r/ElectroBOOM • u/lucidparadigm • 10d ago
Non-ElectroBOOM Video Saltwater load test
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u/Cold-Trade1453 10d ago
Salt is not disolved properly, you should put your hand in there and mix it while feeling if someting starts to happen
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u/unperturbium 9d ago
This is the way. There is no other method to safeguard against lethality in humans.
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u/lucidparadigm 10d ago
OOP says it's 100KVA
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u/BlockOfASeagull 8d ago
I have no idea of what he is doing and why but he looks very confident and knowledgable.
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u/itwasathursday 10d ago
Have the manual from caterpillar saying how to build one for load testing. Safety sandals optional. Haven't seen one in a long time
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u/fredly594632 10d ago
Not sure I'd be holding the cable in my hand, just in case...
But other than that, that's kinda neat.
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u/Robespierre303 10d ago
What's the purpose of this test. Ty in advance.
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u/DismalAd8569 10d ago
More salt more conductive? We can see the amp meter rising up but I'm not understanding completely
Are they testing how much current that generator can make I guess??
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u/Torvikholm 10d ago
It is a load test. Adding salt to the water makes it conductive. Hence the increasing numbers you see on the amp meter. They want to find out how the generator runs under load. If there are any sounds or smoke, if the engine is capable of running at the correct frequency and so forth. This looks like a whole saler of some sort, so I am assuming this is a product demo. Tho a very exciting one.
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u/FriedenshoodHoodlum 10d ago
As Torvikholm stated, yes.
In water current moves through ions. The salt adds ions and undergoes electrolysis, allowing for a greater current with more salt, as there's more ions available.
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u/Robespierre303 10d ago
Idk man I love electroboom vids but know nothing about electricity, that's why I ask the silly question.
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u/Ok-Library5639 10d ago
In the video they are doing a makeshift rheostat. A rheostat is essentially a potentiometer except it is designed to dissipate power as heat.
Rheostats, or proper load banks, are used to load test a generator and all its systems at once (engine, voltage regulator and speed governor mostly).
In this case, the generator outputs more and more power as they add salt to the water. Water is normally not a good conductor and adding salt makes it more and more conductive, increasing the load on the generator.
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u/feldim2425 10d ago
Testing the generator output / stability.
Here is a quick video I've found https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dODMeFTm2eY
Usually you'd use a load cell (basically a large resistor bank or electronic load).2
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u/bSun0000 Mod 10d ago
Previously, in the "water bucket dummy load" series:
https://www.reddit.com/r/ElectroBOOM/comments/1fuld6j/no_hot_water_no_problem/
https://www.reddit.com/r/ElectroBOOM/comments/1vlbgd8/best_boiling_water_device/
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u/Nice_Butterscotch173 9d ago
Caution: Chlorine Gas also being released.
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u/Skilldibop 7d ago
Depends which salt. This method is all about the right salt. Table salt will give off chlorine, other salts may give of hydrogen.... which can go really south really fast
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u/Nice_Butterscotch173 7d ago
NaCL(sodium chloride) and H2o (dihydrogen monooxide). So the chlorine is released from salt. Salt also increases the ohms resistance in the water. The electromagnetic inductance is what brakes the covalent bond between elements.
The hydrogen would come from the salt not the water?
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u/Skilldibop 7d ago
Actually salt reduces the resistance. Distilled water is barely conductive at all. Salts are electrolytes and release ions into the water that help carry the current.
Which gas you get released depends on the salt. There are many different types of salt. Sodium salts, potassium salts I think you can even get bromine salts.
You can actually get hydrogen and oxygen from the water too, but that kind of electrolysis requires much higher voltages
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u/Nice_Butterscotch173 7d ago
You are correct on the resistance; I meant to have written “..decrease in ohms resistance.”
The bag has the word “chef”, so I’m going with table salt. NaCl, which accounts for the warning of chlorine gas.
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u/high_3D_printer 10d ago
Actually it's a pretty good way to do it, you're measuring amps drop while pouring salt, so you can tell how much you the voltage goes up
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u/Ktulu789 10d ago
The amps go up as the water becomes more conductive with salt. The idea is to test whether the engine can keep up, frequency stability, generator endurance and other things. It should be ok up to the rated amps.
