Substation transformers switching on line

[viva080]

they switching from cr? sisy eng or tec :-)

[ExplosiveAnyThing]

musical!!!

[pockers1]

fair play being that close to the trannies when you reenergise them! Though they seemed in good nick. The spring motors always make the kids shit thier pants! Not as much as cable spiking mind. They really make a pop if you get a good one!

[Zirok1982]

Nice! I confess I'd be afraid to stay near those transformers.Also, the spring charging motors can be quite scary for unaware people. They're LOUD!

[RODALCO2007]

@Zirok1982 Yes, we normally stay clear when livening up.

The unexpected winding motor start up at racking in an 11kV OCB is always a good one for newbies and apprentices.

[NOLIMIT69NOLIMIT2000]

240p we meet again.

[37OneWay]

so the loud noise was a tapchanger or a breakerclosing???

[RODALCO2007]

@37OneWay A breaker closing.

110 V dc winding motor

[37OneWay]

@RODALCO2007 thx

i just loved the noise at 1:25

[acharylee77z]

This vid is popular on Bangkok

[juliantrevin38]

This video went viral on Sanaa

[ihatnecksered]

Ferranti DS2 tapchanger on that transformer by the look of it, lovely piece of kit. Reliable and easy to maintain.

[kokaiini]

sounds good, aye?!

[T3LDV]

11Kv board is getting on bit.

[tonymagona334]

if i could get an inside look, personally inside a substation area, i would feel a bit safer saying my life is complete!

[daddystronglegs]

@tonymagona334 if you go into a substation compound and touch the wrong thing, then yes, your life may literally be complete.

[tonymagona334]

@daddystronglegs lmao oh yeah i know at that point my life will be good as gold haha, funny funny

[alleyken]

You got some big balls to stand that close to a transformer during switching, I'm an electrician and a switchman for my electric company and I would never energize a transformer with someone standing next to it, but other wise good vid.

[burakelitez]

I wrote a long comment . The beginning is two comment later. The continuation of it is the comment below.

[RODALCO2007]

@burakelitez Thank you for your comments.

It depends, some newer transformers make less noise then some older transformers.

Over a long time windings may move a little and sometimes after a few faults when large magnetic forces have gone through the windings parts may loosen up a little hence more noise.

[burakelitez]

First , he switched off the transformers and he made dark for approximately 40000 people. Then , 4 or 5 minutes later , he switched on the transformers. They made noise like the transformers on your video , but weaker. I think , it's due to their hotness , since they cannot get cold in so short time. .

[burakelitez]

@RODALCO2007,Thanks for the video. In Balikesir , Turkiye , the city I live , After an electrical brokedown, I went to the substation of that area. It's a 34,5 kv/ 6,3 kv substation , which has two big transformers in the yard.An electrician came , entered the building.

[nabeelhayat]

U gave me a heart attack with those sound.... : )

[jmitterii2]

ITS ALIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!

[1972jeepcommando]

i love that sound!

[bobbj77]

AH, the felling of induction, do you guys have many oil filled transformers being installed in the Netherlands?

[mraiford]

When you went inside the building with the control panels, what was making the sound similar to an electric drill?

[RODALCO2007]

@mraiford That is the 110 Volts dc spring charging motor in the circuit breaker.

[gblargg]

@RODALCO2007 Ahhh, so the breaker "winds up" the spring with a motor in advance, then when you want to switch the breaker, it can do so very quickly since the spring can deliver a lot of force in an instant.

[lighttree2012]

music to my ears brrrraaauuuuhmmmmmmmmm. thank you, super wicked!!!!!

[im2cool4this]

how do i get a job like this in america? lol

[RODALCO2007]

@im2cool4this Become an electrician first, then get a job at the local POCO and get trained up as switcher operator.

[RODALCO2007]

@usernameABCDXYZ Same here, but I work in those subs.

[johndoessomething]

sounds like guitarist having a bad day!!!!!!!

