High Voltage Power Line 500 kV Circuit Switcher Testing

High Voltage Power Line 500 kV Circuit Switcher Testing

Recently a California utility had some trouble de-energizing the line reactors on a 500 kV line. Test and maintenance personnel checked the switchers used to de-energize these units and found everything within specifications. They then attempted to de-energize the line reactors and found one phase continued to have a problem.

Here are some photos and a very impressive movie of the 500 kV circuit switcher showing a test and one phase arcing.

Video with sound of the actual test

MPG Movie File [1.56MB] Requires Windows Media Player [Free]
RealMedia Movie File - Dial Up 56K Connection [208KB] Requires RealMedia Player [Free]
RealMedia Movie File - Cable or ISDN Connection [549KB] Requires RealMedia Player [Free]

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