Lightning Strike on Some Oilfield Electrical Equipment.

[@hfdzl]

Great content-thanks for taking the time to bring us along! There is a way to sag your wires using a stopwatch, A chart will give you distance and sag and time for strike to come back to you. Thoroughly enjoy your content!

[@MrEric_API]

Oh yeah, that is life in the oil field, the oil field don't wait..... All rounded roustabout, even electrical/ control. Gotta get it back up and running to get that oil flowing. Great video Zach, love seeing someone showing what goes on to keeping the oil field running.

[@TheZachLife]

Thanks.

[@RODALCO2007]

Great video, that bucket truck you have is awesome for the type of installations you work on. Yes, Texas has a lot of heavy lightning storms. I have been chasing tornadoes in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas in 2011- 2014 and seen those storms. A lightning rod on the pole won't help enough to protect the equipment as long runs of OH wires are fully exposed to lightning strikes.

[@goatsinker347]

If you mount a hairdryer (in the on position) so that it will blow hot air into the intake of that diesel, and let the power cord be accessible outside of the grill..... You can plug the hair dryer in prior to starting, then go start the engine, i bet it will fire up almost immediately.

[@kc033056]

AWESOME!!! Sorry to see you’re feeling poorly, hope your getting better. Big fan of a midweek video!! A short while back you said you were going to maybe take us to work with you, glad you did. Maybe we could get a complete overview of how the entire system works. (Oil, pumping,water,transportation,etc) Thanks Zach!

[@TheZachLife]

Thanks. I'm almost over it today. I plan on making this channel about that if I every the toter finished up.

[@stevensaxon8888]

@@TheZachLife great video. I'm really like the different content. Do you have a contact that would sell oilfield pipe at wholesale/bulk prices?

[@FishFind3000]

18:40 that’s why it’s supposed to be properly grounded. And the current should take the path of least resistance and avoid you as long as your not grounded. Plus if there’s any fuses on those lines if it shorts to earth it’s gonna pull ALL the amps and blow.

[@jwhayes1965]

Get your provider to add another pole past the end of the line where you connect. Then you should run another pole past the last pole that has your equipment on it. I can’t explain why, but that extra wire solves a lot of lightning issues on the secondary. In the ESP business, we always recommend that for people having lightning issues.

[@bentheguru4986]

You are close to why but not why you think. Here is a tip, best way to think of l;ighting control is like water in a pipe. You get a huge pressure spike and wave on a line, hard corners can/will blow, having a long line can get a "Hammer" effect (hint for the lead-past line).....

[@robertmandigo7942]

What happens when lighting gets to the end of the line it flips over on itself and the voltage doubles. It with blow holes in underground primary lines even protected by lightning arestors, I have seen it to many times.

[@jwhayes1965]

@@robertmandigo7942 How does electric double?

[@robertmandigo7942]

@@jwhayes1965 when lightning hits a power pole the lighting wants to go to ground so that voltage spike goes all directions from that point and when it gets to the end of the line the lightning arrestor only bleeds it down to the voltage that it is good for because it is moving so fast the spike goes back the direction it came from and that causes the voltage go way up or double, I went to some continuing education classes and they had graphs of actual lighting strikes hitting the end of a line and the the voltage goes way up. I had it when a transmission line wire got hit by a tree and it came in contact with a distribution line and my transformer was not at the end of the line but the neighbor across the river from me and the one at the of the road both of them lost their microwave and TV, the capacitors exploded when the voltage spiked and my house was just fine.

[@demartin5366]

Great video, Zach!!!...really enjoyed going with you out in the oil fields. Reminds me of our oil leases here in the Illinois Basin in SE Illinois and SW Indiana. My grandfather had some leases here in the 60s and 70s. Wow, what good memories guaging tanks and being around all those pumpjacks. Yep, that lightning can be wicked stuff, so unpredictable. I am impressed that you can do your own major electrical work, usually we hired out an electric company to go out and fix this sort of stuff. Our worst months are April, May, and June for lightning up here. I've been out in your area which I believe is near Wichita Falls. Had some good friends who managed a hotel in Jacksboro, TX many years ago in the 80s. There were quite a few wells out in that area, also been out to the Permian Basin, Midland/Odessa area, WOW, there is a well every few feet out there. Love this stuff, keep these oil field videos coming....I eat this up. You should make oil field tutorials for training new pumpers. Thank you for making these for us oil field guys to enjoy.

[@TheZachLife]

Thanks. I plan on more of the oilfield stuff after the RV is done.

[@jacky445]

Love these oil field videos such hard but interesting work.