[kc5cxu]

man that loud hum would give me a head ach

[fickett71]

THIS IS SO COOL!! TAKE CARE

[danz409]

god i love that sound

[rainboow567]

Nice :)

[zackthegoth]

I love the sound it makes. Do you live in australia?

[RODALCO2007]

@zackthegoth New Zealand, but Austarlia and NZ both have 50 Hertz power networks.

[nessnes64]

@RODALCO2007 WOO BRISBANE

[smurfboywv]

Why do they hum? Thats annoying when you live near a substation.

[RODALCO2007]

@smurfboywv All TX's hum, vibrating laminations at 50 or 60 Hz.

Substations do have concrete walls around them to reduce the noise.

[mysock351W]

@smurfboywv They hum because of magnetostriction. Each time the current cycles, the core expands and changes shape slightly when the field builds up to its peak, and then relaxes again when the current and magnetic field drop back down, causing the hum. 

[29riteshkakkar]

nice work.............. see my channels.....

[29riteshkakkar]

nice work.............. see my channels...

[minid15]

you are too close!! I'm scared!! #OMG

[Denvermorgan2000]

Sounds good once you hear that sound you never forget it.

[Antiinequity]

worst Substation ever,

25 years old

u should replace it.

we used to use many of this Frunch breakers but it's realy not safe.

[lasdlt]

@Antiinequity HAH! Come to LA and look at our subs! Most are from the early 60s to late 70s.  A good number of them are from the 20s - 40s!

Oh, and they still run great.

[Antiinequity]

@lasdlt

hhh^^ u  r right we also use Lucy substations 1966

but they r better than Yorkshire substations 1975<<this's realy a fuking stupid dangreous

so just be safe...

and one thing,deos your company pay for u HAZARD PAY???

[kevvywevvywoo]

good old Ferranti, I arent much for the foreign muck

[BoomBoxDeluxe]

@kevvywevvywoo

I have a couple of Electricity Meters made by Ferranti....and they're good too! I have placed them on my channel so that they can be seen.

-BoomBoxDeluxe.

[LordVoltRod2c]

Wow that is just so totally cool and the hum of the power is more than mesmerizing. Words just can't explain how I feel when I hear these wonderful devices! I can't imagine any electrician not being fascinated by transformers such as this.

[RCM442]

All I can say is WOW! I'm into HV stuff, but I think that's a little TOO high!

[horncomposer]

woooooooow i like the 50 hz here.....its so much.....different than 60 hz lol

[frosty956]

What is that motor sound? Is that the motor that operates the breakers? Or a tap changer?

[RODALCO2007]

@frosty956 That is the 11kV braker charging it's springs

[DJSpikesan]

@RODALCO2007 springs?

[MrTonyshit80]

humming...

[seatboi]

Hey, Man! I saw YOU jump when that 1st 1 came on! I did too...had headphones on & the sound up too high...almost pooped muh pantz! :)

[Polybun]

heh, 50hz sure sounds more sinister than 60hz

[Snoep76239]

@Polybun Early in the days of AC they had 25Hz also. THAT must have sounded really wicked.

[dougspair]

@Snoep76239 Yes, very likely, and the ringing frequency of a USA telephone is 30 Hz. I worked at the phone company 40 years ago, phones all had bells then. The engineers worked very  hard to find a frequency that you just couldn't ignore. But women were drawn to it.

[dougspair]

@Snoep76239  25 Hz was probably hard on transformers too.

[lbss09]

Reminds me of the sonic fence from LOST

Oh, and a vacuum cleaner

[RODALCO2007]

@lbss09 LOL that winding motor is a 110V dc series motor and sounds almost the same.

[lbss09]

Reminds me of the sonic fence from LOST

[smiley235]

quite an amazing video. As a standard sparky working on your usual low voltage, i'm wondering how you get into high voltage. Do you need to become a linesman first?

[RODALCO2007]

@smiley235 I used to work on LV and HV CT metering till 2002, then I ended up in the HV electrical cable faults and substation department.

