Being a Lineman - Episode 41

[@paulreiner5163]

I am a bit embarrassed that even being an electronic engineer I never truly appreciated the professionalism, job complexity and safety culture in power creation and delivery but rather focused on how my family is impacted during the outage and whats taking so long. After subscribing and seeing the professionalism and great attitude towards customers, coworkers, dedication and deep understanding required for safety protocol adherence, I am now actively thinking about ways to help linemen and women. I support better pay, ongoing training, best safety equipment more staff to help in high-demand periods. For my part, I will never hack around in my fuse box and require permits and inspections for all changes. I will never backfeed home generator power onto the lines. Any work i have done will meet all best practices, local codes, and pass inspection the first time. i wont cheap out on cost. So a big thank you to everyone at the various utility companies and their support personnel. for making modern life possible We appreciate all of you! Stay safe everyone.

[@heatherkohlwey8379]

Amazing dedication to detail and safety. Great catch by the arborist crew. Awesome job, Mike! Best wishes to you in your continuing career. Thanks for the video, Aaron. I always enjoy them and learn something new. Please stay safe, and God bless.

[@basshorseman998]

Situational awareness....absolutely necessary for the 10,000 possibilities of things that go wrong...Excellent work, as usual

[@mxslick50]

Mike did an excellent job, methodical and careful without wasting time or using unnecessary steps. He will indeed do well and be a solid journeyman soon. He was also fortunate to work with you Aaron. Well done by both of you, stay safe!

[@charliesullivan4304]

@@mxslick50 and Aaron is such a good mentor. Letting Mike show and use his knowledge and skill while being 100% sure he's prepared to do everything safely and being available for anything Mike needs.

[@MarkRose1337]

I used to ride my bike under 500 kV AC lines as a kid. The capacitive coupling would give a constant mild buzz if you continuously touched metal bits on the handle bar. If you didn't touch the metal bits you'd eventually get zapped hard from static build up, the spark jumping between the handle bar and some unfortunate part of a hand. I seem to recall it jumping up to an inch. Fun times!

[@instantking2474]

“MP” Maclean Powersystems! We order quite a bit of material from them. Great video! I enjoy these more than you even know.

[@Bobsdecline]

Thanks you!!! Our methods guy messaged me shortly after with the same information, it's a great product

[@RyanB-s6k]

As a CATV lineman I love your videos it provides so much good insight on your side of things keep it up and stay safe

[@414RadioTech]

Speaking of catv I have all the master keys for all the lock boxes ever made everything's all available on eBay FYI and it's perfectly legal to use as well if you can buy it you can use it hell even my old technician left a whole Smorgasbord of tools behind last time and I got lots of DeWalt tools and all a bunch of cable prep stuff and just the whole ton of goodies in a Husky tool box that was left behind fully loaded and I kept every bit of it and I'm not going to give it back because it's mine now

[@Lydirius]

​@@414RadioTechFormer CATV guy here as well. I have tons of stuff from where I worked before. All keys HAD to be returned. Each was accounted for when distributed so.... As far as all the little stuff I have tons! Ground blocks, fittings, J-hooks, P-hooks, splitters. I also have stuff left over from when I did satellite TV as well. All my friends call me when they need work done.

[@hambro9644]

@@414RadioTech kool story bro

[@ryan0io]

I also worked telecom, from CO to on-prem, including going up poles and mid-span. Mad respect for those that work 'above' the 'there be dragons there' limit of telecom right of way.

[@james5118]

Also mad respect for taking precautions for even the slightest potential hazard occurring !!

[@ElectricRob]

As an engineer on the secondary side (480V and below), I love seeing you guys work on your primary side of things. Appreciate you taking the extra time an effort to record and explain all of this!

[@kens.3729]

Thanks for your Dedication to Safety and Detail to keep yourself Safe and our Power ON. 👍🙏

[@Trafficlightdoctor]

Love it! Great work! Those transmission lines are no joke working around!

