Marc BrookerDec 28, 2022

There’s a wind storm around, so today I’m thankful for reclosers, one of my favorite parts of electrical infrastructure.

Reclosers are part of the electrical distribution system, the “medium size” electrical network that bridges between the big steel tower 400,000 volt world of electrical transmission and the happy little 110v power in your home. They’re like the circuit breakers that turn your power off if something bad happens to your home wires, but have a special trick up their sleeves.

Show threadVerdant Suburban Roadways
@marcbrooker how likely are they to start a fire in a dry forest if a tree falls on the lines or if a line hits the ground? I am hoping there is some sort of ground fault detection like residential wiring. California is a real, real dry place in the summer time.
Dec 28, 2022 at 4:39pmWeb
Show threadMarc BrookerDec 28, 2022
@makewayfortrucklings
My understanding (and I've been out of this field for the best part of 20 years) is that transmissions tends to be the high fire risk, less than distributions. Reclosers do have ground fault detection (but a different mechanism from the differential way GFCIs work).
Show threadVerdant Suburban RoadwaysDec 28, 2022
@marcbrooker the distribution lines in the Santa Cruz mountains do a fair bit of snuggling up to trees. A fair number of residents also tend to shoo our utility company away when clearing the right of way, and the utilities here have been using the no maintenance plan not even the deferred maintenance plan. Developing reclosers that can communicate with each other and employ a reclose handshake to determine if the lines are clear before restoring power would bring some peace of mind.