[kobe58]

Yeah, if they were underground, you would just have people hitting them with back hoes.

[stefan21913]

damn...

[metermatch]

@bulba787 I agree. I work for LADWP, and the distribution voltage is 4.8kv, ungrounded delta. My comments were for ae elitist European who believes that since a few of his power lines are underground, he, his country, and his power system are state of the art, and the US is in the dark ages.

[VicTheMouth]

Well, at least I had a bunch of weeds where that powerline hit.

[rybaluc]

@tobygibsonakalanki Not ultra high voltage lines but only high voltage lines would be sufficient. What a shame to let over 22kv cables unsecured in the air.

[TheDylanJoyce]

poke it!

[oddyslay]

Either this is fake, or the safety systems over there suck. if that really happened, a fuse whould go of at the first spark.

[MegaFactMan]

Actually, maintenance costs and transmission loss costs are a lot lower for buried power lines. For example, high winds, tornadoes, ice storms, birds, and normal weather deterioration do not affect buried lines. Also, buried high voltage power lines don't have the negative health effects that overhead lines do.

[team1200]

Time for some lawn care :)

[the69forcer]

very safe, lets get close

[ECDT1089]

Wire's down, red alert, don't go near; you'll get hurt. Get some help, better rush, and do not DO NOT do not touch!

[waltercelario]

@ECDT1089 hahahaha

The BGE song. I loved that song man. My kids used to dance to it in front of the TV.

What a good memory !!

[Backtracer101]

Thats only a low voltage line - probably around 20 volt amps at 13 columbs

[gonzalezmarketing]

Hi Zack,

I do safety videos for an Alaska electric utility and I'm interested in video showing electrical arcing. Yours is interesting. Would you be willing to let us use it?

[mixtertrix]

Now that is cool. Love how the grass is all burnt.

[marse78ro]

the ground is shocked and confused

[eaglewheels1995]

Imagine that power line touching your dink?

[YTBYTBTB]

awesome !!

thanks for posting

[MegaFactMan]

These sorts of hazards wouldn't be created if power lines were buried.

[Mdawg654]

@MegaFactMan really

[TheDutchGame]

@MegaFactMan They are buried here in Holland! :)

[watchyourback12]

@MegaFactMan its cause of under ground gas fumes like in sewers

[metermatch]

@MegaFactMan All you have to is agree to a huge cost in your power bill, and have even more of your sidewalks and streets dug up! Oh, and fight for space with the other utilities in dense areas!

[metermatch]

@MegaFactMan Oh, and just to give you an idea of the cost, 230kv transmission cable is about $1000 a FOOT to install! $5-$7 million a mile to install! Plus oil cooling pumping plant costs, heat losses, etc, etc!!! Yes, I work for a power company.

[rybaluc]

@metermatch This is shitty design of whole american style power grid!. But they have no other options. 110V and transformer on every pylon for three houses. 22/25kv power line right near the sidewalk in the air. Very cost effective but highly unsecure. Outdoor high voltage installations with many knots,rotten cables on wooden pylons. It is very unresponsible to not let them burried or used nice manageable transformers with uplink to power company and remote management. Its not so much in cost.

[metermatch]

@rybaluc Perhaps you would like to figure the cost of transmission cables that distance, and then factor in the environmentalists, tree huggers, and NIMBY's that will oppose anything! The Los Angeles load can exceed 4000 megawatts on a warm day. You aren't going to get that kind of power with a few buried cables.

[rybaluc]

@metermatch But i am sure that load of Los Angeles are spreaded across many cables and not only depends on one distribution hub. And you can also use subway tunnels for high voltage transmission cables and transformers.

Wooden pylons are environment friendly? Don't make me laugh;D

[metermatch]

@rybaluc There is only one subway line in Los Angeles -  kind of hard to supply the whole city from one tunnel!

[metermatch]

@rybaluc What is your problem with woodel poles? They are far more "environmentally friendly" than a oil-filled cables!

[rybaluc]

@metermatch 230kv transmission cable will be not in wooden pylons. They cannot withstand weight. In my country(CZ) even in rural areas high voltage lines are mostly buried. You can see only short chunks of 25kv air power lines or it is not worth of the cost. Only 230V lines on power grid edge are often installed over the air. for But yep, we have very strict laws/norms for electric installations. In UK,Germany,Nederland its similar. In cities are often used collectors-tunnels for city networks.