[@stevenpaisley7209]

We had the old 7.3 turbo they started not half bad here in eastern Canada. Good enj .

[@sharkey086]

I can tell you know a good deal about electrical but just a friendly tip. If you have do to any work on the box, switching fuses, replacing contractors, etc., always close the door and stand off to the side. Arc flash is no joke and don't want to see anyone get fried.

[@gorak9000]

But he engaged the safety squints AND turned his head away when he defeated the door interlock and threw the switch! That's gotta count for something, right?

[@sharkey086]

@@gorak9000 always cup a hand over the goods too

[@hmrody]

Really have been enjoying your videos... One thing I have noticed on poles here in Alabama is they will run a separate copper ground wire that sticks up about a foot above the pole and runs down the pole to a separate ground rod. It does not connect to the box. Might be wishful thinking or maybe it helps. Just a thought. Best...

[@TheZachLife]

A lot of people have been recommending stuff like this. I may have to try something like this.

[@BigMikesGarage]

A hammer drill with a cup attachment (I made one from an old bit and a socket) works great for driving ground rods! Nice work!

[@TheZachLife]

Interesting, good idea.

[@FishFind3000]

They have latching attachments that grab the side of the rod and allow you to drive a 8ft rod from the ground easy.

[@Fireship1]

I did the same by chopping off one end of a four way lug nut wrench. Chucked that in my Hilti hammer drill and 8 foot ground rods sink in like butter.

[@davidschwartz5127]

I was a primary end steel mill electrician for 6 years, I thought we had problems with blow-up relays, contactors, and shorted-out fuse boxes from the steel dust in the air, man you have that beat not a good thing though. I was familiar with all the stuff you were working with there.

[@HiwasseeRiver]

I have sat up all night in at a remote Army base in Alaska babysitting a phase monitor during a high wind event. You're dome light was on btw (how handy is that info 7 months later - lol). Getting a good ground is not as easy as some folks think. Bone dry, frozen soil can create patches of "local grounds" that are not at the same true ground potential. Cipher on that for while.

[@kevincrosby1760]

Don't worry about the dome light....listen carefully and you'll hear the truck idling.

[@PaulHigginbothamSr]

Good job Zack on keeping her running through adversity. I think like you do it is because of the slightly higher ground. I had a naval aviator in the family and he said a hill stuck up by it's self up Northern Texas and it had a funny name because all the 2nd lieutenants ran into it during training.

[@stovebolt448]

Thanks for the video, Zach, just seems like there should be some sort of cost effective blow out fuse before it gets to the box, can't be cheap to swap out all that equipment in the box, hey take care.

[@chrisjohnson4666]

There is we use them on 3 phase tornado siren contactor boxes all the time... screws into the box wires in and it blows up instead of the box.... That only works if its coming in the power lines which in this case it appears it is.... Also helps to ground the pole with a copper line from top to bottom...

[@briansumner2700]

Wow, lota lightning storms/strikes. Possibly put a skywire above the 3 phase lines to protect from lightning?? Good video.

[@a.anderson8850]

Thank you for explaining everything, I'm learning alot

[@fredflintstone8048]

Good rundown on NEC vs ad hoc wiring. Lightning doesn't care about NEC. It blows everything up regardless. So many surge suppressors are 'one shot' on a heavy hit. Varactors also wear out in time and do nothing to protect the circuit. They take a limited amount of surges. The best bet is some kind of spark gap protection but given a big enough hit, they'll be damaged as well. Tips will melt off.

[@teddysmith457]

😂 you should put a drip loop at the weatherhead so the water don’t run back down the conduit in your box😅

[@jd3497]

The conduit runs into a fused disconnect rated for indoor use only. Go figure??

[@stevenpaisley7209]

That boom truck makes a great hunting stand!

[@nhzxboi]

The truck's firewall is ripped. There is a kit to reinforce it. I wonder if they're available anymore. Wicked problem back in the day.

[@TubeBrowser2]

Very cool video. Ya got some skills bro. We managed a ranch north of Amarillo for 15 years. Lots of lightning and mesquite trees.

[@robertmandigo7942]

Zach you should never connect copper wire to aluminum wire with out being separated by the correct kind of clamp because copper will eat up the aluminum and using an oxidation inhibitor grease is even better. Also when running the wire from the weather head on your conduit make sure you have a drip loop about two inches to keep water from getting into the conduit. Keep up the great videos.