[@DrewMarold]

Ok, I've binged the entire series and now feel ready to start my career as a freelance DIY lineman.

[@Bobsdecline]

Dang! That didn't take ya long at all

[@cdnaudioguy]

The world needs more checks and balances and double-checking. Thanks for keeping the lights on!

[@alanbean8222]

I'm not a lineman but I enjoy your videos. Good luck Mike in the rodeo

[@nuck97]

ALWAYS have the apprentice trudge through the hawthorn. Good call.

[@ryne2208]

As an apprentice, I hate this comment.

[@andressierra8514]

Lmao

[@tubeDude48]

Enjoyed seeing something longer then a few minutes. 👍

[@lessevdoolbretsim]

Good stuff. Always interesting. Safety is obviously a permanent consideration in all situations. Kudos.

[@Renville80]

Good illustration of the step-by-step process in setting up for a job with safety being Job 1 every step of the way. The angle pole at the beginning reminded me of a busy pole on the cooperative's line that was just down the road from our cabin. Not only did the line make a sharp turn (100-120 degrees) on two small 'hi-top' insulators, there was a branch line taking off from the pole (placed so the branch line was effectively the downguy for that angle), AND there was a transformer serving a member. All on the same pole. Dunno if something happened in the off-season, but I remember coming up one spring and seeing two changes: The branch line had been bumped to a new pole further back on the line (eliminating the angle from the first branch pole as well), and those poor 'hi-top' insulators were replaced with two sets of dead-end discs.

[@johnledger7763]

Thanks Erin&Mike keep up the good work that you guy's Do every Day!

[@suzylarry1]

good to see young and new hydro type workers coming along !

[@MrMaxyield]

For a 2nd year apprentice, Mike seems very well versed in his craft... This is evidence of being well trained... Good stuff, love to see it!

[@rickn501s]

Great professional work. Best of luck to Mike. Thanks for a great video.

[@birdfeeding]

Good job, Mike. Have a great career!

[@rayraap3905]

This video was really some good stuff. Tell Mike that’s one mighty fine good-looking pair of boots he’s wearing.

[@yourpropertyplug]

I hope they pay you the big bucks. You’re extremely sharp and safety orientation is off the charts.

[@KDMusic62]

I am not in the lineman trade but have always had great respect for those of you who are. Thanks for allowing the rest of us to think of electricity in our houses as a commodity and not the modern miracle that it is!

[@photocontrol]

Great catch by the arborists! Super episode of the complete repair!

[@rupe53]

Real life and real time video is so interesting that even I learned something today! Never saw one of those pole grounding gadgets before!

[@RobertKohut]

Top notch apprentice and worker!! 🙂

[@rodrickbourque]

Always wondered what it would be like to be a lineman. That's one of the career paths that was on my mind way back. Your videos never fail to feed my curiosity

[@trevelynbrown4444]

Good luck on the competition .

[@Lineman1990]

Gr8 video start to finish--- this is good video on how make repairs, with safety included.

[@rocks-if6uh]

Hey I just wanted to say thank you to you and all the crews that keep our lives safe and keep us with (in the words of AC/DC HIGH VOLTAGE ⚡ To power our freedom and our never ending electric devices. I love watching your channel and getting a better understanding of how the grid works and what it takes to maintain and repair it. I'm not in the utilities field myself but after 21 plus years in the towing and recovery industry I've had my share of calls for vehicle vs utility box or pole and even 1 car climbing the guide wire/stabilize ground to pole wire, but I leave the sparks up to those of you trained professionals. Stay safe. Nice work Mike.

[@ForTheBirbs]

YT recommended your channel a while back and I've been binge watching. Thanks for the awesome content and so good to see how great Mike is doing! Regards from Sydney, Australia. Cheers

[@adamv5047]

Nice job Mike. Hopefully your journeyman Aaron bought you lunch 😁. Good luck in Kanas City!

