×
INTELLIGENT WORK FORUMS
FOR ENGINEERING PROFESSIONALS

Log In

Come Join Us!

Are you an
Engineering professional?
Join Eng-Tips Forums!
  • Talk With Other Members
  • Be Notified Of Responses
    To Your Posts
  • Keyword Search
  • One-Click Access To Your
    Favorite Forums
  • Automated Signatures
    On Your Posts
  • Best Of All, It's Free!
  • Students Click Here

*Eng-Tips's functionality depends on members receiving e-mail. By joining you are opting in to receive e-mail.

Posting Guidelines

Promoting, selling, recruiting, coursework and thesis posting is forbidden.

Students Click Here

Jobs

Cutting Grounding Conductor on Pole Lines

Cutting Grounding Conductor on Pole Lines

Cutting Grounding Conductor on Pole Lines

(OP)
Why would one deliberately cut the grounding conductors on an aerial distribution system?
I have observed this situation on several industrial aerial distribution systems.
The grounding conductor is removed from the grounding electrode at or near the base of the pole. This conductor connected the neutral and or grounding conductor to the earth.
The voltages varied depending upon the installation. One installation was 4160 and the other installation was 480 volt.

 

RE: Cutting Grounding Conductor on Pole Lines

To sell the scrap copper.  This is a big problem at many utilities.  Sometimes even the phase wires are stolen - sometimes a big problem for the thief.
 

RE: Cutting Grounding Conductor on Pole Lines

It may also be to steal the brass grounding fitting that connected the cable to the ground rod.
Sometimes the thief is found laying dead nearby.
This is particularly an issue with ungrounded delta delta transformers. If the ground conductor to the transformer case is cut, capacitive action may raise the case voltage high enough to be lethal. The charging current is more than enough to kill but not much more. There are some gruesome photos on the net of thieves who died stealing the ground wire from a transformer case.  

Bill
--------------------
"Why not the best?"
Jimmy Carter

RE: Cutting Grounding Conductor on Pole Lines

A few years ago we had someone cut the ground wires off several poles because they claimed these wires were antennas and we were communicating to aliens.  True story.

RE: Cutting Grounding Conductor on Pole Lines

jimmee97,

which part was true, the cutting ground wires, or the communicating part?

smile

ausphil

Red Flag This Post

Please let us know here why this post is inappropriate. Reasons such as off-topic, duplicates, flames, illegal, vulgar, or students posting their homework.

Red Flag Submitted

Thank you for helping keep Eng-Tips Forums free from inappropriate posts.
The Eng-Tips staff will check this out and take appropriate action.

Reply To This Thread

Posting in the Eng-Tips forums is a member-only feature.

Click Here to join Eng-Tips and talk with other members!


Resources