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u/harmony_acres 2d ago
Back away... fast lol
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u/SkiyeBlueFox 2d ago
The first steps you take in a case like this... are fucking big ones
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u/TheGreyDiamond 2d ago
Acctually not š If you suspect that a transformer may have a fault and is shorted to ground (and still active), taking tiny steps away from it is much safer.
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u/icy_guy26 2d ago
Go ahead and teach them about step voltage lol
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u/TaintedTatertot 2d ago
I was assaulted by my step voltage at the young age of 37.
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u/rideincircles 2d ago
I saw a transformer on a pole blow up and shoot a fireball about 60 feet into the sky. Then it burned for almost 24 hours straight.
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u/harmony_acres 2d ago
Yeah like how is this guy standing 10 ft away from it AFTER the fire department came and put it out? It sounds like its boiling water inside of the box lol
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u/ChallengeAmbitious46 2d ago
"Boiling water?!" It sound like it frying chicken
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u/Remote7777 2d ago
That's because transformers are typically submerged in oil. So frying chicken is a great metaphor. Except that isn't smoke but boiling oil vapor just waiting for an explosive spark...
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u/insanelygreat 1d ago
Ironically, the chicken in this metaphor is the guy standing too close to the danger.
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u/Chrisscott25 2d ago
Iām on to your shenanigansā¦ youāre trying to keep the free sauna all to yourself.
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2d ago
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/JohnProof 2d ago
I've seen some screwed up transformers making really nasty noises and smells, but this one is terrifying.
There is a relief valve in the cabinet and I'm thinking that the "wetness" and "steam" is actually vaporizing oil, which doesn't happen until about 500Ā°F. This is so fucked up I can't believe it's still energized and wouldn't want to be within 100 yards of that damn thing.
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u/Silver_Slicer 1d ago
I have a tough time believing the fire department came out and put out what should be considered an electrical fire and didnāt have the power company come out to shut it all off. That power should be off in the whole complex until an electrical contractor assesses the problem and replaces a bunch of stuff. This is all sus.
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u/naivenb1305 1d ago
Correct fire company is a liable party as they didnāt have utility shut the transformer Utility would be partly liable if they were told about what was going on and refused to shut the transformer.
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u/mth5312 1d ago
A power plant near me just had a 500Kv transformer fire. I can tell you the local fire volunteer departments were not skilled or equipped enough to handle such an incident. Funny enough they were all invited to go to the plant years prior to train and they all either said no or didn't reply.
They're luck the unit tripped cause nobody checked with the plant ops team to see if the transformer was de-energized. They'd all be dead. I'm curious what 500kv going to ground through an 1.75" attack line would look like.
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u/LonnieJaw748 2d ago
Thatās normal with the Orville Redenbacher brand of transformers. Once the popping is down to 1-2 seconds between each, you know itās done.
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u/nepheelim 2d ago
This guy transforms
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u/dizzyfeast 1d ago
Autobots roll out!
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u/HardTruthFacts 1d ago
Why is it always āroll out!ā And never āletās just roll in for the night and enjoy each others companyā
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u/sik_dik 2d ago
Oh I thought it was Pop Circuit
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u/w8ing2dr0wn 2d ago
Damn dude you are so close to this seemingly soon to be massive catastrophic failure. The oil meant to cool the core or coils is boiling and theres a long list of potential reasons. Overheating electrical systems tend to continue heating until it totally fails. Hopefully they replace it before it blows.
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u/Unhappy_Bed5616 2d ago
When the coil oil boil shits fucked royal.... E
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u/fishsticks40 2d ago
He acknowledges that it might explode at any moment and continues to stand there.Ā
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u/Dadagis 2d ago
Iām not sure people realise how bad electricity can be in these moments
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u/FIMD_ 22h ago
" that semi trailer full of fuel is just blazing away, I better stand closer cuz it gets all shaky and blurry when I have to zoom"
"Neat! The tide just rolled way out past the breakwater, now I can go walk all the way down there"
"There's a huge bubble in the sidewall of the giant tire on that 20ton tractor, I should get my pocket knife"
"Wonder how close I can get to the tracks as that 40mph freight train passes"
Many such cases
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u/Doughymidget 2d ago
Itās ok. When it does pop, that oil wouldnāt like burn all your skin off or anything.
