We install the "house knob" only because we don't wrap our secondary wires like you did for the electrician alot of times the siding will rot and we usually have to put it in an area where it doesn't look rotten or completely disconnect them and roll up the service so they can fix the siding 👊👊👊 mcallen texas

#bobsdecline 👊 Watching from Connecticut, Eversource is my electric utility company!

@@ryank1273 👊👊 Cheers man!

Watcing from the netherlands

Donna, TX. Magic Valley Electric Cooperative ⚡️ We service a little over 100,000 consumers.

Sounds like a Karen neighborhood if you ask me

@@backinyourcommentsectionag3191 yeah, might have some Kevins living there as well

@@RubenKelevra ah yes, the infamous Kevin, not to mention the Kyle's, but at least they aren't in the area. I think?

Awesome!!

Same here, often times I gather footage while waiting for others. Once the actual work starts I focus more on the task at hand, that and I don't want to pressure the guy's by having a camera around. Sometimes when conditions allow I'm able to get some better shots of the actual work but the job does come first for sure✌️👊

Really appreciate the feedback! Means a lot! 👊👊

Do you know of some similar vblog from European linemans / power transmission techs? I am in Switzerland, but familiar with German and Polish stuff too, but never a dually seen much work on lines. I am pretty sure it is different than in US. Fuses, disconnects, transformers, poles are rather different.

Oh Nice! Thanks man! 🇨🇦🍻

IT here, too (before I retired.) IT in an electric utility can get fairly deep in electric operations, but we keep our mitts out of the electric work. Our responsibilities extended about halfway into protection - we owned the equipment that communicated from location to location, including power line carrier. When Energy Control got an alarm that a scheme was down we got the first call. How about your job? (I hear S&C smart grid (Intelliteam) is really popular in Canada.)

👊👊🍻

@@Bobsdecline How long have you been working?

@@ryank1273 Started apprenticeship in 2003 - journeyman April 2007

@@Bobsdecline Sweet! Still need a driver's license and CDL. Was supposed to get it, but DMV closed due to the damn virus.

@@Bobsdecline to become an apprentice do you have to start as a "Helper"? Or is the Helper the apprentice?

Nice! 👊👊 I love Ottawa, been there a few times!

Thanks Brother! 👊👊

Awesome! I think this is the first I've heard from Tallahassee 👊👊 Thanks for dropping in!

Awesome! Thanks for the feedback Patrick. Your trade would definitely be familiar with the importance of good communication! Thanks for taking the time to write👊

I worked in aviation before I got into bulk electric power - I was a comm guy until I retired in 2018. The level of focus in power is much greater even than in aviation. Everybody is patient with clarifying exactly what is going to be done, with everybody's roles and responsibilities, with equipment and PPE, public safety, coordination, fallbacks and contingencies.... It sounds like a lot of red tape until you are standing out there (or in your case, sitting in there with very little control over your destiny!) all suited up and ready to go. BTW, where I worked the atmosphere in the distribution center (metro) and the transmission center (state) was very different. Metro operations was tense, snappish, and not entirely organized. Probably because of the greater workload, I suspect. The transmission guys were calm, focused, and had a plan in case things went awry. I heard stress in their voices from time to time but never heard any of them raise their voices. When we worked with the California transmission entities they were always wound tightly. I dreaded working with their ISO. All responsibility fell on them but they had very little direct control.

Thanks Joe! Always look forward to hearing from ya!🍻

Can't go wrong with that! We also do that actually when we are in another province/state...While in familiar territory within our own jurisdiction we are only required to lift the tap if we are working on that first span, or if we feel that it's required for any other reasons of course. We must then be working within 150m of our trip ground, and also jumper out any breaks in the line. Yeah I've actually never seen a pin bend over so perfectly like that!

Thanks man👊

🤣I never noticed!

There's a huge complicated list of rules around this stuff.... Most times if we work all night, it will result in 8 hours of required rest. 1 or 2 quick calls out though, we are still expected to work our regular shift. It can be tough, because you don't always go back to sleep. If however I had a full 8 hours off before getting called in, I may end up continuing to work until I hit 14 worked hours. My employer also understands that working from midnight until 8 am regardless of time off before hand is hard on one's "internal clock". So if someone feels they can't work safely from lack of sleep/rest arrangements are made.

@@Bobsdecline Worked the overnights for 25 + yrs , been retired for 7 months and my internal clock is still messed up , wake up in the middle of the night WIDE Awake

@@patriot2164 that sucks! They say the best thing for our body is routine when it comes to sleep... Being on call is definitely hard on the internal clock

@@Bobsdecline Yes Sir , Been Watch your Videos , recent Subscriber , Love & Respect Your Work , UnSung Heros

@@patriot2164 Same here, been retired 5 yrs and still often sit on the porch til daybreak before I can go to sleep. Every time I hear sirens I wonder if it's a hit pole.

