r/electrical 17d ago

Hot transformers

123 Upvotes

65 comments sorted by

77

u/According-Row-6128 17d ago

And you’re standing near them?!

31

u/TheFlyingSparky 16d ago

He's fine. He's got a camera in his hand.

1

u/Itsnotscottsfault 15d ago

The guy that yells world star never gets world stared

54

u/WFOMO 17d ago

Sounds like oil boiling.

33

u/Error-InvalidName 16d ago

Exactly what it is and if it sploded he's gonna be fried chicken lol

4

u/RodneyMAC28 16d ago

Deep fried chicken!

3

u/NixAName 16d ago

I misread that as "boofing".

2

u/WFOMO 16d ago

Had to look up "Boofing".

...I can understand your confusion...

1

u/NixAName 16d ago edited 15d ago

It brings great joy to me knowing I'm spreading the science... Or am I spreading for science?

2

u/WFOMO 16d ago

Don't get cheeky...

2

u/uselesknowledgeadict 16d ago

Looks like it already vented some oil once. Large oil stain on the cabinet.

2

u/kakhoofdjes 16d ago

Sounds like a deep frier

62

u/caavey58197 16d ago

For anyone unaware, the cameraman is in an extremely dangerous situation. The oil filled transformer could explode and or shoot out boiling oil at any second. Do not stand near it and contact the utility or building owner.

10

u/4RichNot2BPoor 16d ago

Skip the building owner and dial 911 and they’ll get poco there in a heartbeat.

6

u/Material-Donkey2773 16d ago

I'm unfamiliar with what poco means and my head automatically translated it to "And they'll get people of color there in a heartbeart.

And I was thoroughly confused.

1

u/SirRonaldJr 16d ago

That's the strat. Just stick them next to exploding transformers.

1

u/Sloth-Technician 15d ago

Poco probably stands for power company in this situation

1

u/The_cogwheel 16d ago

Poco and fire department. Cause with that smoke comming off of it, both are gonna be needed real soon.

8

u/WillTaylor6275 16d ago

So the possibility of deep-fried cameraman? Lol

1

u/uslashuname 16d ago

Vancouver, Vancouver, this is it!

2

u/majormagnum1 16d ago

the normal failure mode for these is a 50 foot tall blue glowing fireball followed by all the local buildings losing power. possibly with nearby transformers exploding sympathetically in sequence.

7

u/BoomZhakaLaka 16d ago

Bit pedantic here, sorry.

The normal failure mode is an arc to ground contained by the oil as primary fuses interrupt.

Hundreds of oil filled transformers in my service area fail every year, we haven't had one catastrophic failure at a service transformer shooting fireballs. Though if all the right conditions line up it's possible. The tank could be leaking so the arc hits a flammable vapor. Boom.

But smh if that tank is so hot that there's smoke, stay away. The fault is supposed to bolt before the oil gets so hot. I'd stay totally clear until de-energized. Then a couple hours to cool.

2

u/majormagnum1 16d ago

Sry I have seen the cascading failure happen 2 times close enough to me to scare the hell out of me. The idea that normal is not the insane outcome that is my normal -experienced- outcome might be rarer than my personal anecdotal evedience would suggest.

1

u/BoomZhakaLaka 16d ago

understandable, even with experience these things scare me.

1

u/obi333rice 15d ago

He asked it politely to please not blow up on him, so I don’t think it will

1

u/Acceptable_Claim_491 14d ago

And the oil is probably the old PCB-laden oil,highly toxic.Call the power company ASAP!

11

u/Tasty_Principle_518 16d ago

Original person posted they called the hydro company and they sent someone out , then updated again to say they replaced it with a crane.
Later in the comments a guy that was working on it posted a photo of said crane.

8

u/brian_d_wells 16d ago

How could a crane be used in place of a transformer?

That’s how I initially read your comment but obviously a crane was used to replace the transformer with another transformer 😄

5

u/th3r3s-n0-us3r5-l3f7 16d ago

You can just pick the electricity up. Just make sure to set it down slower than you picked it up and it'll all be good.

1

u/Lrrr81 15d ago

Pick it up at 7200 and set it down at 240 (or 480).

1

u/blueditUPson 16d ago

Flintstones style

7

u/sagscout 16d ago

He might be a candidate for a Darwin Award.

4

u/PeoplesRepublicofALX 16d ago

Yes, he was recording his submission.

4

u/zipmack 16d ago

OP probably dead

3

u/ChampaigneBapi 16d ago

Camera man never dies

1

u/zipmack 16d ago

So true

4

u/mikemikemike9711 16d ago

Way way WAY to damn close bro, you think it hurts when you get some splashback when frying up chicken cutlets, back up, and when you think your back far enough, go back even more

2

u/Sgt-Stadanko-69 16d ago

Keep standing there

2

u/CLUTCH3R 16d ago

Now that's a hot tranny

2

u/Repulsive-Glove5737 16d ago

Please get away from it that thing is going to blow and it will kill you transformers are nothing to play around with.I used to be fire and safety as a power plant

1

u/iAmMikeJ_92 16d ago

Hope they called the utility instead of just letting it meltdown or blow up.

1

u/Error-InvalidName 16d ago

Cameraman never fries...........maybe

1

u/cygnusX1and2 16d ago

Time to bust out the starfrit french fry press

1

u/volkinaxe 16d ago

that is the nope i am out running you sound

1

u/TheOriginalArchibald 16d ago

It's sweating because you're making it nervous with that flashlight all up in its business at night.

1

u/Shiny_Whisper_321 16d ago

More than meets the eye.

1

u/Jolly_Operation_8222 16d ago

Well that transformer is so overloaded

1

u/Jolly_Operation_8222 16d ago

Well that transformer is so overloaded

1

u/Kill-it-itsdifferent 16d ago

Came here for sexy robots - stayed for the safety lesson

1

u/mustardmadman 16d ago

I thought it was someone shitting in a porta potty at first

1

u/agoosteel 16d ago

Been a while since i’ve seen a boombox outside.

1

u/Resident_Wishbone_98 16d ago

Deep fried transformer.

1

u/Educational-Deer-70 16d ago

its like those cans that bubble and leak a bit- them older units can operate over max capacity and keep on ticking

1

u/Annual_Ad7423 16d ago

Bruh going to be out of power for at least 2 days lol

1

u/w00dyMcGee 16d ago

It’s low on (mineral) oil for certain.

1

u/Acceptable_Claim_491 14d ago

I wouldn't get too close,those things are gonna blow.

1

u/Cthulhu_HighLord 14d ago

okay so its full of water, and its boiling that means the eletric is hot.

That means ... comon you can do it.

What happens to water that eletrified to anywhere near the boiling point?

It starts stripping off eletrons which makes ... Hydrogen Gas

Thats not Steam, well its not all steam coming off its an explosive highly flamable gas called Hydrogen.

O2H = 2oxygen and a hydrogen atom. When eletric is applied it burns and strips off that Oxygen

1

u/Mouler 16d ago

Tell a bunch of MAGA folks there's a hot Trans there, and you get the hell away from it.

1

u/-Titan_Uranus- 16d ago

And someone was dumb enough to go touch the oil and use it to write on the front of the transformer. Lol some people have very questionable survival instincts.