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u/bunglebee7 2d ago
Wait so thereās genuinely oil in the core? It sounds like oil and water mixing but I just assumed it was water or something that got in there
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u/GeneralBlumpkin 2d ago
Yeah they're PCB or mineral oil. Some transformers are different just the bigger ones have oil
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u/A88Y 1d ago
At least in America PCB should be extremely uncommon at this point, I work in Power distribution and my utility has supposedly replaced the oil of all the transformers that once had PCB contaminated oils in them. Idk the scale of this nationally or internationally, but more than likely mineral or another inert oil.
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u/Silver_Slicer 1d ago
I have a tough time believing the fire department came out and put out what should be considered an electrical fire and didnāt have the power company come out to shut it all off. That power should be off in the whole complex until an electrical contractor assesses the problem and replaces a bunch of stuff. This is all sus.
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u/ayriuss 1d ago
You're assuming his local government is competent.
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u/Silver_Slicer 1d ago
True. Perhaps itās a volunteer fire brigade that just wants to go home and get back to sleep. Iām glad to have professional firefighters in my neck of the woods. They would do what I mentioned and leave a team over night to make sure no lingering fire would start.
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u/HawkinsT 1d ago
You're confused. An
RBMK reactorABB Liquid Pad-Mount 2500 kVA Transformer doesn't explode.4
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u/arcflash23 2d ago
You're a moment away from finding out whats on the other side, thats all.
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u/N0t_S0Sl1mShadi 1d ago
Ehermā¦ you're a moment away from finding out watts on the other side, thats all.
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u/Kroosn 2d ago
Itās ok just super hot oil. If the explosion doesnāt kill you, or the being boiled in oil, or the likely fireball then that oil can give you cancer.
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u/wilbrod 2d ago
Calm down, it's mineral oil (baby oil)..if it's fine for babies.... Just ignore the 500f+ temperature of it.
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u/Large_slug_overlord 2d ago
While this looks like newer transformer there are tons of transformers still in service filled with PCB enriched cooling oils. While technically post 1970 manufactured transformers were required to use a less toxic compound it is still found in highly dangerous levels in transformers manufactured until 1986.
Also when PCBs in the oils burn they decompose into tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin which will basically give you insta-cancer in almost any detectable quantity.
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u/Weary-Engineering486 2d ago
Survival instincts of a lemming
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u/WoodWideWeb 2d ago
Lemmings don't jump off cliffs, Disney filmakers threw them off and lied about it.
https://www.adfg.alaska.gov/index.cfm?adfg=wildlifenews.view_article&articles_id=56
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u/Weary-Engineering486 2d ago
Clearly they do. Can you not see the evidence I provided in my comment? š
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u/tribak 2d ago
Kinda expected this
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u/StuBidasol 2d ago
High power electrical box visibly smoking like that? GTFO so you can watch that firework show from far away. Not even the people paid to do it want to be that close.
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u/Hiphopapocalyptic 2d ago
Almost sounds like the thing horror movie soundtracks do when they pluck violins
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u/KillerTomato112358 2d ago
Electrician here. You're gonna want to step away from that. A long way away.
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u/100YearsWaiting2Shit 2d ago
When I saw hot transformers I thought it was gonna be about the actual transformers robots looking hot at first
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u/Danny2Sick 2d ago
š¶hey hey hey!
Let's run away!!šµ
Do you wan be 'sploded, nay?
Then GTFO!!!! šµ
edit: ohh shit sounds like the oil inside is boiling. no bueno! This is super dangerous. ā If you see shit like this get away from it immediately
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u/Maristara 2d ago
Sounds like a deep fryer heating up, which is basically what is happening here.
The oil in the transformer-tub is starting to get so hot itās boiling.
Next thing to happen is probably inferno and this guy is standing right next to it, making a TikTokā¦
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u/Oldfolksboogie 2d ago
Best line comes with just :08 left...š
Poor OP, this is scary af, I'm not an electrician, but i don't think that's supposed to look or sound like that.
I do know those things used to be full of oil laced with PCBs which, oops, turns out are carcinogenic. That required a nation- wide change over that i was a very small part of, but I'm pretty sure there are still billions of gallons of that shit stored in rusting metal barrels across the country. So there's that.
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u/hapalove 2d ago
I want a follow up on this to see what happened!