[@bertblankenstein3738]

Excellent work. Excellent explanations of what is happening, and why. Thank you.

[@robertmeyer4744]

Very good work ! That bad splice could have broken at anytime. A strong wind could have broken or the tree removable people could have had a branch hit the wire and it would have broken. That was a very good catch and that got in video . This will help many to know what to look for .Linemen and arbitrest from all over the world can learn from this. Cheers from USA !

[@ericclothier2543]

As always, love to see the primary power side of things! Telecom tech here from the US, Kentucky specifically. I spend a lot of my time working on poles under primary, and now I know another hazard to keep an eye out for! Always appreciate your videos Aaron, and love to see the attention to detail and safety. It only takes a split second lapse for things to go terribly wrong. Kudos to Mike, an excellent apprecntice, and the best of luck in Kansas City!

[@nicke1903]

I just want to give a shout out to ALL your fellow Canadian lineman, I'm in Western NC and our grid is destroyed from Helene, so much destroyed, homes, jobs, lives lost....I can't thank these guys enough, it's wild seeing these men here helping us GOD BLESS them!!!

[@andrewcbro]

U hiring ?

[@Peter_S_]

I love your videos. Great catch by the arborists! 👍🌲🌳🌲🌳

[@JacobCouch-v5m]

Thank you for another great video. Stay safe out there.

[@johnm4579]

All the best to mike on a long and safe career, great job guys, well done !

[@michaelgagne1911]

Thanks for the hands on video that's perfect we love those thanks 😊

[@Newberntrains]

wow thats wild the lines cold dead and the high powered ones can wirelessly send electric back into your dead wires this is why i love this channel i learn something everyday

[@jeffreykornspan9053]

Thanks for your video Aaron. A good demonstration !

[@billynomates920]

good shout by those arborists.

[@user990077]

Job well done! I've been educated once again. I"m just a programmer but my degree is a BSEE (44 years ago). Never did any engineering. Just coding. But your channel caught my attention a while back. No day dreaming or skipping steps allowed, that's for sure.

[@timcat1004]

I'm a retired CATV Tech. I found as I was training I learned and grasped more than the trainee. And than I was able to double down on it.

[@marchutton7640]

Outstanding Video, outstanding planning, communication and professionalism in preparing for the job, and absolute flawless execution by a second year apprentice. Enjoyed this video and learned a lot! thank you.

[@matthewbell9134]

Awesome video, really enjoy your channel. Been trying to get hired locally as an apprentice for 2 years and finally starting the end of the month. But your videos have really helped educate me on the trade and some of the expectations. Keep it up and stay safe.

[@nathanlockhart8259]

I work in a repair shop that works on Greenlee and Burndy cutters and crimpers. I love seeing the kind of work that they are used for, even if nothing of the kind showed up today

[@rumberitoboricua]

excellent catch!

[@victorprosa]

Mike is a good one. Keep pushing.

[@grabasandwich]

Induced voltage is crazy! 😮

[@Failure_Is_An_Option]

No it is capacitance.

[@charliesullivan4304]

​@@Failure_Is_An_Optionit's actually proper to call capacitive coupling induction too. Usually people assume you mean magnetic induction when you say induction, so I like to call it capacitive coupling but it's not wrong to call it a kind of induction. It's often called electrostatic induction, and there's a Wikipedia page on electrostatic induction, but I don't like that term either because don't realize that ac effects are included in that definition.

[@FreeThinker7]

I was going through my 11 week climbing program and after that your apprenticeship starts. but dam it I got hurt half way through hyperextending my knee on a gaff out. Just have to wait a year to get back in the program. Can’t wait to get this knee strong again. Looking forward to jumping back in!

[@johnwalker890]

Good job Aaron and crew........

[@AlanTheBeast100]

With the 345kV lines running near 90° to the 7.2 kV line, I'd not expect a lot of coupling. (So of course: after I write this - he gets a beep off the 120V test ... colour me wrong :-/ ) (Not to say precautions should not be taken).