[@ocsrc]

Definitely I would invest in auto reset fast acting breakers before the fuses

[@donaldfogg1857]

Zach you de man. I wonder if there's anything you can't do. I also wonder if you went to Oklahoma state U or Texas A&M. yes i know they're not the only collages but they're my favorites after Vanderbilt. Anyway I'm impressed and wish I lived closer so I could stop by and chat over a cup of coffee. Be careful with that electric stuff. I've always heard that lighting strikes the highest point but where the cured tanks are everything is high. By the way what kind of bushes are those. Sometimes they look like they're lined up, then again not. Cheers

[@TheZachLife]

Haha thanks, I barely graduated high school. Are you talking about the mesquite trees? They are pretty bushy lol.

[@donaldfogg1857]

@@TheZachLife Yeah I suppose so. They look to be about maybe up to 7 or 8 feet high. I must say if you just finished high school you are even more amazing to have archived all that you have . You do a very good job of explaining things to us (tubers). I appreciate you answering my questions. Thanks man.

[@victoryfirst2878]

I can tell you that using a lightning rod place properly would have saved all the components. My location is lightning protected with 3/4" copper stranded wire. Lighting hits the house all the time and does nothing but a huge light bulb over the house and sounds like the house is below a bomb going off. Nothing has ever happened to our abode. The pole that has three phase power two hundred feet from the house get hit about every 4 to 6 months. Does exactly what have at your site. They use 1/4" solid copper wire going down six feet deep. Just not enough to save your breakfast. Nice video fella.

[@bentheguru4986]

No, it would not. Go back and watch closer. Poles not taking the hits.

[@victoryfirst2878]

@@bentheguru4986 Please do explain in more detail Ben. Thanks

[@ocsrc]