[metermatch]

@rybaluc I would have to ask when was the bulk of your power system installed? In Los Angeles, CA, most was installed pre- World War 2. Most of the overhead power lines you are complaining about were installed pre-1970. Most new areas post 1970 are underground like you believe your futuristic city is. As far as transmission voltages, the majority on Los Angeles power comes from OUTSIDE the STATE of California, 300 to 700 miles away.

[rybaluc]

@metermatch It depends. There are installations more than 85 years old in Prague. In older rural areas installations 25kv lines on iron or concrete pylons ends near the valley. It depends on the size of valley but one, two or three 25kv/230V transformers are there for redundancy. Happier villages use two independent 25kv cables.

In my recreation cottage the 25kv burried powerline was installed in 1950. Only 230V air cables is there. Its very inacessible(forests,rocks) area for heavy appliances.

[Anubis4815162342]

@metermatch I am in rual northern michigan. The 3 phase lines feeding half the county were installed in 1931. And they are still in use. And we loose power A LOT (About 20 times a year)

[markolo25]

@MegaFactMan why are they up there anyways isn't it really cheaper if they were buried.

[AriBenDavid]

@MegaFactMan We had an underground 26KV line explode in a manhole in front of our house. The cover shot up in the air and it sounded like the army setting off heavy artillery. BTW the short circuit created here is not enough to trip a high-voltage breaker, so it will just keep zapping until someone comes out from the power company. I am a former electrical engineer for a power company. This high-power circuitry has one philosophy: "When in doubt, explode." underground or above ground

[rybaluc]

@AriBenDavid Another shitty power grid installation. Yep it may happen if there are very high current transmitted over cables. Therefore it is possible that small current is not enough for breaker to break circuit But man! Circuit breakers can be cascaded or daisy chained( more usable in american power grid ). It means hv lines can be independently secured in its particular segment. What about monitoring? Such a current jump is'nt normal. Bad design. Bad design after all.

[metermatch]

@rybaluc What the heck is "daisey chained " or "cascaded" circiut breakers? Do you have any idea what you are talking about? And the line in the vidio isn't transmission, but a distribution line. They have much different protection relays than transmission lines. The line above may have actually relayed, and reclosed.

[xboxatinamedotcom]

@MegaFactMan I'm sure you think you're the first person to think of this. Yes, buried power lines would be 100% problem free. sarcasm.

[unclepoepoe]

@MegaFactMan if all our power lines were underground, we would have to fix them every time there was lightning, even more often than we do now!

[EvantekProductions]

@MegaFactMan Yeah sure that's why people in NYC got electrocuted a couple of times on the sidewalks because of faulty wiring underground.

[redneck101157]

@MegaFactMan but what would they do if they had to mantince them

[redneck101157]

@MegaFactMan but what would they do if they had to mantince them i would think it would be eiser to mantince them from above

[aurora990]

@MegaFactMan that could solve the problem of power service lines falling. however, it is going to cost more money to bury electrical lines. in addition, it is going to make it hard for power service personnel to fix and replace electrical lines.

[engrconway]

@MegaFactMan Rather more machines would instead dig into them.

[MillyVanillification]

@MegaFactMan Exactly. I always wondered why people are so stupid to hang deadly wires above their heads. Btw, they have obviously forgotten to provide fuses as well.

[linearenate]

@MegaFactMan yh but if they were buried how would we know where i line might have split becuse some underground creature dug through it

[Rapster70]

@MegaFactMan that doesnt apply for me i dig allot and would get zapped like that squirrel i saw a few days ago

[TheDutchGame]

@MegaFactMan Here in holland we buried them. It's inexpensive because we live on a mud like soil.

[parab121]

@MegaFactMan too simplistic, you can't bury all power lines,.

[neogastropoda1]

@MegaFactMan

as long as they dont put them under the road like in britain. they r constantly digging the f'in roads up, why dont they put them under foot paths or grass verges.!!!!! grrrrrrrr soil is easier to dig up than concrete!! duh

[redneck101157]

@MegaFactMan then they would be harder to accses and more expensive oh dont mind my spelling

[Cinj216]

@redneck101157 Not to mention even more dangerous. I'm sure people a lot smarter than all of us have already determined good reasons why power lines are better hung in the air than buried in the ground. I've lived in a place where buried telephone lines were cut with alarming frequency by dirt road scrapers, just imagine if it had been power lines instead how dangerous that would be. Indeed, it would be more expensive due to added expense of burial plus all the extra protection it would need.

[Chargeglass]

@MegaFactMan Then kids would be getting shocked from digging.

