Re: Wild caps...and shopping :)

["Christopher Boden" <chrisboden-at-hotmail-dot-com> (by way of Terry Fritz <twftesla-at-uswest-dot-net>)]

>Original poster: "Jim Lux" <jimlux-at-jpl.nasa.gov>
>
>
> >One of the things we noticed on our little jaunt was a large bank of
> >capacitors used next to the private substation for the plant. I have no
>idea
> >of ratings or whatnot (I have to go back tomorrow), but they were about 
>4W
>X
> >10L X 6D and had 2 HV bushings. These are probably rated for at least 
>2000
> >and at most 15KV and I was woindering if they would work for TC duty.
>Ideas?
>
>
>Probably power factor correction capacitors.  Rated for 60 Hz AC, lousy for
>TCs (fairly high ESR and inductance), so so for DC filter capacitors.  
>Often
>have an internal bleeder resistor to meet code.  They'll probably be marked
>in kVAR as well as kV, and not be marked with the capacitance (you have to
>figure it out from the kVAR rating)  VAR = E^2 / (377 * C)   E in Volts, C
>in Farad
>
>
>

Always with the math......grrrrrrrrrrr

I cooned the fence and got a closer look. There are about 20 caps in a 
highly elevated bank of 2 tiers. They sit on a tower (made by GE) and are 
fed directly by a small substation and into a powerplant building for a 
papermill. The caps appear to be rated at about 2KV but I can't get close 
enough to read the plates just yet. (I tripped the circuit feeding the cap 
bank, but without properly rated test gear I'm not brave enough to get too 
close)

Other than the creative application of a length of chain, how can I verify 
the status of a HV feed? I've found I'm allergic to pain and have no wish to 
die for my work :)

We also found some other goodies....but that's for another post.



Christopher A. Boden Geek#1
President / Founder
The Geek Group
www.geekgroup-dot-org
Because the Geek shall inherit the Earth!

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