Trash cans up utility poles?

[Eriediamond]

QUOTE: Originally posted by aquadan005

Reading some of these answers I'm glad none of you are electricians in my neighborhood !!
Yes they do reduce line voltage but from what to what depends on the area being served and the distance between substations.

OK--OK! I admitt, I ain't no electrician. But I think I got part of my answer right. Those glass insulators on telephone poles made good targets for B-B guns too, years ago. Ken [(-D][(-D][(-D][:O][:O]

[Anonymous]

Never thought I'd get this many answer! [:D][:D] Thanks all!

QUOTE: Originally posted by caellis

You guy's got it all wrong!

Those are counter weights to balance the pole... something like the arms on a Saguaro Cactus.

I live in Arizona and know these things.

Nah! I'm not falling for that... they'd have to be at least two on each pole on opposite sides... plus they'd have to be green and fuzzy [;)]

[Anonymous]

I think that's pretty much what I said.

QUOTE: Originally posted by aquadan005

Reading some of these answers I'm glad none of you are electricians in my neighborhood !!
Yes they do reduce line voltage but from what to what depends on the area being served and the distance between substations.

[larak]

QUOTE: Originally posted by aquadan005

Reading some of these answers I'm glad none of you are electricians in my neighborhood !!
Yes they do reduce line voltage but from what to what depends on the area being served and the distance between substations.

[#ditto]

For you detail modelers:

You will generally find single transformers every few poles in residential neighborhoods, sometimes every pole if there are many houses.

Triples (occasionally doubles) are found serving industrical and commercial customers. Power distribution systems generally begin as three wires and run that way to commercial industrical / sites and perhaps a bit further. Then they drop to two or one wire (plus the one below) to residential neighborhoods.

Either three seperate wires or (after about the 60's) three twisted wires run from lower on the pole to the house or business. Large three phase (triple transformer) services use four wires to the structure.

These days many distribution systems are partially underground. Modeling those is easy

[:D]

[Anonymous]

Reading some of these answers I'm glad none of you are electricians in my neighborhood !!
Yes they do reduce line voltage but from what to what depends on the area being served and the distance between substations.

[tomikawaTT]

I've heard them called 'pole pigs,' but this is the first time I ever saw them compared to trash cans.

They are step-down transformers, and will be located where power lines are connected to individual buildings. Some, feeding single isolated residences, are rather small. Larger ones, sometimes in groups of three on platforms supported by two poles, power multiple dwellings or entire subdivisions. Heavy retail users will have big transformers, and industrial plants can have full-scale substations.

Just another thing to add to the 'superdetail whenever' list.

Chuck

[Eriediamond]

QUOTE: Originally posted by jeffrey-wimberly

QUOTE: Originally posted by caellis

You guy's got it all wrong!

Those are counter weights to balance the pole... something like the arms on a Saguaro Cactus.

I live in Arizona and know these things.

[(-D][(-D][(-D] Don't let him kid you. They're transformers. They reduce voltage from 14,000 to 220. The 220 is split over two lines for double 110 so you get 220 for the heavy appliances and 110 for everything else.

Me thinks ya got it all wrong too!!! Me thinks those are tranformers, but step up transformers to make sure you get full power from the lose incured through resistance in the lines. Much like we run power busses to our track to make sure we do'nt loose power through track ressistance. They also provide pertches for birds, squirrels, snakes and other wild life and targets for wayward kids and adults to shoot at!

[chutton01]

On second thought...
Well, we have transformer nailed - but a rectangular, thin box on a pole could very be a telephone connection/junction box (could also be a CATV box). Indeed, the pole right outside my apartment has both transformers and a telephone junction box...

[jeffrey-wimberly]

QUOTE: Originally posted by caellis

You guy's got it all wrong!

Those are counter weights to balance the pole... something like the arms on a Saguaro Cactus.

I live in Arizona and know these things.

[(-D][(-D][(-D] Don't let him kid you. They're transformers. They reduce voltage from 14,000 to 220. The 220 is split over two lines for double 110 so you get 220 for the heavy appliances and 110 for everything else.

[Anonymous]

You guy's got it all wrong!

Those are counter weights to balance the pole... something like the arms on a Saguaro Cactus.

I live in Arizona and know these things.

[Anonymous]

Yeah, what they said. It's a transformer that drops voltage to 220 from like 14,000.....at least in a residential neighborhood. It goes down to 440 in business areas.

[chutton01]

And when you're ready - go to the Walthers On-Line Catalog and look up electric or telephone poles - if you look up transformers you'll see a lot of large units useful for flatcar loads and electrical substations, but not line poles.
Electric/telephone pole sets often seem to include some line transformers (how prototypical looking?...well).

[Anonymous]

its called a transformer it downsizes the poer to your house to a lower voltage i think

[DSchmitt]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transformer

[Anonymous]

I bet you already know what I'm on about [:)]

Would someone please explain (as much as possible) those cylinders that appear on utility poles in all sorts of nplaces? TIA

What are they? What decides their size? What decides when the big box-like ones are used? Any other information?

Thanks? [:p]