Put in a WHOLE HOUSE OUTSIDE SURGE GUARD right at the meter and have a Smart UPS on everything electronic The truck you need a 2nd high capacity battery in parallel. I had the same issue and I put in a new battery which helped for a couple weeks and then I thought if I had more amps I would have easier time starting the truck. It worked. I also keep a trickle charger on my vehicles which really made a difference. BTW, you need to get checked for the virus. It sounds like you have it It can go very very bad, in minutes They have medicine that will start working but you need to get it within 2 days It sounds like the feeds you should have auto reset fast acting breakers set to reset once and stay open the second time The substation should have auto reset breakers set to reset 3 times before locking open You should add lighting arresters on top of the poles, every pole. Direct 2/0 wire into a 6 foot grounding rod and a 4 foot grounding rod connected with 2/0 wire to the box I would put solar panels and a remote cellular monitor for loss of each phase. I would use a passive amp monitor that is non contact and if power is lost on any phase it will call a number you program. I had remote transmitter sites that I had solar panels and deep cycle 12 volt batteries to power the 4 watt cellular phone and the monitor. When something went wrong, there were dozens of alarms that it could send. I would get a call in the middle of the night and the pre-recorded computer voice would say either: ALARM or EMERGENCY Transmitter Site ( ##-####### ) FAULT 00 through 99 but there were only about 30 faults used And the monitor would wait 20 seconds for an input and then repeat the same message and do that over and over So for instance if the heater tripped off it might be Fault 02 If power to the transmitter was off it would be fault 10 and if the building main was off it would say fault 20 And it would read off all of the faults and I would enter a 2-digit DTMF code to send the signal to reset and turn back on whatever had gone off And it would reset and then tell me the status and if the fault was cleared and I would enter ## To clear everything until it to go back into standby monitor mode And if something was really wrong I could turn off the transmitter with 98 and I could turn off the building main three-phase breaker with 99 That remote system saved so many long drives out to remote mountaintops I remember one early morning around 3 a.m. when I got a call from the highest peak sight we had and it was in a building shared with the state and County Emergency Services and I called the contact number for the State dispatch for that Tower and I said are you guys seeing a loss of primary power and they said no everything looks fine and the chief engineer went up and the entire electrical panel for our side of the building had caught fire and melted and luckily the entire build when was cinder block and concrete and steel beams The fire charred the whole wall and burnt itself out The wires had all burnt up and were stopped by the fire break junctions for the conduit going from one side to the other through the wall and to the outside and there was a special type of foam that was inside that did not burn I have spoken to people in West Texas that tell me there are no inspectors and that you can build anything and do anything you want It is a very rule area and people have bought big pieces of land for very little money and they basically just wanted to be left alone the way it used to be in many places here on the East Coast before we got overpopulated and had so many state and local agencies created In the 70s the road where I lived was dirt and they paved it in 1980 The building of houses in the 70s and 80s required an initial permit For the electrical you needed the initial inspection of the transformer to the meter box and the meter box to the main panel Just the 200-amp feed wires The inspector would check the ground rod and the ground wire to the meter box and the four wires from the transformer through the conduit into the meter box and from the meter box into the main panel as soon as you receive that sign off you could go to town and wire up the whole house In the 90s they changed to add a additional inspection where you would run the Romex to the boxes and you would strip off the jacket and nothing else After the inspector signed off on that in the 90s you would go to wiring in your switches and outlets and light fixtures and everything else and it would all be connected up but it wouldn't be screwed in and the inspector would come and do the final inspection and then you could button everything up But even as late as 1999, I remember the Fourth of July weekend and I'm pretty sure was 99 it might have been 2000 but I'm pretty sure it was 99 that it was a long three day weekend My neighbor cleared the trees on the North side of his lot That bordered my vacant lot and on Friday the bulldozer cleared the trees and brush and Saturday he poured a concrete pad On Sunday he began building a three-story industrial garage On Monday the holiday he finished building it The garage was 100 ft by 50 ft. No permits no nothing In the spring of 2002 basically every single piece of land and every single lot that had been waiting for someone to buy it and put a house was bought and houses were built. The amount of building that happened was so dramatic that we went from having a huge portion of the county that had no government infrastructure whatsoever and we never saw a police car they just didn't come to where we were We didn't have any crime either so it wasn't a big deal But with all of the million-dollar house is being built and all of that new tax money they built a town hall and town buildings and a road department and there were 3 new departments that had nothing but permits and rules and fees It went downhill really fast after that But West Texas I had relatives that went there last year and I asked them why they hadn't been in touch while they were traveling and they said they didn't have phone service and I said there weren't cell towers along even the highways and they said there wasn't anything along the highways there weren't towns there weren't phone lines there weren't power lines there weren't gas stations there just wasn't anything And people that I've talked to that went and moved out there after this area got built up said it was like it used to be in the 40s around here where you could just buy a piece of land and build a house with no permits and do anything you wanted But that is a trade-off One of the people had purchased 50 acres and they figured out that the phone company is required to give phone service to everyone in America and they have to run the lines to wherever you are and in doing so they have to be able to get the bulldozer to where the drop is And they figured out that one of the things that is still available that you can request is an actual telephone booth So they requested phone service and a telephone booth in addition to the phone for the house and they bulldozed and created a road where they buried the cable That was pretty resourceful The person said that they had been told by the county when they did the purchase that they didn't have to worry about a septic system because they purchased more than twelve acres and if you purchase more than twelve acres you don't have to have a septic tank but if you purchase less than 12 you have to get a permit and you have to install a septic The house the guy built didn't have any water there was no well and there was no plumbing and he built an outhouse And it reminded me that in the seventies and even until the mid-80s where I live there were still out houses in back of some homes and those homes had hand pumps at the kitchen sink that were how they got water Even in town there were Warehouse is that didn't have any running water and on the back in the alley there were two outhouses that in the 80s were still being used by the employees The town had no stoplights in the 70s And I remember they put in a traffic light at the corner where there was a little mini mart gas station and the firehouse was down that street and there was a little supermarket down that street and that was the first light in town In the neighboring town there was a light that had been there since I think the 50s that was the main road north to south and the main road east to west And that was the only light in that town The amount of infrastructure and the overpopulation is just so depressing I remember in the 80s in the middle of the night you could stand in the middle of the highway and there wasn't a single car all night long Now they are expanding the highway because both lanes are bumper-to-bumper 24 hours a day It's very depressing

[@johnsebastianbach]

​@ocsrc you need someone to talk to 😅

[@victoryfirst2878]

@@johnsebastianbach I am talking to you JohnBACH

[@stxrynn]

Lightning hates inductance. It loves capacitance. It'll jump a gap all day long. But it will blow through a sharp turn or a coil. The stuff we used on the tall buildings in Houston had stakes with rounded ends on them pointed up. Supposedly it bled off the charge instead of letting it build up to cause a strike. Not sure if that would help or not on top of your poles.The ground wires looked like braided aluminum rope. About an inch thick. I'd imagine the casing and tubing would be the best ground you could imagine, but I'm not really sure about that. On our radio towers, I'd put a ring of grounds around it, then run the same length wires from the legs to the ground rods, and connect the rods in a ring. Using flat grounding strap lowers the inductance of the ground, too. But out there, I just don't know. I figure you could reduce the damage, but it'd be expensive. I think your "consumable" electric system is probably the best trade off. Man, that is some kind of wild. Dad told me of a spot in their pasture out near Mangum that ALWAYS got hit. It was just something under there that drew lightning. If you are worried about something being hot, use a voltage sniffer. It uses hand capacitance to light up a neon bulb. Does that smoke conduct? I'd be a bit careful around it. We'd get something like that stuck on the inside of the TV transmitter. High voltage in there would weld that stuff to the inside of the cabinet. I'd pull maint every so often and was the inside down with alcohol. Took about a full night to clean one cabinet. We had four of them to make power. Three visual and one aural. Cool vids man. I like the backwoods industrial stuff just fine!!!

