Careful with you loads...

[BlueRidgeMark]

Looking at the second picture i started wondering if the truck itself would have some damage to its electronics....

Trust me on this - electronics is my field. I speak as an expert!

They're toast!



I'm saving those pictures to show to my boys. Good educational material!


Thanks for posting!

 

[smoothED]

I was working with a 50t crane under 500,000v lines,the boom was a good 60 ft. from the lines. Flew about 20 loads of iron,no problem,getting ready to break the rig down,put one hand on the outrigger and the other on a guardrail and ZAP! The static electric from being under them lines hit me pretty good.I make sure to ground cranes now!

 

[deerlakejens]

How was he slinging the cable, by hand? I have no experience around logging trucks and am curious how he got that cable as high as he did.

 

[rxe]

Ouch.

Imagine the thoughts going through the guy's head. His load is burning, he'd love to get it and drive the tractor away, but it is at 11 kV, so he can't. He can't spray water on it. All he can do is watch the truck burn. That said, he's damn lucky to be alive...

 

[rmihalek]

Was the truck grounded somehow? How did the electricity get from the truck to the ground?

 

[Joe379]

Was the truck grounded somehow? How did the electricity get from the truck to the ground?

Contrary to the popular myth, the tires do not insulate you. Usually the first thing you see happen when a dump truck hits a powerline is the drive tires blow and catch on fire.

 

[Bill G]

I cannot belive a lineman has not posted yet.

Bill

 

[BlueRidgeMark]

Contrary to the popular myth, the tires do not insulate you. Usually the first thing you see happen when a dump truck hits a powerline is the drive tires blow and catch on fire.

Remember (or learn, if you haven't heard this before) that "insulator" is a relative term. There's no perfect insulation, only degrees of insulation or conductivity.

If you were taught that insulation keeps you safe from electricity, you were taught a dangerous misconception.


Water, for example, is an excellent insulator. Yep, that's what I said. WATER. Pure water, that is. Put any kind of chemicals in it and it becomes a good conductor. Of course, it's hard to find PURE water anywhere. Even rain has chemicals in it. But in a lab, with properly purified water, you can prove that water is a poor conductor, which is exactly the same as saying it's a good insulator.

That's not much help when you are standing in a puddle and someone drops a live wire on you!


Rubber is another good insulator. Carbon is a pretty good conductor. What makes tires black?

Carbon. It's put in to make the rubber harder.

Still, tires are a pretty good insulator at lower voltages. And when you are talking about insulation, you have to consider the voltage. A material which insulates well at some voltage may become a good conductor at high voltages. Where that changes is called the 'breakdown voltage'.


I suspect those lines are a bit above the breakdown voltage for tires, especially tires that may have varying amounts of dirt & grease on them that might provide a bit of a path to ground.


At the kind of voltages that killed that truck, well, tires aren't much help.

 

[KMB]

Remember (or learn, if you haven't heard this before) that "insulator" is a relative term. There's no perfect insulation, only degrees of insulation or conductivity.

If you were taught that insulation keeps you safe from electricity, you were taught a dangerous misconception.


Water, for example, is an excellent insulator. Yep, that's what I said. WATER. Pure water, that is. Put any kind of chemicals in it and it becomes a good conductor. Of course, it's hard to find PURE water anywhere. Even rain has chemicals in it. But in a lab, with properly purified water, you can prove that water is a poor conductor, which is exactly the same as saying it's a good insulator.

That's not much help when you are standing in a puddle and someone drops a live wire on you!


Rubber is another good insulator. Carbon is a pretty good conductor. What makes tires black?

Carbon. It's put in to make the rubber harder.

Still, tires are a pretty good insulator at lower voltages. And when you are talking about insulation, you have to consider the voltage. A material which insulates well at some voltage may become a good conductor at high voltages. Where that changes is called the 'breakdown voltage'.


I suspect those lines are a bit above the breakdown voltage for tires, especially tires that may have varying amounts of dirt & grease on them that might provide a bit of a path to ground.


At the kind of voltages that killed that truck, well, tires aren't much help.

Good info Mark, thank ya for posting it.

Kevin

 

[jhellwig]

IF that driver doesn't have an exit wound I would be suprized. I bet he was the electrical path at some point. The voltage there was probably only 13500 volts. Not very likely that he was unharmed from being that close. It is possible but not likely.

Electricity gets wild once you go beyond 250 volts. In no way is it predictable.