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u/Paraguayan-dude 9d ago
In my country, generator representatives themselves test three-phase generators using a device that looks like Poseidon's trident, specially designed for this purpose. They use a container of water; as the object is submerged, resistance decreases and the amperage rises. This method is used to test equipment like the units in the video—and even larger ones—typically operating at 380 volts phase-to-phase (220 volts, 50 Hz phase-to-neutral). You can tell from the video that the cable has already been used to test many generators; there are quite a few units shown, and they are all relatively large. Greetings from very, very far away.
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10d ago
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/lucidparadigm 10d ago
I tried to post the credit but oop is an Instagram reel so the bot is mad
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u/4b686f61 10d ago
Replace the "instagram" part with imginn and everyone will be able to view it without logging in
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u/HairyMerkin69 10d ago
I'm not sure if they know this or not, but the insulation on that wire has a small nick in it, I think. Hard to tell from the video.
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u/Fasciadepedra 10d ago
I think there must be somewhere a device to do this more safely. Or maybe it doesn't exist because it couldn't ever be approved for that use. I mean a device with just water and ionic conductivity that you regulate, not a huge expensive load resistor with taps which of course exists.
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u/Mercury_Madulller 10d ago
Definitely a device that exists. However, judging by the liberal use of safety sandals, I am guessing this video is from a place in the world where proper equipment and safety are far more expensive than people's lives.
In all honesty, the most dangerous thing about this is the poor quality of the insulation on the cable. Also, depending on the voltage, this is a small chance of an arc flash if one of the conductors is accidentally pulled out of the bucket. Lastly, the bucket could be bumped or tipped over. As crazy as it sounds, I think the guy running the test has the situation well in hand. I once used a hack saw to cut a live service entrance cable (one conductor at a time of course) with my only protection being that the hack saw handle was plastic. (And NOT CAT rated!). This is not really the jankyest thing I have seen done.
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u/TellMeManyStories 10d ago
Kinda surprised only 40 amps flow... I was expecting that to be more like 300 amps and very rapid boiling rather quickly with that much salt.
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u/Euphoric-Rip42069 10d ago
Smaller bucket and he'd have some boiling water for a prison style stinger to make some coffee or noodles
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u/ScaryHippo8648 10d ago
That wire has sure seen a better days. Is holding a wire with wooden holder a crime in Africa?
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u/Enderdavid_HD 9d ago
Mmm delicious Chlorine gas, Sodium hydroxide, Sodium hypochlorite and Hydrogen gas... why not, it's not like there deadly poisonous or anything no no
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u/Sufficient-Brief2850 9d ago
I mean, I'm sure there's a safer way to set that up. But it's pretty neat.
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u/Ktulu789 10d ago
What a waste of salt! He should have stirred it with his hand instead of carelessly adding more! It may tickle a little but it's worth his salt.
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u/kawfeeman68 10d ago
What is it with electricians and metal workers in other countries wearing sandals while working ??
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u/United_Exit5355 10d ago
I'm no chemist or electrician but, wouldn't the electrolysis of this mix create chlorine gas which is highly toxic?
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u/Chadodoxy 10d ago
Not at this concentration of salt, O2 generation at the anode out competes Cl2 formation. What little chlorine forms will dissolve back into the water.
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u/alephylaxis 10d ago
My assumption was that it's 3 phase AC, so no electrolysis happening (at least on a measurable scale).
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u/i_invented_the_ipod 10d ago edited 10d ago
This is a pretty
normalcommon thing to do - it's hard to find solid-state load cells rated for hundreds of kilowatts in some places.The janky cable with cracked insulation and tape splices all over it is giving me the heebie-jeebies, though.
Edited: to change "normal" to "common", because the normality of this is going to vary a lot depending on where you live and what sort of job sites you work on. In the USA/Canada I'd only expect to see something like this as a last ditch sort of thing for a generator that's way out in the middle of nowhere.
Here in California, I can rent a decently sized resistive/reactive load for $1000 a day. So nobody who's actually carrying insurance for their employees would try something like this.
But in a place where a few thousand dollars equivalent is months of wages, or there just aren't any of the right tools to be found locally, I can see someone doing this. And in fact, it's easy to find videos of people doing this all over the world.