RESTORING POWER SUPPLY

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Issue 89, 1 May 1937, Page 9

RESTORING POWER SUPPLY

Linesmen's Method oi Work DANGERS OF JOB ■ -.'u. j-4 : An idea of th© step* taken ta iWire the miniimim of dejay when there i* some obstruetion or bregk down of the power lines was given hy Mr H. H, Wylie, secretayy of, tha Electpiq Power Board, yesterday, when addressing the Haatinga Rotary (Efiuh on electrieal eupply matter*. Mr Wylie expiained that all rer ticulation in the board'* wea was on the "rxng" system, which meant that there were aetually twp means of eupr plying. power. If there weri* any defects in the serviee at any partiouiar point ,t wa* possible to hring the eupply up to that point from either sid^ of the break. The dea throughout was to design the reticulation eo that there was this alternative means of supply. Among the latest device* in n*e in certain portions of th'e boaid'e area where there was no heavy industrial loadj were automatie switcbes, which in the event of a tree falling on a line or through some earthing of the line, "tripped out" and after a delay would close in, but if the obstruetion was still there would immediately trip out- This would be repeated three times before staying out. In this way it was possible to find out if the obstruetion were only a temporary one, as wa* often the case in the country districts. The other switches in nse tripped out and remained open, and when this was the case the Power Board was usually informed Dy some call coming through indicating that the power was off in a particular section. Linesmen ate then pnt on the job. The first tbing done is for a man to patrol the line that is off the power. He starts at the ewitch box that has tripped out. Here he leayes a sealed note intimating that he is on the job and he then locates th© trouble. If it is a break or some obstruetion requiring assistanee he obtains the help of other local linesmen and they get busy. "Owing to the danger these.men are exposed to, it is imperative that every precaution be taken," said Mr. Wylie, "and we have evolved a water-tight syetem which must be strictly adhered to. When about t-o do any work to the line the switch must be locked by the patrol man, who has a special lock of his own for that purpose and who retains the only key to the lock. This ensures that no late arrival comeg on the scene and replaces the switch m the meantime. In addition linesmen uiust eai'th the line within vision." Mr Wylie said that in the event 'of breakdowns through obstruetion* the men were expected to get on with the job without waiting for orders from the head office or reporting the eau«e of the breakdown. A report could be rurnished later ; the main thing was to restore the serviee to the community.