Community Forums

travelorer99 · 08-05-2020, 09:13 PM

I,,,, would have added elbows to the ends of the top, ends then capped them, so in the wind and or a storm, the wires, phone, cable , electric wont fall off the flat,,,, part. And cinder blocks at the base.
I am not picking on the poster, at all....,
I have had to shut the power off to places for this reason... The reason is, if a meter reader, reads the meter, and sees that, they would report, could report that, and some one like me had to go out to talk to them, and if they weren't home, shut off the power.
ME, from the picks, is to make the galvanized mast taller, a lot taller, and anchor/guy, it and all is good, foreverish. Storms and trees, and dump trucks not included.
Simple fix, and on the up and up. Power is disconnected and lines, all are removed from the mast. Wire is removed from the old mast, to top of the meter, old mast is added onto, or replaced and a guy to hold the side pull is put in, and new wire and all utilities are atattached to the mast and all is good, and on the up and up.
Its not a free fix, but its cheeper than an accident.

LETMGROW · 08-06-2020, 01:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by twogypsies

What happens in wind storms?

I would hope this contraption would only be used temporarily on a sunny day with no mist in the air and no inquisitive kids around. I wonder how old and cracked the insulation on those wires really is?
Great idea which could lead to a poor result.
What would prevent anyone from calling their local electric power provider and asking them about raising the wire?

tommar · 08-06-2020, 05:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NeilV

I see a lot of people recommending raising the lines going pole to pole out on the street however be mindful that in most of the US Residential Power Lines on the Poles are 7,200 volts which is dropped down to 240 volts by the transformer. Do not ever poke, prod, nudge, etc a residential power line that feeds the transformers.

As for the original poster if its the service line to your meter being discussed you may need to install a taller masthead on your home or have them mount the Chicken Wire a little higher on the power pole or both. Send the picture to Traveler and see what the voice of experience has to say. Do not try to raise the wire yourself or you may end up snapping the Chicken Wire yourself making it droop even more or worse.

I was not a lineman just a power system mapping technician.

In Texas, for years now, all new service (residential lines) overhead AND underground is 14,200v. Older, existing lines and their transformers are still 7200v. So messing with 14.2 is very dangerous!

dsnutes · 08-06-2020, 05:44 PM

All is good until that one time that you forget to lift the wire!

MW22r · 08-06-2020, 05:51 PM

I am the OP and after 88 replies, I'm not touching anything! Electric company has been called and will be looking at the situation next week. Never expected this post to generate so much interest but thanks for all the responses

tommar · 08-06-2020, 06:10 PM

Here's some stories... back in the day, when I was working for the power company, I was serving as the senior lineman's assistant (aka, a grunt) and we got a lights out call on the radio (no cell phones in those days!). We arrived and basically, the entire neighborhood was dark. It was all underground service, the primary being 14,200v. So, after we eyeballed everything and it looked to be OK, the Sr. lineman decided to close in ther circuit, replacing the blown line fuse at the riser with a new one. Using a hot stick, he closed it in and the resulting flash over and explosion from the fuse blowing again would put any fireworks show to shame. We searched more and everything seemed OK so we again tried to close with a new fuse... same result! We then determined that the buried primary cable had a fault somewhere. We found the fault using a "thumper truck" which would shoot voltage down the buried cable and the "thump" which shook the ground, gave us a good idea of where the fault was. After digging up the line with a backhoe, nearly 4 feet of that thick cable was completely oxidized, the aluminum just gone. It probably started at a teeny tiny pinhole in the insulation....

Another time, a worker putting up a sign for a restaurant was told by his boss to measure the clearance between the sign and the overhead primary. So the worker climbed up the sign, at least 20 feet off the ground and straddled the sign, like he was riding a horse. The boss told the worker not to touch the primary but hold the measuring tape about a foot away from it to get a good idea of the clearance. Well this primary was in an industrial area and was under very heavy load (amps). Anyway, the "juice," seeing a way to go to ground, arced the 14" or so gap between the end of the measuring tape, traveled down his arm, then between his legs, blasting a hole in the sign. Suffice it to say there was not much left of that worker; he probably never knew what happened to him. Electricity is nothing to sneer at believe me! We were called in because the fault caused the line fuse to blow and we arrived just moments after the accident happened.

twogypsies · 08-06-2020, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MW22r

I am the OP and after 88 replies, I'm not touching anything! Electric company has been called and will be looking at the situation next week. Never expected this post to generate so much interest but thanks for all the responses

Thanks for returning!!!!!

LETMGROW · 08-07-2020, 04:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MW22r

I am the OP and after 88 replies, I'm not touching anything! Electric company has been called and will be looking at the situation next week. Never expected this post to generate so much interest but thanks for all the responses

I'm sure nearly everyone here is glad to hear you are going this route.
Thanks for the update.
Lynn

Hit_the_Rhod · 08-07-2020, 06:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by MW22r

I am the OP and after 88 replies, I'm not touching anything! Electric company has been called and will be looking at the situation next week. Never expected this post to generate so much interest but thanks for all the responses

Hallelujah! The Prodigal Son has returned! Please make sure to let us know what the power company tells you/does. . . .

travelorer99 · 08-07-2020, 09:09 AM

All this line talk, makes me want to go back to work... AAAAHHHHHHH, never mind, that would be silly.
For the OP, glad its all working out, hope its a free fix on there end, for ya.

**JohnRR** · 08-07-2020, 09:18 AM

Somehow I don’t expect the power company to be amicable to free of charge here, but I do hope I’m wrong.

travelorer99 · 08-07-2020, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JohnRR

Somehow I don’t expect the power company to be amicable to free of charge here, but I do hope I’m wrong.

Being nice is best. Im hoping, and without pic''s that it could be raised at the pole and or house, and or relocated, to come in at a different angle.
Its just like options 1-5, witch one to go with. Or maybe, 2 and 5.