Hi Martin The cables are encased in a thick plastic pipe, and their heavy duty differs managed to cut not only the pipework but also the cable. I am told that there is also oil inside of the pipe to keep it cool. So, the entire section of pipework had to be replaced as well as a new cable laid. That's why it took about 4 hours. The cable is 11400 volts, at I'm not sure what current. I'm told that the flash of light which accompanied the horrendous explosion which we all heard when they cut the line was seen hundreds of yards away, and it was blinding in the immediate proximity. So I hope the workman or workmen manning the digger machine is alright.
Anyway we're all up and running now. Gordon On 3 Aug 2012, at 12:02, Martin G. McCormick <[email protected]> wrote: Hopefully, nobody got hurt when the power cables got cut. Depending on the design of the power network, there, the voltage on the high side of the transformers is probably around ten-thousand volts. At least it is underground which is more than one can say for a lot of our power distribution, here. Right now, our cross to bear is this heat. Right here in the central part of the continental United States, we are literally the hottest spot in the nation. If you throw in Alaska and Hawaii, it doesn't make a bit of difference as they are probably never this hot either. Wednesday as I walked home from work, it was 44.4 degrees Celsius which is 112 Fahrenheit. Yesterday morning when I looked at Tuesday's extremes, we hit 46.1 C or 115 F. The humidity is low during these times, around 14%, which actually creates a negative heat index. When one perspires, Nature's air conditioning causes your body to actually feel as if it was a frigid 106 or so Fahrenheit which would be around 43 Celsius. It's dangerous for anybody who is working outside. It usually takes me around 25 minutes to go from home to work and I do not have any health issues that complicate things but it is incredibly uncomfortable. You just put one foot in front of the other and try to get there as quickly as possible. Even the mornings are hot right now. At 5 o'clock yesterday morning, the temperature was still 32.2 Celsius or 90 Fahrenheit. In the afternoons when it is around 112, there are unusual smells as everything heats up. Parked cars give off a new-car smell to some degree as all those plastics cook off in the Sun. There is sort of an olive smell from some parched vegetation and piles of pine needles give off an interesting smell that reminds me of Christmas with a little woodwork shop thrown in. Finally, there have been tremendous wild fires around here. All the vegetation is basically dead like Winter and the high heat and low humidity makes everything burn furiously when it gets started so the fire departments around here are all stretched to their maximum. All in all, it is interesting but a little scary right now. There is relief in site in about 3 months. Martin Gordon Smith writes: > Hi all > > Just a note to say we're back. As always happens the repair took much > longer than they anticipated because of the degree of damage. We all > heard the explosion as they cut through the cables. Anyway, we are up > again now. > > Gordon > > ======================================== > > The Just-chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus > and worm-free > > To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated > web pages located at: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/just-chat> > > You can find an archive of all messages posted to the just-chat group at > either of the following: > <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/just-chat/index.html> > or: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> > You may subscribe with your RSS reader at the following URL: > <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> > > --------------------------------------- > > ======================================== The Just-chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated web pages located at: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/just-chat> You can find an archive of all messages posted to the just-chat group at either of the following: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/just-chat/index.html> or: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> You may subscribe with your RSS reader at the following URL: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> --------------------------------------- ======================================== The Just-chat E-Mail forum is guaranteed malware, spyware, Trojan, virus and worm-free To modify your subscription options, please visit for forum's dedicated web pages located at: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/mailman/listinfo/just-chat> You can find an archive of all messages posted to the just-chat group at either of the following: <http://mail.tft-bbs.co.uk/pipermail/just-chat/index.html> or: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]> You may subscribe with your RSS reader at the following URL: <http://www.mail-archive.com/[email protected]/maillist.xml> ---------------------------------------
