Posted on 03/10/2014 9:10:50 AM PDT by null and void
Several ways to destroy a transformer, you don’t have to spend too much time thinking about how.
I used to ride bicycles around that substation.
Good point.
A 338 Lapua could take out much of Silicon Valley’s power grid.
Its not that strong on a good day.
Author Lou Frenzel. Any relation to the inventor of the Frenzel lens?
Are you referring to the Fresnel lens?
Novice question for the experts.
Everybody talks about how long and painful it would be to procure new transformers.
How difficult is it to repair/reman the ones shot up?
I remember someone shooting transformers around where we lived back in the 60s. I don’t think they ever found the culprit but some guessed it was a fired supervisor.
Oh, wrong guy on my part.
Metcalf substation, of particular Silicon Valley interest?
I saw it once in Casa Grande, AZ (not the one in the pic, but it looked just like that with the multiple axles, etc.)
This won’t be any big deal once they start printing them with 3D printers.
Depends entirely on the damage. In the attack in question, the cooling systems were damaged.
How difficult is it to repair an engine where the radiator was run dry?
Simple if you shut it down before it overheats, not so simple if the piston rings have welded to the cylinders.
Lightning sure took out the one on a power pole near us a few years back.
LOL
I notice the transformers used in wall warts (and even my PA amplifier) are not the big heavy wound things of the past. I believe they are digital.
Is it possible to use this technology for even the large transformers, making them both cheap and small (and easier to harden against attack), not to mention easy to replace?
Thanks. Seems like some (relatively cheap) temp sensor and feedback systems need to be installed? Surprised capital equip this expensive doesn’t already have. Low cost insurance.
VERY!!!
(BSEE ‘79. In the power bidness)
Yeah, I saw them popping all over the place in California just before 3 a.m. as I was driving on 405 during a large earthquake aftershock. Spectacular purple light.
Then, about two months ago, while all our neighbors were hunkered down in tornado shelters by our home in central KY, we were trying to drive in the scion xBox and watching chunks of buildings fly by us (and the wind started pushing us off the road). I told my wife that even if it was night we’d know the tornado was getting close as we saw transformers blow.
And then the one about 100 feet from us blew in a spectacular ball of pyrotechnics. I crammed it in reverse.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.