# Substation in Portland, OR



## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

short.circuit said:


> OK here goes...I'm a residential sparky & go by this place all the time & wonder what it all does...
> so, I figured I'd post it on here. curious about the voltages, amperage, breakers, fuses or whatever
> makes all this stuff work... what exactly am I looking at? its fairly new I think.
> this is right in the middle of old residential neighborhood...


Good Work..:thumbup:


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Here this might help you..:thumbsup:

http://www.electriciantalk.com/f18/how-post-photos-images-2011-update-19925/


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## guest (Feb 21, 2009)

short.circuit, you do realize you can go ahead and give us a description of what happened and come back and do a later post with the pics? :whistling2::laughing:

Don't tease and tell us what is up and what the pics are gonna show.


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## guest (Feb 21, 2009)

Ok, first off, really cool pics. :thumbup:


Pic#1 is an Sf6 (Sulphur Hexaflouride) insulated (or maybe an"Air Blast" type, a different style) circuit breaker, which is protecting and provides switching for:

Pic#2 which is a substation class transformer. One common voltage setup would be 115kv on one side and 69kv on the other, but those will depend on what the local POCO (POwer COmpany) prefers/uses. (From zooming in on the signs in Pic#3, the secondary voltage here is 13kv. You can also make out the names of the circuits.) 

Pic #3 is enclosed circuit breakers or isolation switches. Note that each one has a circuit name which describes the area or dowstream substation each controls. 

Some of the names can be comical or just plain weird, the POCO here (SCE) has some real doosies in it's system.


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## HARRY304E (Sep 15, 2010)

mxslick said:


> Ok, first off, really cool pics. :thumbup:
> 
> 
> Pic#1 is an Sf6 (Sulphur Hexaflouride) insulated (or maybe an"Air Blast" type, a different style) circuit breaker, which is protecting and provides switching for:
> ...


Good post Turbo....:thumbup:


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## erics37 (May 7, 2009)

mxslick said:


> Some of the names can be comical or just plain weird, the POCO here (SCE) has some real doosies in it's system.


:laughing: Never knew that. Examples?


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## Big John (May 23, 2010)

mxslick said:


> Pic#1 is an Sf6 (Sulphur Hexaflouride) insulated (or maybe an"Air Blast" type, a different style) circuit breaker....


 I'm gonna go with SF6. The whole bit looks like gas insulated switchgear.

-John


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## LARMGUY (Aug 22, 2010)

It looks like someone red tagged one too.


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## micromind (Aug 11, 2007)

SF6 breakers are a bit odd in one way, they have pressure switches on them and if the pressure gets too low, it locks it out and it cannot be tripped open. 

The reason for this is because if the breaker were to be tripped open without enough SF6 gas, it'd blow up. Absolutely positively blow up. 

Every one I've ever seen had a 'low SF6' alarm and a 'low SF6 lockout'.


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## Shockdoc (Mar 4, 2010)

Got a simular set up a block away.


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## guest (Feb 21, 2009)

erics37 said:


> :laughing: Never knew that. Examples?


The ones I can remember right now include Margarete, Yukon, (those are the 16kv ones near me that keep blowing up) Redrider, Turbo, ZZyzx, Andromeda and Buttercup are the ones I can think of at the moment. There are plenty of others but my brain is fried from this weekend. 



micromind said:


> SF6 breakers are a bit odd in one way, they have pressure switches on them and if the pressure gets too low, it locks it out and it cannot be tripped open.
> 
> The reason for this is because* if the breaker were to be tripped open without enough SF6 gas, it'd blow up. Absolutely positively blow up. *
> 
> Every one I've ever seen had a 'low SF6' alarm and a 'low SF6 lockout'.


Yep, because for those who don't know, the SF6 not only insulates the equipment, it also acts as the arc quenching medium. :thumbup:


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## Zog (Apr 15, 2009)

mxslick said:


> Yep, because for those who don't know, the SF6 not only insulates the equipment, it also acts as the arc quenching medium. :thumbup:


And makes your voice super deep if you inhale it :whistling2: I have an sf6 job later this week. 

Pic 3 are 15kV fused load breaker switches.


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