[@TheZachLife]

Interesting, One of the this thats not conveyed in the video of the amount of actual stuff we have out here. There are miles of overhead some 12000v and some 480, transformers, control panels, disconnects, We have tried different types of stuff like lighting arrester, 480v surge protecters etc and it seems they just blow up with what ever they are attached to. As you say a couple of disconnects and motors a year is about the cheapest solution we have found.

[@stxrynn]

@@TheZachLife I figured you might use the spikes on that spot you mentioned that always takes the hits. But man, you have the electrical grid of a small town on those leases. I was shocked that you owned it and maintained it. You are doing what I enjoyed, too. Every minute is something new. I worked in AM, FM and TV engineering in Houston. As well as two way land mobile and unicom radios, computer networking, emergency generators, towers, high power and low power RF. I grew up in Lubbock county on a small farm, and worked for farmers around me. Not much I haven't done or am scared to try. Watching your channel is definitely a hoot.

[@billsmith5166]

Probably a stupid question, but wouldn't PVC conduit reduce the risk of electrifying the box?

[@RingingResonance]

Absolutely. Additionally, you should carry a tester around and test each box before touching it. Or just brush it with the side of a closed fist if you're brave or don't care about electric shocks every now and then.

[@eby6114]

Might ask your inspectore if you can use underground wire coming down the pole. It's tough stuff

[@d46512]

If lightning blows up the 480V wire in the conduit, would the ground rod at the pole carry enough fault current to blow a fuse back at the transformer? Probably not. Would need a bonded neutral back to the transformer $$$

[@CMWorks-sd2fs]

Great video man! In Houston we have lightinng protection on all the commercial buildings I work at. All it is is a 1/2 galvanized rod about 12" in length with a rubber isolator attaching it to the equipment and 1/0 Harger tinned copper conductor connected to the rod and then the 1/0 wire goes to a ground rod. I don't know if this will help in your situation.

[@TheZachLife]

Thanks, about 1/2 of the polls out here (both of the ones with control panels and others) have a ground rod with a bare copper #6 that's stapled up the poll and stapled to the very top to work as a similar ideal.

[@kevincrosby1760]

@@TheZachLife Since you mentioned at least appearing to follow the NEC, you might want to get into the habit of picking up the appropriate Insulating Bushings when you pick up your Box Connectors. They cost literally pennies, keep the wiring from rubbing on a potentially sharp edge, and deny the inspector an easily visible violation. If they DO start getting more militant on inspections, be sure to keep in touch with your peers about them. Most inspectors have "pet peeves" that they specifically look for...sometimes to the point of missing obvious issues elsewhere. My local AHJ used to have a thing for the bushings and for bonding/grounding of everything metal that he could see. Put in a metal shelf on the wall of your data room for your reference manuals to sit on, it better have a green #6 bolted to it.

[@TheBigdog868]

One thing's for sure. I quit complaining about oil prices now that I've seen what you go through to keep everything up.

[@TheZachLife]

Hahaha

[@billymullins1789]

It never seems to end high steel prices electrical plumbing and all kinds of other stuff but when oil drops the other stuff doesn’t come down

[@debohannan4315]

Wouldn't it be a good idea to install lightening rods over all the poles and discharge it to grounding ? Just wondering . Since the storage tanks are really a problem from strikes I see a lot of protection being installed in south Texas .

[@sircampbell1249]

Good Grounding and lightning protection system is your friends on Lightning Strikes, you could make all of "monitoring" and system controls done from your phone.. Have you tested your grounding ?

[@exteext916]

H from Australiai i like your doings ....But the sound it shit! is the speaker,mic,in the engine compartment?

[@CuriousEarthMan]

Thanks Zach! I have to watch it again, esp the part where the wire exits the box to the side of the bottom and goes back up the pole to carry the power on to the next pole, if I understood correctly. Doesn't that makes the wells wired in series, not parallel? I have to watch it again. Thanks for the detailed video, really interesting! BTW why not use 3 phase motors on the pump jack? Wouldn't that save on running costs?