Oh man! Good on you for calling 911. A lot of people don't want to look silly incase they are wrong . There could have been a guy wire or anchor let go, allowing the poles to lean over. Of that's the case, it would have only gotten worse 👊👊💯

That's like a few years ago a hog truck was coming round the the curve on our road and pulled down the line running over the road from the transformer on the outside of the curve to the pole on the inside of the curve that went to the meter. Only thing different in that situation is I assume the driver called it in after he did it but I know state troopers and the local volunteer fire departments were on scene.

👊✌️

Thanks! We do if there's live stuff around .... Like if it's a side line off a Main, we'll always test it on the live first. The 3 beeps when we turn it on are supposed to indicate that the battery is good, but have also seen many false readings over the years. Testing on live is really good practice in my books, but not required. After a few jobs though if it wasn't tested on live equipment I would make a point to do so

At my utility we definitely test on a known energized source 1st. Would start on a known source (energized) then the circuit to be serviced, then back to the known source. BTW - Years ago I pulled call in distribution (residential mostly). Transfered to transmission. Transmission far better utility work.

We also get a 4 hour window , if we finished a call and go home and they call us out within the four hours we get paid straight through

Pretty much same here! There a few stipulations , and some different rates at times ( either 1x,1.5x or 2x ).

Our office covers a huge area which is divided into 4 parts, each of which have a service guys that covers the area. There's a "floater" that's helps us all out during the day. After hours I get called for any trouble in my area, but there's 2 guys that cover the whole map that are on a rotation. If I'm busy or having a few drinks , they cover for me 🍻👊

👊👊 Cheers South Africa!

They will hold a ton of weight! Often times when they break it's a result of an arc!

Thanks Vince!👊

@@Bobsdecline What are the capacitors used for? How do they benefit the powerline?

@@vincea3037 They improve the efficiency of the line (power factor). It's hard to sum up - Along with resistance in a circuit, there is both inductive and capacitive reactance which cause phase shift (results in a form of resistance). Too much of one or the other is not good. Inductive reactance is more natural within a circuit due to industrial loads/motors n such, so the capacitive reactance is applied to offset this

@@Bobsdecline So capacitors are like a reserve for heavy loads? Motor startup and such?

@@vincea3037 not really a reserve, because the capacitance would affect the lines all the time if they are closed in. So they could actually negatively impact the power factor when not needed. There are newer installations that only activate as needed, however. Think of a rubber band stretched out, and being perfectly straight as the target. Applying a capacitor pulls it down out of line a set amount according to size ... Maybe 2 inches. Now turn on 2 motors and it pulls it back up 2 inches bringing the line straight again. Turn on a third motor and the line in now up 1 inch . The final position of the rubber band would be up 1 ( inductive reactance +3 and capacitive reactance -2) . Without the capacitors your final position would be up 3. - ideal position being 0. But then there's also the resistance from line loss and loads which will play into that. Achieving and actual zero may have aslo created ferroresonace which is a whole other story. That was probably a really bad explanation 🤣 and that why Im on the poles and not into the books

You must be one with the stick 🦗🥋 😬 Either that or lots of practice 🤷‍♂️

It's very competitive indeed! I applied to a line school and had to go through a ton of testing and interviews. Once I made the cut, it took some old fashion hard work! I knew nothingamd nobody in the trade at the time 😎

They can certainly be tough😔

I always keep a few on the truck but it's up to the homeowner to have an electrician replace them here as well. Mainly because we don't want to start drilling into people's homes without knowing what we're drilling into. If just the insulator is broken, I'll swap that for them or if it's on a mast pipe.

That's a really good question, first time I've been asked! When patrolling lines through backyards, I always tell guys to make some noise or yell "here pup" or something. Enough that if there is a dog back there he'll here you before you spook him. If it's a large job or we know for sure which yard we'll be in, we try our best to get ahold of the homeowner. There has been a few bites over the years but I've never personally been bitten. If there's an aggressive pet preventing us from doing emergency work, that's being used intentionally, we must call police for assistance. It usually gets resolved before getting to that point

Line school is the best route honestly

Hate to seem callous about it, but as the adage goes, "Play stupid games, win stupid prizes".

If we hit out max hours (14) or fall into a complicated work hour formula that requires rest and that rest happens to land on regular work hours, then yes. Only during those regular work hours though. An example is of you can work the remaining 2 hours of your shift (due to mandatory rest), we will be paid those 2 hours anyhow. 8 hours rest is required to "reset" but only the 2 that land on schedule time are paid. If the entire 8 hours lands on your shift, then it's paid. It's about a 2500 word essay to explain all the details, but that's the gist of it