I got the power board in house HV training and warranting to work on the HV network. Also do a bit of LV line work occasionally on the HW and SL control pilot circuits.

[billytheweasel]

50Hz sounds gnarlier than our 60Hz. How much does a transformer like that cost?

[cortexedge]

@billytheweasel a lot

[soundseeker63]

Those trannies sound really spooky on start up! Like there should be some eerie green glow coming from the or something.

[RODALCO2007]

33,333 views today

magic number

[atheist2688]

@RODALCO2007 Wow im used to working on a 60hz system here in the states. That sounds eerie to me.

[mrfuzzles92]

Jesus.. that's a lot of juice!!

[talktalkmodem]

yeah that soungs good but u shit your shelf lol

[cardenjw]

hope the ds2's had the pcb capacitor changed!

[claudiokauffmann]

Well Done mate!

That sound is in one way awesome and in the other is f.....g scary!

Regards.

[lexichronicle2]

it does sound good! it sounds amazing! :P

[Thewestcoastshooter]

gives me heeby jeebies being near a substation with that much power flowing though it, i cant imagine working in one. Very cool stuff.

[thdmtr]

hey, nice, i agree to bosatsu76

[ihatnecksered]

Ferranti DS2 tapchanger - cracking good bit of kit 

[bosatsu76]

Dang... Without these men and women, we would be totally screwed. So much of civilization relies on their competence. They are damn near heroes to me.

Can you imagine what it was like a century ago when no protocols existed for this kind of power transfer? Probably fried more than a few people while they figured out how to get the job done and still go home at the end of the day.

[RODALCO2007]

@bosatsu76 Thanks for your kind comments.

[bosatsu76]

@RODALCO2007 Thanks for your hard work

[scifi75]

@bosatsu76 You couldn't have said that better. These are people behind the scenes every day doing this dangerous work just so we can wake up in the morning to make our toast and watch the morning news before going to work. lol

[crisss994]

i love the sound of the transformers starting!! btw what is that sound of a motor?

[RODALCO2007]

@crisss994 That is the sound of the winding motor, charging the springs in the OCB.

[cortexedge]

0:30 <3

[g7txu]

That was top jolly, I just love how the EM field fucked with the camera focus

[YRUIM]

haha the caera is so shaky after you turned it on! is it you? did it scare you? hahaha

[RODALCO2007]

@YRUIM Unexpected, expected sound made me shiver.

[tonk184]

YEH go the ferranti tapchanger !!

[RODALCO2007]

@tonk184 Correct.

[Ampz316]

I've always been wondering something and you seem like the guy to ask! Are substation transformers insulated and encased. Or are they live on the outside (ie if you went and touched next to the T1 sign, would it shock you)?

[RODALCO2007]

@Ampz316 Hi, the transformer metal work, tank, radiators are all metal and earthed.

The live parts are the 3 bushings on top 33000 Volts!! in this case and 4 outgoing bushings from which 3 feed the 11000 Volts circuit braker and 1 is the neutral starpoint.

The actual windings are inside the big tank and covered with insulating mineral oil.

The radiators and sometimes oil pump and fans assist in cooling the TX.

[Ampz316]

@RODALCO2007 Thanks very much, looks like a very interesting field of work!

[physicmad]

so whos up for some fried whale?

[dustyatticx]

Sounds like a heavy metal guitarist hitting a chord to start the show.

And now please welcome..... DUNNNNNNNGGGGG

[SomeQuestionMarks]

@dustyatticx yeah it does sound like that

[printingpresspat]

50 hz sounds cool too!!!

[printingpresspat]

I just love that sound!!! We do switchgear maint every couple years and the sound of the 13.2k to 480v make that sound except a little higher at 60hz.

[RODALCO2007]

@printingpresspat I love to hear the 60 Hz inrush current at livening up.

[SubaruB4RSK]

So that's what 50Hz sounds like

[RODALCO2007]

yep

[a380rockerfan]

BLOODY HELL! That sounds so lethal and awesome!!!!!

