List of car myths and false claims

Bad luck if you need to recharge the car battery on the day the power is out.

My co-workers keep their portable tool batteries on chargers all the time, I recharge every two weeks and the batteries last for years.

How does one get gas when the power is out?

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I can put 5 gallons in from my garage and drive to where there are powered gas pumps. But I don’t think people with all electric would totally rely on just one electric car in this day and age. Until technology catches up, I think most people will have a electric, with a ICE or hybrid as back up. But the way things are going electrics will probably get through these hurdles at least in time for the next technological adventure.

After Superstorm Sandy, NJ mandated on-site gas-powered generators for larger gas stations.

I’ve haven’t seen a lineman climb a pole on a ladder in over 30 years. They all use buckets.

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There are a lot of right of ways where you can’t get a bucket truck, In that case you can use a back yard machine if the utility has one and its available or get your hooks on and climb the pole.

I don’t have to do that anymore, work like a dog for unappreciative customers, I can now sleep all night without worry of the phone ringing getting called out, I finally have a little peace. I hated my years at the utility for the most part.

Now I drive a dump truck, 18 speed transmission, I love my life now. Work ends when it ends. No incessantly ringing phone, no 3am drunks hitting poles, no freezing blowing storms, none of it.

The one thing that makes me very angry is the truck has disc brakes…lol, no Im not kidding, air disc brakes on every axle.

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You don’t climb an energized pole, period. The fusible links are replaced using a fiberglass pole with w special hook at the top that removed the old link and installs the new one. Very tricky operation. No bucket truck needed.

We have a lot of underground in those areas which is nice until there is a problem. In our old house, maybe five years old, and we came home and the babysitter said only half the lights were on. One leg was gone. The power company came out and put their thumper on it and found out a gopher had chewed one of the wires. Had to did a little to fix it. Had a gopher chew through the pool liner too and drained a few hundred gallons in his hole. I used to shoot the varments from my deck for self preservation.

If that’s done standing on the ground the pole must be very long. The high voltage wires are located at the very top of the pole, which is where the fusible link is presumably. I’m guessing 25 feet from the ground to the high voltage wires in my area. Replacing the link is done manually, at the end of a 25 foot pole?

As to the voltage of the lines, my dad was a lineman for a while, and he used this rule of thumb: 10 KV for every bump on the insulator.

I was walking my dog, power pole configurations are interesting to me, so I noticed on one house one of the three lead wires from the pole to the house had broken. The owner of the house had a dog too, dogs were friends, and the owner happened to be there for a dog-greet. I pointed the broken wire out to him. He told me thanks, that he’d been having a problem with his electricity for months, couldn’t figure out why.

Pretty obvious when you look at the panel and see which breakers aren’t live. But then you have to look at the panel and know what you are looking at. Not to mention having to take the door off.

You can climb a pole that is has energized primary on it, you would not work the primary energized but you certainly can work the secondary. You deenergize the transformer via the cutout, but the primary on the pole will still be energized. At that point you can work the secondary.

Its called hotstick, we call the long ones ling sticks. It can be a fun time running the stick up and putting the fuse in the cutout in windy weather. Then you have to set the fuse in the cutout, then put the stick in the fuse door ring and close it in. Even better in the dark.

Seems like it would be very awkward job without some sort of support midway for the 25+ foot pole. Long story, but I had to trim some limbs on a tall tree to meet local code, overhanging tree branches must be at least 25 feet above sidewalk. I used a saw blade on the end of a long pole while standing on the ground. Very hard to get the saw end of the pole into position, even on a calm day. Wouldn’t have even attempted it in any sort of wind. If there was some sort of midway support or guide for the pole would have been much easier.

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This is fine, Rick

It’s when you start talking about your proposed attention-getting behavior that we start to wonder🤨

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My fil was a mucky muck with the rural electric in South Dakota. He talked about the dangers of sending a crew out to restore power. Said at one point they had to cut power and wait a particular time before it was safe to work on the line. Don’t know if true or not be these guys wired in snow ice and wind with everyone yelling to get their power back on.

I always wondered how they kept pop from freezing in the outdoor vending machines.

Well my bil used to work for Ivenco in St. Paul. Refrigerators are like heat pumps, heat and cold.

It’s Magic, pure and simple. :wink:

Here in the North East…Diet soda will freeze if the Soda is in freezing sodas for just a couple days. Non diet takes a few days longer. But they do freeze if left in the cold temps long enough.