[@TheZachLife]

They are parallel and are all 3 phase 480.

[@CuriousEarthMan]

@@TheZachLife Thanks for taking the time to answer! Have a great day!

[@para55a2]

Zach, I'm hauling sand to frac wells now in WV. They asked me if I wanted to go to West Texas and run out there. You have established wells, but is the drilling still busy ?

[@TheZachLife]

i'm more central Texas and theres not much happening here, however I have several friends that have went to west and apparently they are getting after it out there.

[@para55a2]

I have been out in Carlsbad NM working end dump hauling the millings and it was busy. Can back to WV and was moving brine water to treatment site. It really slowed down though (FJB !! Let's Go Brandon!)I know a lot of trucks went out because of it. I'll go were there is work. In fact, are you hiring?

[@TheZachLife]

Haha I'm not. My understanding is that they are looking for hands and hiring anyone that will show up.

[@para55a2]

@@TheZachLife same here, and they drove the rate down. Ruined a good thing. Looking forward to the next video Zach. Hope you are feeling better, sounded a little rough. Hang in there buddy, you are doing this YT great! Really enjoy it and I'm motivated to try some projects myself! Get that Patron account going!!

[@timthetiny7538]

@@TheZachLife central Texas? I always figured you were somewhere on the eastern shelf around Abilene ish.

[@anthonystankiewicz1060]

If you added an extra ground rod on the pole and added an extra wire wouldn't it divert the electrical force from the lightning to the ground without destroying your electrical boxes and so forth???😊😊😊😊

[@anthonystankiewicz1060]

Okay got me again, didn't watch enough lol 😂😂😂😆😆😆😆

[@payntballman]

great video!

[@bogywankenobi3959]

Have you considered lighting rods on the poles?

[@Wingnut_Stickman]

Excellent video -- thanks for sharing. Could it be a benefit to install another pole a few feet away, and put a metal rod atop it with a big wire running to a ground stake, use that as a lightning trap? If lightning indeed strikes the tallest thing "around," having a taller thing to take one for the team might save some expensive stuff. I normally have no idea what I am talking about. :)

[@TheZachLife]

My understanding is that the lightning comes down initially in many small feeler bolts that are what actually blow up everything before one of the small initial bolts makes a conductive path for the big bolt. So the actual damage happens a split second before the actual flash even if the actually strike is aways off.

[@randacnam7321]

That is actually standard practice for substations and switchyards. General rule of thumb is that a rod of height h reduces the likelihood of anything within an imaginary cone formed by the axis of the rod and extending out from the base of the rod a radius 2h by a factor of 1,000 *but only for things inside this imaginary cone.* Problems are more along the lines of strikes to the primaries or in cases of high resistivity dirt there can actually be flashover of the pole to the primaries or secondaries cuz ground potential rise. This kind of thing really requires a static wire over the primaries and any secondary spurs.

[@wapiti3750]

@@randacnam7321 I am not an electrician, but you seem to know a thing or two. You talk a good game anyway! 🙂

[@randacnam7321]

@@wapiti3750 Day job is utility distribution engineering, but also a DIY electrician.

[@wapiti3750]

@@randacnam7321 Nice, so you are a master at your craft of unharnessing the power of electricity. I get a feeling of accomplishment if I can change a light bulb without falling off the ladder! 😃

[@blormpf1740]

i'd start stocking up on conduit and fittings... and 5' ground rods. proper grounding would go a very long way to preventing damage... 3 5' rods tied together at each pole would make a big difference.

[@RingingResonance]

Maybe you should add lightning rods with their own separate grounds on each poll as you repair them, along with Lightning arresters at every sight? Surely this would reduce the carnage? Classic case of commenting before watching till the end. You tried lightning arresters already. That area is so flat you might try some one way radio beacons on each well. When a beacon stops reporting then you know there is a problem or power loss. It only needs to report once a minute/hour. A few others have mentioned using a ground/neutral wire on the top above the three phases that only serves as a lighting wick and have it grounded at each poll, but not to any of the boxes, just it's own separate ground rod. Maybe add in a fourth line at the bottom and move the top phase down to that one and then use the old top phase as the lighting line.

[@glpfann]

Why aren't lightning rods used to help prevent strikes on power poles or oil tanks?

[@MrPhatties]

You should stand to the side when closing those disconnects - especially with the panel door open.

[@ketas]

this guy has his own personal oilfield...

[@williamhamill813]

How many wells you operating?

[@tubeDude48]

Isn't the ground lead on the back side of the pole to catch the lightning? And wouldn't a spike, (lightning arrest-or) be needed at the top of the pole, so it gets hit first?