[RODALCO2007]

It is scary, especially at night

[SomeQuestionMarks]

someone said on a star wars episode two seismic charges video to everyone to listen to this and that the seismic charges sounded like these transformers and by God, he/she was right!!!!! it truly is an awesome sound to listen to

[RODALCO2007]

I love that sound too and get often to hear it during HV switching at work.

[andrew6606]

what a ghetto ass sub haha

[yun342]

Great video. I love HV electrical gear

[jbwebster]

Why does that the last MW meter? What was happening?

[RODALCO2007]

second feeder supplying load to the 11kV bus

[studpuppy69]

I'd hate to hear the sound of a dead short...*shiver*

[RODALCO2007]

Would probably sound like the arc furnace sound, I wouldn't like to be on site.

[mainelyelectric]

i want one of those transformers i love the sound

please reply

[RODALCO2007]

start saving, they are not cheap

[mainelyelectric]

he he he some day i would love to build a green power plant with solar and wind and it would be so cool to have one of those trans's in the works of it all and listen to it kick on when it is needed. BUT I BET THIS IS ONE OF THOSE IDEAS THAT YOU WOULD LIKE WHEN YOU ARE YOUNGER AND WHEN THE DAYS COME THAT YOU TALKED ABOUT BUILDING SOMETHING THIS BIG!! YOU SAY I GESS NOT

[ganymedeIV4]

gave me the shivers just knowing what that sound would mean to you if you touched it.

[kreuzundquer]

cool but make a version without intervening talk

[HWGuyEG]

That bellowing buzz on startup reminds me of the sonic charges from star wars...

[SomeQuestionMarks]

@HWGuyEG they're actually called seismic charges

[HWGuyEG]

@SomeQuestionMarks

Ahh, I had a feeling I got that wrong.

[SomeQuestionMarks]

@HWGuyEG ahhh, nobody's perfect

[DragonFlyback256]

That's a wicked sound. Even made you jump. xD

[RODALCO2007]

True, we need to stay clear when these TX's are switched on line. They get switched on remotely.

[lasdlt]

Is that SWSG of the vacuum type? Looks fairly new compared to the stuff I work with.

[RODALCO2007]

The first 11 kV switch is oil filled.

The second one is SF6.

The 33kV switches are SF6.

[Nivicoman]

@RODALCO2007 SF6 also known as "puffers"

[tomahawkseven]

Excellent. The buzz is a scary sound. What is the sound of machinery right before the next load? (58 seconds in)

[elgavilan2000]

That sound is probably the loading mechanism for one of the switches. The breaker switches for systems this big are so heavy they cannot be thrown by hand so they use a motor to wind a spring which is then discharged and throws the switch. This is necessary because the switch must be thrown at a very high speed to avoid arc flashover.

[RODALCO2007]

That sound is the winding motor charging the springs of the OCB.

elgavilan2000 was correct, thanks for the quick reply.

[tomahawkseven]

Excellent! I though that was the case

I'm not an electrical engineer but come from a family line that has. Thanks guys! Cool stuff!

[Aussie50]

Very cool sounds!, great vid!

[lakewood85]

Love the sound of power. That is music I could sleep to.

[Valonaren]

@lakewood85  me too!

[stdavross666]

Mate great video...Is there any risk from electromagnetic radiation?, do you feel st

range after working around that stuff all day?

[RODALCO2007]

Not a problem, there are magnetic fields allright but you get more radiation from your CRT TV screen.

[letseeitplease]

that was very interesting, thanks for posting this video

[RODALCO2007]

I will add more of these if I happen to have the camera handy.

[ihatespam1977]

Why was the needle of MW meter bouncing around like that? Does switching a huge load on a power grid cause a ripple effect, like waves in water?

[RODALCO2007]

That is normal for an analogue meter with 270° movement to do that. The load would have halved almost instantly, the MW meter takes a couple of seconds to settle. If you look at the ammeter on the left hand side you can see that no ripple effect is happening.

