Thought the motor went in the lathe

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Metalman
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Joined: Wed Oct 12, 2005 8:38 am
Location: Connecticut

Thought the motor went in the lathe

Post by Metalman »

Went to use the lathe Monday and it wouldn't start, just hummed. Odd it was working fine Saturday. It's three phase and I thought the motor was shot, original 1948 far as I know. Too busy with other things to deal with it my neighbor called to ask if I had 220, he didn't. I did have 220 single phase which comes from the 3 phase panel. But that was the clue something was wrong with service from the pole. Sure enough the mill wouldn't start either. Aha. The utility co. sent a technician with a bucket lift and all was fixed in about 20 minutes. Turn out a squirrel electrocuted its self across 2 legs on the transformer.
Glad I didn't have time to fix something for a change.
Ernie F.
jcfx
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Joined: Sun Aug 09, 2009 1:24 pm
Location: NY

Re: Thought the motor went in the lathe

Post by jcfx »

Must have been a shocking experience for the squirrel ....
couldn't resist..
:D
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tornitore45
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Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:24 am
Location: USA Texas, Austin

Re: Thought the motor went in the lathe

Post by tornitore45 »

I am surprised a squirrel can offer enough conductance (1/R) to pull enough current to harm or trip the protection.

I guess, properly timed, this is the fasted way to cook a squirrel.
Mauro Gaetano
in Austin TX
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NP317
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Location: Northern Oregon, USA

Re: Thought the motor went in the lathe

Post by NP317 »

Squirrels get their just results.
~RN
Squirrel2.jpg
earlgo
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Joined: Sat Jan 29, 2011 11:38 am
Location: NE Ohio

Re: Thought the motor went in the lathe

Post by earlgo »

Several years ago we were sitting in the living room when an explosion was heard from outside and all the lights went out. It turned out that a squirrel had shorted himself and the transformer that fed 2 or 3 houses had exploded. (Probably spewed PCBs all over.)
So I am guessing it can happen elsewhere, too.

--earlgo
Before you do anything, you must do something else first. - Washington's principle.
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Dave_C
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Location: Springfield. MO.

Re: Thought the motor went in the lathe

Post by Dave_C »

Squirrels! Yup, they are a big problem with high voltage lines. They don't cause much of an issue if they get into low voltage stuff as they just die. However they can cause the air envelope around their bodies to ionize and you get an arc blast that takes out the high side protection.

I've even seen arc blast caused by moisture in a 4,160 switch panel! Nobody touched anything!

Squirrels like the warm top a transformer in the fall. Then when they try to go back up on the high wire they get one foot up and POOF! Squirrel jerky.

Bummer,

Dave C.
I learn something new every day! Problem is I forget two.
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warmstrong1955
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Joined: Thu Mar 18, 2010 2:05 pm
Location: Northern Nevada

Re: Thought the motor went in the lathe

Post by warmstrong1955 »

Happens with birds too.
Fried some crows here three times before the power company put a guard on the transformer.

First time, was a couple days we bought this place. Still hadn't got our stuff here yet, so didn't have much of anything past camping gear.
Field was way overgrown, and dry, and the flaming bird fell off the transformer into the grass and started a fire.
Hard to put out a fire when you're on a well and a fried bird knocked out the power......we were thankful for some quick assistance from neighbors, and the fire department who showed up in short order.
Had to reside one end of the shop, and lost a small few trees & junipers.
I keep the field well mowed!

Bill
Today's solutions are tomorrow's problems.
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tornitore45
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Joined: Tue Apr 18, 2006 12:24 am
Location: USA Texas, Austin

Re: Thought the motor went in the lathe

Post by tornitore45 »

OK Dave, I can see on the HV side sparks can fly, once you start an arc then it got to trip.
Mauro Gaetano
in Austin TX
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