[@randacnam7321]

Seems like it would be worth it for the utility to stick a static wire over the primaries. At least that is what I would do if I was operations engineer. Also, a small pair of bolt cutters are your friend for cutting ACSR (Aluminum Conductor Steel Reinforced AKA that steel core stuff you use for overhead).

[@jonusjonus9271]

was thinking the same thing.

[@wrenchhead944]

Could you put up some lightning rods ? In the long run, It might be cheaper than replacing electric systems

[@wapiti3750]

Man, I am so jealous of your handyman skills. I'd say your electrical skill set alone is worth $600 a day.

[@steampog]

Get you some cutout fuses for each of your phases from your handoff to the rest of the plant and at each drop, along with some lightning arrestors. It'll save you a ton of time and money in the long run. Buy once, cry once.

[@TreeHugg]

Hey Zach, Young electrical engineer here, love your videos. Have you ever tried some sort of modular lightning protection system? I don’t even know if this exists, or if it would be cost effective, perhaps on just this location or two like you stated it’s more frequent here. I kept waiting for a mention of lightning protection either if you tried it and it didn’t work or if it’s just to much of an investment. Thanks!

[@TreeHugg]

Side note, tank grounding?

[@TheZachLife]

I do I run lighting arresters on the 7200/12000v side and at all the 480 volt control panels. I do think they work and probably cut problem in half but they sometimes blow up/ other stuff still blows up/ they are expensive blablabla. I do think they help though.

[@lakeguy65616]

Interesting videos! dumb question but what about lighting rods? would that/they make a difference? why / why not? Thanks for responding...

[@para55a2]

How is the totter coming along?

[@TheZachLife]

Slowly. I'm going to try and get a video up this weekend.

[@Blue10AEMia]

The clutch setup on the OBS fords absolutely sucked. Every 3 wire delta system I've ever seen always had issues with voltage regulation and the faults were catastrophic.

[@ledenhimeganidleshitz144]

There are some inexpensive and effective things you can do to protect your equipment from lightening strikes. There are several sources for this information. I have not had a look at this for many years. I recommend the Amature Radio Relay League Handbook as an inexpensive source. They cover mostly theory buy also practical applications and equipment. They cover lightning rods(towers) and line (mains) protection. I have not had cause to looking the topic in many years. I suspect you would be money ahead investing in some money in protection.

[@corydriver7634]

I’ll ask the obvious question since I know nothing about this, Has anybody tried and had success with lighting rods?

[@beefchicken]

Do you have any lightning arrestors on your overhead circuits?

[@TheZachLife]

I do, we have tried them all. Sometimes i feel like they help, and sometimes I'm not so sure.

[@AndrewTa530]

Zero Surge makes some products worth looking at

[@justinscott3001]

Is it a lot cheaper/more efficient to run electric motors vs. the old big gas engines?

[@joehead1294]

Have any problem with the copper/aluminum joint in the split bolt, corrosion issues?

[@TheZachLife]

Really don't seem too. Every once in a while ill find a really old one burn up but i think its from coming loose not corrosion

[@orthopraxis235]

Ascorbic Acid, a few teaspoons in water, you will feel better.

[@MindCrime550]

I imagine oil wells are like the ideal lightning rod, is there anything else better grounded?

[@TheZachLife]

Hahaha 1600 foot deep ground rod.

[@groenekever]

Got lightning strikes too but nothing got fried. Got earth wired

[@ocsrc]

Are ground wires that come down from the lightning arrestor on the tops of the poles are bare wire they're not in conduit You could even put plastic conduit for the wire to the lightning rod The other thing I would try is putting equidistant grounding rods into the ground Just out in the middle of the fields take a 10ft rod and drive 4 ft of it into the ground And watching lightning I've seen it hit many times things that were lower than the poles You can see the streamers coming up off of the poles and off of everything else from the trees to the roofs of houses but many times I've seen the streamers come right off of the ground off of the grass and the lightning will strike the ground instead of striking something that has a streamer that's much higher By putting in those rods in the fields you give the lightning a lot more places to potentially strike instead of hitting the pole I would at least give it a try

[@lincolnworsham1085]

0:30 needs some Cosby sauce...

[@jtelliso]

23:08 - you can see the curvature of the earth up there

[@geoffreykail9129]

I do know much about lightening, but woulda lightening rod and and dedicated line to ground protect the boxes, or would it go down both and kill your box anyway?

[@WickedOne-1979]

have you tried ground rods? seems cheap if u use aluminum or scrap wire

[@TheZachLife]

Haha Thanks.