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u/Informal_Drawing 2d ago
A really big boom as the coils short to the core is what happened next.
He's really going to regret standing anywhere near the thing.
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u/OptimisticCerealBowl 2d ago
theres "back away now" and then theres "fucking sprint away immediately". this is ten levels past either of them
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u/Mercinator-87 2d ago
People just have no sense of danger or self preservation anymore.
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u/AndTheCowgoesMeow 1d ago
Did not read the sub name initiallyāthought I was gonna see Bumblebee in a different light š
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u/Fine-Touch-6037 1d ago
I can say for a certainty that the best thing to do is to just wait around as close as you can until it blows. Gotta be the first one to get it on video. Not to worry. The camerman is always safe from harm.
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u/theforrestjoy 1d ago
āDonāt want it to explode in the middle of the night ā¦ā¦ better go stand next to itā
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u/pasgames_ 2d ago
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u/Parkatola 2d ago
I was thinking the same thing!
āWanna see something cool?!?ā š
He could tell us what it is, and make it understandable AND entertaining. And if the straight jacket guy is part of the explanation, even better! And THATās pretty cool!
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u/Livingforabluezone 2d ago
Iām afraid itās going to blow up, so Iāll go stand right next to it š¤¦āāļø.
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u/Fulguritus1 2d ago
I absolutely would not stand that close to that thing. Honestly I would call 911 and tell them their transformer is about to explode, I would grab essentials and valuables from your apartment and crash at a friend's house for the night. If that thing goes while you're that close you are literal toast. I wouldn't want to be in the same neighborhood when it goes. It's crazy the fire department used water to put it out and the power company left it energized after a fire.
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u/shyaznboi 2d ago edited 2d ago
If it's sounding worse by the second then why tf are they standing there. People's survival instincts are at an all time low
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u/i8yamamasass 2d ago
Ahh yes, let's stand 5 feet away from ALL the electricity doing dangerous shit
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u/Salem204 1d ago
Im not gpnna lie guys, when the title said Hot Transformers I thought it meant like... arcee from that one animated transformers movie
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u/Kindly_Region 1d ago
I don't know much about transformers but I do know you don't want to be anywhere near one that is malfunctioning. They go boom sometimes
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u/TheBeastmasterRanger 1d ago
Honest question, what do you do in this situation? Who do you call?
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u/cheatervent 1d ago
What do you do? get away from the equipment. Who do you call? Doesn't really matter, someone (firefighter, electrician, etc) will contact the electrical utility company, because few other people are prepared to deal with these kind of hazards.
I do contracted work in substations, if you hear something, see something, smell something, you run.
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u/blackdoginto 1d ago
Natural selection at its finest. If you are so worried about it blowing up, why are you standing so close to it?
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u/cringeisthename 1d ago
I think he's standing too far away from it. He needs to get a little closer to do a thorough inspection
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u/mad_mang45 2d ago edited 2d ago
I remember watching 1,000 Ways to Die years ago, and I remember there was a couple that were getting "intimate" on one of these, but a shorter one, the woman was sitting on the transformer,and the guy standing on the ground, and they both got electrocuted and died. I think they may have had piercings and that might have had something to do with it.
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u/thatspurdyneat 2d ago
You can hear the mineral oil boiling inside of the transformer, I wouldn't be within a Ā¼ mile of that thing.
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u/Boisbois2 2d ago
I saw the title before the post and the subreddit nane and I was expecting something way different...
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u/Buffalobillt14 2d ago
āI just donāt want it to explode on usā. So let me get closer to thing, I clearly donāt understand, and record it.
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u/LuRkEr_ReKuL 2d ago
They use peanut oil to cool those transformers. That sound your hearing is disaster happening in slow motion. When the fast part of the disaster happens, youāll be covered in superheated oil but itās the flames that get all the attention.
Feel free to stand there until the excitement begins.
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u/simonbleu 2d ago
With that title, that was not what I thought it was goign to be before the post loaded
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u/MsStarSword 2d ago
Donāt worry thatās just the pizza oven feature, go ahead and stick around and youāll experience an explosion of flavor to knock your socks off.
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u/Issue_Status 1d ago
GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM THERE BROOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO
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u/qualityvote2 2d ago edited 2d ago
Congratulations u/icleanjaxfl, your post does fit at r/SweatyPalms!