Re: New 8 second long 550 kV Power Arc

["Tesla list" <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com>]

Original poster: Chris Roberts <quezacotl_14000000000000-at-yahoo-dot-com> 

So what purpose do those air break switches serve? Do they usually open 
hot? What would cause that one switch to arc while normally it dosen't? (At 
least I would imagine this is a fairly rare occurence) Just trying to 
understand why this would happen, other than just a couple of bored utility 
workers wanting to see something really cool. =D
By the way - AWESOME movie!

Tesla list <tesla-at-pupman-dot-com> wrote:
Original poster: Bert Hickman

For all fans of Arcs and Sparks,

A friend of mine at Fermilab just sent me a 1.5 MB MPEG of a 500 kV air
break switch opening hot. One of the three phases has a problem
disconnecting, resulting in one awesome power arc that's gotta' be at least
50 feet long. It lends a new meaning to the term power arcing.

And those utility guys have all the fun... listen to the guy whooping it up
at the end of the MPEG. :^)

See it at: http://205.243.100.155/frames/longarc.htm

Merry Christmas,

-- Bert --
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-Chris