[RODALCO2007]

Cool! I love it too.

[CriticalBanana]

Take the asbestos warnings more serious dude!!

[RODALCO2007]

Only serious when drilling and disturbing the cable ducts. We use mouth filters as part of our PPE.

[xXxmidgexXx]

Did the camera shake or is it just the camera man filming the transformer right after it fired up?

[RODALCO2007]

That was me (the cameraman) shaking.

It always give me a bit of a fright when these TX go on line, hence camera shook.

It was louder than I remembered.

[xXxmidgexXx]

I see. I thought it was some electro-magnetic interference. :D

[Jonsei]

me too ;)

[anilkrgupta]

We are the furnace designers. Please contact us for complete information.

Vipin Gupta

[RODALCO2007]

This is a 12.5 MVA distribution TX, not the furnace TX.

[phychemnerd]

I am so used to the 50 Hz hum in Oman!! It sure sounds better than 60 hz.

[RODALCO2007]

It does, I agree. I have always lived in 50 Hz countries but when in the USA the 60 Hz sounds weird, not used to it.

[mikeandtiff]

Very neat video! Thanks for shareing, as some people like myself do not get to see this awesome job every day.

-Mike

[RODALCO2007]

It was a sensitive issue with the asset owner. I need to take out references to the location where this sub is.

[crywolfe210]

why is it private now?

[crywolfe210]

what is that loud fan sounding "whirrrl" sound after the transformer fires up?

[RODALCO2007]

That is the OCB motor charging up the springs.

[ZL3TPQ]

Great stuff Ray!

I wish we got time down here to make videos like that.

Mike.

[RODALCO2007]

During maintenance we sometimes have to wait for parts. Then I have a look from one of the walkbridges opposite the furnace, definitely better than reading the paper.

[jmartis2]

WOW, it seems like it took the cores over a minute to get rid of the inrush DC magnetization! Small transformers will do this in less than a second...

Btw. I love the 50Hz hum of transformers :)

[jmartis2]

This just shows how hugely overrated these things are... Probably using less than half of flux density than most "small" transformers. I think they won't complain when run at 2-3x their rated voltage :)

[RODALCO2007]

These transformers are 12500 kVA and will take 14000 kVA for 2 - 4 hours. With additional fans on the radiators they could be uprated to 16000 kVA.

The loading in this area doesn't require the upgrades at the moment.

[RODALCO2007]

It is a bit less than 1 minute. Usually a couple of cycles of the AC sinewave to get the core magnetised.

[jmartis2]

hmm, I could hear the 50Hz component for several tens of seconds at least.. when the core has demagnetized, it will "buzz" at 100Hz (like when you show the stickers on the xfmr).

[jmartis2]

But thanks for the great video. I always find big transformers amazing :)

[RODALCO2007]

You are right, the audio can be noisy for 30 seconds or so.

But when a big transformer goes on line it can immediately supply power. Although programmed switching goes one step at the time. HV first - LV second

[MusicMan5587]

I know, it's like that in the control room as well, but why is it that red is closed and green is open. That's the exact opposite of a stop light.

[RODALCO2007]

Red - colour for danger, circuit closed and carrying a load.

Green - colour circuit open, or disconnected from power source busbars. Other end of OCB may be still alive, but the OCB switch is open and not carrying any load.

In high tension work no cables will be touched, before tested and proven de-energised, earthed, and an access permit is given by the control room.

[MusicMan5587]

That makes sense, Thanks.

[Peedlebum]

That takes me back to some old colour test transmission films years ago; in one of them, the safety mantra was an anacronym S.I.D.E. - Switch Off, Isolate, Dump, Earth.....

[pmgodfrey]

That...was...awesome. Thanks for posting!

[RODALCO2007]

Glad you enjoyed it. Most people don't know what happens behind closed substation doors. For me it is daily business. This work gets done without a power outage by shifting load to an other TX bank or other substation feeder lines.