# Flashing lights on power lines



## chewy

Helicopters.


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## hydro

No they're not very high up and there's lots of things taller around them. Even some of the houses


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## wildleg

they install them in case the tourists don't have anything to do, so they will watch the lights blink.


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## The_kid

hydro said:


> I'm on vacation in a house on Anna Maria island Florida and on the power lines they are 3 little strobe light type devices on the power lines . Only the centre phase was flashing last night and not for very long . I've never seen these what's the story?
> 
> View attachment 47769



.............


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## xpertpc

Power line marker balls - mostly for aviation but also for marine use too. Their predecessors were first a pair of sneakers then the infamous clacker toys.


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## hydro

Still doesn't make sense where they have them. They're running along the fence line at the back of the house about 30 feet up


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## hydro

wildleg said:


> they install them in case the tourists don't have anything to do, so they will watch the lights blink.


And that's the probably the best explain yet smart a** hahah


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## 360max

A power line warning light apparatus is installed on power lines (electric power transmission lines), and uses the electro-magnetic coupled power from the power line to generate a periodical flashing light as a warning signal to the nearby flying vehicles to prevent collisions.


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## nrp3

Aren't those fault indicators?

Something like this:

https://www.selinc.com/FCI/Overhead/


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## hydro

Ya they look a lot like that. I have zero experience in line work so thanks for the explanation


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## nrp3

Me neither. Saw this someplace. Did a google search for power line fault indicators.


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## circuitman1

the co-op uses them around here a lot.they are line fault indicators from what one of the linemen told me. they speed up the trouble shooting process.:thumbup:


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## wendon

360max said:


> A power line warning light apparatus is installed on power lines (electric power transmission lines), and uses the electro-magnetic coupled power from the power line to generate a periodical flashing light as a warning signal to the nearby flying vehicles to prevent collisions.


Flying vehicles!!


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## pete87

Flashing Lights on Power Lines !

ALIENS 



Pete


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## just the cowboy

*I have one near me*

I have the same thing near me sometimes it is flashing others times not. I've seen it flashing and everyone has power and not flashing and everyone has power. So not sure what it is. 

Looks odd at night, looks like an arc starting and stopping I stopped to look at it thinking it was faulting.


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## beanmachine314

just the cowboy said:


> I have the same thing near me sometimes it is flashing others times not. I've seen it flashing and everyone has power and not flashing and everyone has power. So not sure what it is.
> 
> Looks odd at night, looks like an arc starting and stopping I stopped to look at it thinking it was faulting.



If a fault indicator is flashing it means that the fault occurred downstream of the indicator. They're real nice... If you have a circuit down and you have fault indicators just drive until you get to the last one that's flashing. If the next one isn't you know the fault is between that one and the last flashing indicator. It's a quick way of finding a fault and being able to switch around it and isolate it and get the circuit closed back in and get everyone else on that line back in service. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## José_Fuentes

Where do they get the energy from (a battery, inductance of the line, capacitance between phases, or what else)?. I assume that these fault indicators are placed *around* the conductor, without damaging it, is that correct?.


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## beanmachine314

Yes they're placed around the conductor. As to how they are powered as far as I know all the ones we use are battery powered. I'm not sure but I assumed they were charged by solar. All the ones I've seen just clip on over the line and are installed by hot stick.


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