Most likely
Which is why it's worth asking if they're proposing to replace services to individual properties.
Yes, it was an inevitable by-product of the much vaunted privatisation, where all the emphasis is now on the bottom line of the balance sheet.
Just occurred to me, that most properties built since the 1970s will have a long length of service tubing installed by the builder from the meter posi tion out to the main. The service cable is poked through this tubing. At le ast that's the theory. If the builder did his usual job the pipe will be ki nked and have two or three right angle bends.......
I had to run some cabling across a private road. No problem, they were having speed humps installed and asked the contractor to fit a duct for me at the same time. He did. When I got there I found each end of the duct, each end of the plastic duct that had been run just below the nice, new, hot tarmac.
It was certainly being done in the 1970s. Perhaps not in all areas.
Colin Bignell
The electricity museum has a section of the original Brighton supply (bus bars laid in pitch filled wooden troughs) from the 1880s, that was dug up when replacing mains in the 1970s.
Colin Bignell
Was it still in use and on the maps?
Most modern transformers have internal tapping connections. It's a case of lifting the lid and hands into the oil to move internal links. If it was an older t/f, that might have had an external handle to turn, but again it ca n't be done live. The contacts can't break and make alive. That only happen s with 33/11 system t/fs that use load diverters.
Which museum? The one in Christchurch closed recently for good.
When I was involved, it was called the Milne Museum and located in the former Tonbridge Power Station. The exhibits were later donated to the Amberley Chalk Pits Museum.
Colin Bignell
It was still in use, but the underground maps for the area were, at that time, being drawn based almost entirely upon the recall of one of the foremen and he wasn't old enough to remember the 1880s.
Colin Bignell
Google for Type 2 Surge protection, it's going to be bigger in future.
Dehn:
Hager:
Surge Devices
I obviously misunderstood you. I was talking about power distribution systems, not protection of electrical installations.
Ah, yes, I know of Amberley - well worth a visit! The Energy Electricity Hall is, I think, now sponsored by one or other national body, I was going to say the Electricity Council, but that was wound up in 2001 or thereabouts.....
I didn't realise South Eastern Electricity had their own museum.
is, I think, now sponsored by one or other national body, I was going to say the Electricity Council, but that was wound up in 2001 or thereabouts.....
This page gives the background:
I was Secretary to the steering committee responsible for setting the museum up and in the picture of Bob Gordon on that page the museum is a lot more organised than when I knew it. Then it was little more than a random dump of incredibly interesting objects. Bob Gordon seemed to know the history of every single piece there.
Colin Bignell
why I was curious about the company. There was a type of lv cable known as consac, which was notorious both for occasional problems with manufacturing QC, but also was quite critical with installation techniques.
existing services onto the new main or lay new services into properties.
cables they're replacing, or are they proposing to replace service cables as well.
It's Western Power, follow on from MEB who were the original area board. Last time someone enquired what the underlying problem was they did mention consac cabling practice being the probable cause. I assume if they are going to all this expense, they will swap all the problematic cabling out.
To be fair to them, they have been very responsive when there have been supply problems often fixing it within hours in the early morning before the next day. This seems to be a bit of the service that has not been degraded by privatisation - presumably a legally enforcable licensing condition.
Chris K
Problem isn't very high voltage spikes, it is when one phase blows up there are surges in the remaining phases before they expire. No-one has had any expensive damage, mostly old style GLS lamp failures but I always disconnect anything electronic as a precaution if we are in when the power fails to minimise damage on start up.
Chris K
That is pretty much what they did several years ago where I used to live. It was done over a weekend and they were very quick and I only remember the lights flickering a couple of times in the whole weekend!...
They had a lot of men working doing the digging, all done by hand..
11kV to 240V pole transformer, it's old they shifted one of the 240 side wires from one prong to another.
Do you think recent installations will be good for 90 years? :-(
Why? Are they beginning to worry about EMP?
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