[@PRR1954]

"I'd not expect a lot of coupling." yeahbut... 1% coupling would be 3.45kV and I'm not paid for that. 1% coupling might be a 1° deviation from perfect 90° which I can't see (without transit) and ad

[@AlanTheBeast100]

@@PRR1954 As it is he got nothing at 4kV and a beep at 120V (meaning more than 120 likely). Why I amended my comment above. Live and learn.

[@TechOne7671]

Here’s my thoughts, crossing at nearly 90 degrees and massive air gap it will certainly induce something but how much? Also, the section of the line is effectively grounded by the windings of the connected transformers as they will still be in circuit. However it would be a different outcome for a lines run in parallel for miles with no tap offs, especially if the conductors were isolated at both ends this would allow a massive voltage to build, hence the bonding to earth. All the best.

[@PRR1954]

@@TechOne7671 " the section of the line is effectively grounded by the windings of the connected transformers as they will still be in circuit." Probably not usefully 'grounded'. An un-energized transformer is a fairly high impedance for its designed voltage and frequency. Especially utility transformers because a low impedance is a waste of current, 24/7, on the company side of the metering. Recent (50 years) development of Silicon steel reduces this loss to 1% or less, which even working from proximity coupling, may leave a lot of Volts across a worker. A few minutes and a few jumpers may be so much cheaper than widows and orphans.

[@TechOne7671]

@@PRR1954fair point mate. I was not recommending not using the jumpers.

[@johnclyne6350]

Whilliwags? LOL! Love it! I call them sticker bushes. Same thing. I have seen those thorns. They hurt & suck!

[@jovetj]

I call them Government bushes. They'll bleed you dry if you let them.

[@johnclyne6350]

LOL!

[@kevinbelanger4134]

Good luck Mike in Kansas city

[@billyroberts5183]

Great video Aaron and great work Mike! Love the more “in depth” videos. Thank you sooo much for taking the time to edit and produce these, I realize how incredibly time consuming it is. Thanks for keeping the lights on and your attention to safety and detail. And thanks for sharing your trade with all of us.

[@JohnSvensson-j6m]

Those thorns will go through finger nails too, found that out trimming some back

[@Bobsdecline]

They are absolutely brutal 😔

[@wilgerdes3240]

"...a lot of times we're probably just day dreaming too..."😂🤣🤣🤣

[@bertblankenstein3738]

That pesky vegatation.. you have hawthorne out east. On the (Vancouver) Island they have blackberry bushes, as well as trees that are two to three times the height of poles. Those blackbery bushes are nasty as well. And I'm somewhere on the prairies.

[@throttlebottle5906]

you should try riding through both blackberry bushes and thorn trees on a dirt bike at 30+mph.... I spent a few painful hours pulling and digging briars and thorns out my arms and legs. I sure avoided riding in that area again.

[@joelhunter4082]

Great in depth video.

[@frederickbowman4494]

That is great

[@LtKernelPanic]

Heh I don't blame you for sending the FNG into the thorn patch to put up the tag. Joking aside Mike looks like he's going to make an excellent lineman at the completion of his apprenticeship.

[@kevinpoore5626]

Greetings from the great state of South Carolina in the United States Friday we got knocked back to the dark ages and ETA for power back on is like Friday The power grid got fubar'd due to a hurricane

[@Sovek86]

Greetings from Greenville. We got power back for a couple hours but thanks to Duke not trimming trees we lost it 4 hours later but things are finally getting going. Outage map dropped by about 200k in a matter of abou 24 hours

[@chrislapointe-ds7de]

I suspect next time tree trimming is propose there will be fewer people who don't want it done 😂

[@longviewstud26]

Awesome video. Would like to see what kind of flashy flashy light you have on the trucks 😎

[@stuartkerr1172]

Great video

[@stacigabrish909]

Good luck Mike

[@414RadioTech]