[skinner3301]

@MegaFactMan sorry guy there are a lot more hazards from underground power, and it takes a lot longer to find the problem and repair.

[multigunlover]

@MegaFactMan wow your an idiot

[fegolem]

I think this was the beginning of the movie "Squirm." haha

[Arthos455]

it dosent bite

[Joelduffy]

Stand on one foot, it's a good idea.

[happyhardcoreuk]

didnt realise Hondasrock87 had already mentioned that ....

[happyhardcoreuk]

fucking hell! how dangerous is that?

[mangledmonkey]

He didn't call 911 because that is his neighbors yard :)

[Shellyz2u]

suprised ppl in background were not shocked

[TabooStudios]

dare you to lick it! xD

[Hondasrock87]

Cars are grounded... Rubber... Tires.. Ground. Vehicles have to be grounded from the charging system. hence ground wire on battery running normally mainly to the chasis and body.

[tetramoo]

230kV Vacrupter switch operation, attempting to break load from a very long transmission line -and you know what that means...result is not very good

[ExpertOfSound]

Go over and touch it :D

[shadowsabere]

wonder what will happen if the wind goes on the opposite direction and the wire hit a car. It will be BZIT and the car is gone.

[happyhardcoreuk]

@shadowsabere

it wouldnt becuase the car has rubber tyres, very good insulator plus it wouldnt make an earth connection... i think??

[shadowsabere]

@happyhardcoreuk I know that dude... i was just kidding.

[OMFGL0LWTF]

Makes you want to grab the wire and shove it up your ass. Or is it just me ?

[cheetawolf]

this is the best way to kill weeds...

and your grass. -_-

[Kreppklebeband]

yay show ground whos boss! dont accept "no" as an answer

[dustyatticx]

Extreme Playground Jump Rope

[Minifig666]

My new turf, NOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!­!

[tamarackk]

Yea, but who pays the electric bill for that?

[Natesmodelrailroad]

@tamarackk: Nobody. It's not connected to a meter.

[thedancinkitteh]

xGIATIx are you trying to be stupid...?

[xGIATIx]

since when is it camels

[XDesertRatX]

Wow, remember those BGE Commercials with the toon to warn kids about down powerlines....I dont think they are necessary, just get a scarecrow, name it mr bubbles, and put him under that thing.

Im sure they wolnt touch that shit.

[WALK1NGSUCKS]

poor grass

[xGIATIx]

2 giraffes in a tiny car

[Rubberduckyofdoomy]

nooooo dude its 2 camels in a tiny car.

[dogyslut07]

tarzan rope, wana swing with me?

[youngmif]

What if it was raining out and the wind blew the line into a puddle and shocked a bunch of little kids. Im just sayen

[ianchard]

why would it be worse if it was kids as opposed to adults?

[abzstr]

water is only conductive in it pure form, so any dirty or muddy water wont conduct electricity.. the kids would hav been alright.. im just sayen lol

[alichem007]

water is good conductor when it is not pure. In pure form water is a bad conductor.

[RawrInternet]

@abzstr pure water is H2O which is a covalent bond. It cannot conduct electricity in pure form.

[bachaddict]

@abzstr exactly wrong. water does not conduct electricity. it dissolves ionic compounds which conduct electricity. the kids would have been alright because the power couldn't flow _through_ them in any way

[FelixTheHouseFreak]

@abzstr You got that the other way around.

[TheAwesomeBart]

Shocking :P

[Broadcastbuddy2]

well, at least the ladscaper's job is easier.

[benatpc]

Fuck that.

[Roniel81]

"Dontcha mess with electricity", Nicola Tesla used to say ;)

[NYD20]

would like to swing like tarzan...

[MrRedeyedJedi]

right beside a main road and quite urbanised... coulda informed the services lol.. awsome but.. couldnt you film it WHILST waiting for the powerboard people to turn it off?

[Hummermaniac1]

lets go touch it.

[Castraphobia]

I wanna know how the heck this powerline broke o_o

[tayb0987]

who needs a lawn mower:P

[assiduously]

"couldn't call 911, had to use my cell phone as a camera"

[christine1394]

@assiduously mwuhahhaha x'dd

[Wiejeben]

@assiduously :P Don't you have a cell phone in your own house ? Or... call 911 and after that capture it :P

[guilio14]

@assiduously thats fucking funny film it instead of getting help i would do the same lol

[wesleyramakers]

@assiduously could u shut the fuck up? maybe u need to get u a glasses, dont u see those 2 fire mens at the background jezus.