[@danielson101]

8 guage?

[@danielson101]

what size wire down pole to switch?

[@TheZachLife]

#10

[@nooneknows6060]

Zach! Please get a wind guard for your mic. I really like watching your videos but the wind noise is not working for me.

[@kimseymour8896]

Why don’t you guys use lightning rods?.

[@reddirtadventures5785]

Good ol idi

[@13donstalos]

Put up a lightning rod in that area taller than the poles

[@minle8702]

Well ya done did everything right cept one thang, all said , provide a better atmospheric electrical opportunity to get to ground, NOT going through any of your electrical system, and it won't get cooked. In Kansas as well as in the Amazon known as a Faraday Rod , Franklin Rod, Edison collector kinda like what is found on roof cresting in the 1800s. All them there trashed brass pumper rods would be prime candidates for this app You could call em Zacksrods relampagos.

[@courtrutherford8913]

If a lightning arrestor gets fried it saved your equipment, you've got to think of them as expendable. It's not something that's going to last, and if it does, it's not what you need.

[@TheZachLife]

They usually blow up with the box.

[@ryangrierson7936]

Hey, how are you? Very interesting stuff you’re doing Just wondering if you could make up some lightning veins and put them in your area with your heavy equipment you have around on the oil field. No, maybe make 68 of them 100 feet high or something lol 20 feet higher than what you’re working with

[@TheZachLife]

5:14. Its electric. I would guess the bill is around $100 a month or a little more.

[@GEOsustainable]

Scary I understood everything, I need a hobby. But, you're expecting lighting to play nice.

[@jotoole6170]

Might be a dumb question from an iowa hickabilly but why don't you guys use lightning rods to protect all your gear we have them all over here in the Midwest. Just stumbled across your channel very interesting content 👌

[@paulcoulter7181]

Hey Zack all I use to install a ground rod is a 2 L bottle of water.

[@danielmoorley8652]

What about putting some lightning rod towers up around the lease . See if you can get the lightning to strike elsewhere

[@deddie4645]

On those critical expensive infrastructure your boxes why won't you put a big ass lightning rod up on the telephone Pole to a 10' ground rod

[@fellpower]

Im soooo happy, that we have the german industry norm. such a "Thing", we will never built.....for shure u get the next lightning strike and do it again...lesson not learned ^^

[@obfuscated3090]

Lightning does not care and all that would do in Texas is cost more to replace. Economics matter.

[@Zt3v3]

Thumbs up

[@TheZachLife]

Thanks.

[@bentheguru4986]

Lightning Protection is a detailed yet grey art. Many simply just don't understand the physics and principles involved. Open wires on poles are a sweet target, especially in dry-land like you have. The cabling is pretty well considered a large network of grounded lighting rods, the air gap in breakers and insulation is not going to suppress the rise in electrostatic charge the preceeds a strike and forms the leaders. If you want to study this effect, look into what sailors called St Elmo's Fire. Open wires should have a top ground wire to take the bulk hit first (yes, others will still get a smaller whack). Put all your pole wiring in metal conduits and bond and earth as much as posible. Earthjing in dry area needs very deep rods and multiple points. If the water from your seperator is somewhat OK, a small leak intot eh ground around the rods will keep it moist/damp to work a lot better. Each phase in the system as each end of any exposed length of cabling above ground should have a lightning rated surge and ESD protection. The ESD side allows a controlled "Leak" of static charge off the power wires to limit the production of leaders. Spar-Gap or gas discharge arrestors at the pole tops to a earth array will save a lot of headaches. Keep ALL lighting arresting ground cables on the most direct path to ground and dont do horizontal runs. A tick used on earthing systems is a spark gap indicator. Main cable from groundings comes to a sharp set of points and then a small diameter piece of copper wires joins them. When site takes a whack, wire blows making it clear a strike did happen. Direct strike is not all you need to protect from, EMP from nearby strikes can be just as damaging.

[@TheZachLife]

Thanks. I have read about the corona discharge sometime visible before a strike, pretty wild. All of out stuff at here is set up as a corner grounded delta secondary with the top phase the grounded phase. We run 15kv spark gap arresters on the 7200v side and Delta 600V on the secondary 480 side.

[@electroshed]

Sounds like your overheads need a 4th, top-most cable that's grounded at regular points to divert the lightning to ground.

[@jimw7ry]

26:36 Locknuts are so over rated..... LOL!

[@jamesweishaupt5570]

Zach, if you're going to be a KZbin star you need to wear a mic.

[@TheZachLife]

Haha I know, I know.