FYI Aaron just to let you know that we energies the guys that do southeast Wisconsin we had taken and cut all that out and put new lineup because we don't do those sleeve splices anymore due to the same fact that these sleeves are useless so what we were instructed to do was run new line

[@FennecTECH]

Give Mr eagle eyes an award for spotting that An “I prevented a major outage” ribbon

[@TlVseri]

More and more BC hydro green hard hats are being suspended from off the primary lines ! Sometimes too , White hard hats are too , affixed to the primary lines ! The hard hats normally appear close main intersections, parallel 3 phase 25 Kv lines , adjacent to the Trans Canada Hwy too ( thru out the Province)! Now Telus , Shaw/ Rodgers , started attaching their tech lines hard hats to their Comm cables too !

[@LoriLockwood-hj1bf]

OMGosh!! that broken line on primary?!?! I couldn't fathom if any "tree people" didn't pay attention to it and went ahead to work the trees. 😟😧

[@GabrielGomes-kl9ub]

Sou eletricista no Brasil, gosto muito dos seu videos

[@WOFFY-qc9te]

Defective Gloves : Exposure to Ozone and or UV will destroy the bonds in rubber best stored in a polythene bag away from light especially if in the location of HV kit which increases Ozone levels. . Surprised issued kit has this damage.

[@mikel9567]

they are usually made with UV inhibitors to prevent UV from degrading the rubber. they were new gloves so it was probably a manufacturing defect, probably during the curing process. It happens quite frequently but rare for the gloves to get passed QI.

[@WOFFY-qc9te]

@@mikel9567 I think you are right about QI error, My gloves used (ages past ) to have an expiry date, one workshop had an insulation test jug shaped like a hand we disposed of the gloves if they had been in contact with PCBs which was then used in everything. I had some test work at a cable factory, their rubber insulation was made by mixing a little bit of this and a little bit of that with a sprinkle of some magic for the UV. The guys would manipulate large gobs of rubber through heated rollers then off to the steam heated cable extruder, hard and dangerous work, the huge cast iron sub sea cable winding machine was made in 1904 and used to make ships rope. Best

[@Taillighttim26]

Even in HVAC it doesn't take long to put on safety gear it's something you get yourself used to doing that extra few minutes might save you from getting hurt or getting killed

[@matkremzar5474]

Saw alot maine power trucks heading down.

[@grabasandwich]

13:13 I saw a pole by my work recently where a new transformer was mounted but not hot yet. The tail (?) wasn't attached to the primary yet and was just dangling in the air. I don't know If they're long enough to touch another phase in high winds but I was kinda concerned. I'm assuming the linemen knew what they were doing and probably coming back soon. Thoughts?

[@denverbraughler3948]

There’s really no hypothetical scenario in which those dangling conductors could cause a fault. A small cutout door is rigid, can oscillate, and needs only a short swing. Conductors are flexible and any motion is self-dampening.

[@NoContentDude]

We hang dead cans often on hot poles in preparation of more work. The transformer isn't connected to a hot line yet, so those legs ("tails") at the proper length have no chance of contacting a primary, as they were only measured to connect to secondary which is insulated (except for an open 3 phase secondary which is slowly being upgraded) & neutral for grounding. It's smart that you pay attention! Knowledge is key, amigo

[@brentwoodburn8930]

Never realized the amount of work and danger involved in this work.Much respect for these linemen and thanks for sharing

[@johnt6213]

Looks like a towering analysis to me.

[@chrislopez349]

18:36 MP is McLean Power Systems

[@Onerouss]

10:20 What is the electrical box for on the side of the 8011S001 pole?

[@Bobsdecline]

And old service for Department of transportation. It's cut off up top now. Must have been for some signage or lighting...

[@johnandrews23]

You say you've got a lot of good apprentices coming up. Congratulations to your local school system..

[@jatoav8or]

Always informative. Videos by nostrildamus.

[@xultm8wingmanxtv954]

Are you going to Florida? I saw a few guys from New Brunswick on the way down. Said they were headed to Florida and North Carolina. Also, I personally am a huge fan of the 40+ minute video. As an apprentice I thoroughly enjoyed watching every bit of this.

[@thaiexodus2916]

I've been wondering about capacitance with proximity high potential lines nearby. Working in a dual power supply piece of equipment I shorted the system to itself, transformer primary short, but still took a jolt from the adjacent circuit. In that instance I simply shorted all four primary together. Not ideal but I had to test secondaries so I had to keep the two systems isolated from each other.

[@sandy1653]

Quick question: Do you guys carry any sort of cribbing on your rigs to help level up in the event you can't get within your 5 degree limit? Also good spot by the tree trimming crew, that was almost fretted through.

[@somethingelsehere8089]

Relabel that connection to the sleeve as a fuse and call it good! ;)

[@chrisn7264]

Question… If the potential checker alarmed at 4kv would you assume it was from induction and still ground the line or would you investigate further before grounding?

[@charliesullivan4304]

Great question. It sounded like the prescribed procedure is only to test at the nominal voltage, and the others settings were out of curiosity and for educational value. Part of the assumption is that if it's induced voltage, the current will be limited, so even if it's 4 kV, it will easily collapse to zero with a short on it. But I don't what the threshold would be of where that becomes dangerous to try. I would have also found it interesting to put a clamp meter on the ground jumper to see how much induced current is flowing to ground.

[@Bobsdecline]

That's exactly right! Further more, if I wanted to know for sure, I could you a Sensorlink voltstik to confirm the exact voltage.

[@chrisn7264]

Thank you. I appreciate the information. I love all of your videos!

[@molivroman9806]

It is good to know we are being watched by professionals like yourselves. It always amazed me when I saw linemen working and wondered what the job entailed. I am grateful for this channel. for the education. I would join your ranks if I had it to do over again. outdoor and always on the move. what a great job to have.

[@unwired1281]

👍👊‼️

[@cptmorgan4136]

Great video! Question, is there voltage loss with only one strand hanging on?

[@PeterMikeSolomon]

Hey Bob my utility has asked that we stop using those autosplices as apparently we've observed them to be more prone to failure. We were told to replace them all with compression sleeves if we encounter them. Any thoughts on this?

[@AVMAR]

When one of these feeder lines pop and come in contact with each other and create a huge short/ARC are you allow to reuse the lines and use multiple sleeves within a short run?

[@channel-ko4vk]

Although it's not the responsibility of the arborist to inspect the line this was a good catch by that crew. However, thermal imaging via routine Infrared inspections should not be overlooked.

[@D-S-X-4-4]

Wouldn't there also be some inductive coupling present? Just curious. GREAT job and really enjoy your videos!

[@james5118]

When you guys have a large amount of customers or key accounts out, do you cut inlines in depending if you think the restoration work is gunna take a long time?

[@Its_Caidawg]

I'm currently in school for powerline technician in ontario and when we put our grounds on, we use a wire brush to clean off the oxidization thats on the line. Do you guys do the same? I didn't see him do it in the vid.

[@Huffy_Turns_a_Wrench]

What is a tailboard? (Im not a lineman.... I sell liquor wholesale and restore old cars.... but am fascinated by what you do.....)

[@LtKernelPanic]

Usually refers to a safety meeting held by the work crew(s) typically held at the back, or tail, of the truck before starting the job.

[@PRR1954]

"What is a tailboard?" Different words in different shops. Guys in pickup trucks stand around the Tail Gate of the boss's truck. Boss spreads out the work-order, the blueprints, the special parts, introduces anybody new, and tells everybody what they are doing. I guess Aron' s big truck has a tail-board instead of a gate. There is some formality: persons present sign-off that they were there.

[@Huffy_Turns_a_Wrench]

@@LtKernelPanic kinda what i thought.... but wasn't sure.... Thanks....

[@Bobsdecline]

👆💯🤝