What Causes The Power Cuts?

[Richb2004v2]

Since I started coming here over ten years ago my area always experiences power outages during storms. It was more frequent years ago but it still happens. Some times it occurs even when there isn't a storm. I just wondered what causes it and why it can not be avoided? I guess it may be due to lightening strikes. I've never lived or worked anywhere with such powerful and frequent lightening so don't know if other places have measures to counter it, but I would have thought there would be some. When I asked my wife she said that her mother usually says, in exasperation, 'a dog must have pee'd on a cable somewhere' Make of that what you will.

I'd be interested to know.

[garyh]

Probably a lot to do with workmanship and the state of the poles etc. Have look at the mess of wires and old patched up power poles, to much mai Pen Rai attitude. A bit wind and it all starts to fall apart.

[powderpuff]

It's when a lightening strike hits a transformer up on the pole. They are full of hot oil & really make a nice bang. Firey explosion.

[IMA_FARANG]

I'm quite familiar with the problem(s).

It also happens here in Greece. Here it's due to the power transformers being outside on the electrical poles. They have no proper cover over them. So when it starts raining the transformers get wet. Eventually the water soaks the top of the transformers; then arcing occurs, and sooner or later it causes a power outage due to the arcing on the wet transformers to ground. It happens every year in Greece (Crete) during the fall and spring when the rainy season takes hold. It doesn't happen in the summer when we have little rain here in Crete. I've been here for 12 years, and I see it every fall and spring during the wet weather.

So here in Greece, it's specifically due to rain soaking the power transformers and the problems that causes.

Now when I was in Iceland and the Faroe Islands (North Atlantic islands) we often had power problems due to the heavy winds. A long distance power line on poles outside is like a two metal conductors covered in insulation. A current through the conductor generates a magnetic field around the conductor. When two magnetic fields cross each other they generate a back voltage in the moving conductors that generate that magnetic field. So with two conductors moving in a wind, a varying electric voltage is generated by those two moving conductors, as the wind moves these two conductors closer and further away from each other. The net result is a varying electric current due to the wind moving the electrical lines about...with the magnetic fields interacting and causing the varying current. On long distance power lines, the wind can cause enough varying voltage to cause the protective devices to trip at the power plant and cause an outage on the electrical power grid. I saw it happen in Iceland and other islands in the North Atlantic due to the high winds, often in the winter during the storms there.

Then finally there's the similiar varying current in the power lines caused by lightning...common to areas where a long power line runs through an area where thunderstorms and lightning are common.

So that's three problems that often interupt power. Rain, winds, and lighting are all problems the power station has to face and overcome to keep power flowing.

See, you thought it was simple, and any fool could operate a electric power station, didn't you?

[Tejas]

Probably a lot to do with workmanship and the state of the poles etc. Have look at the mess of wires and old patched up power poles, to much mai Pen Rai attitude. A bit wind and it all starts to fall apart.

Yes........poor design and workmanship..........just look at the wires going all over the place.

Corruption from top to bottom........big companies (that dominate the entire market) making a buck by not investing in modern infrastructure.

This is a serious problem in Jomtien.......can't count the number of times I had to hike up sixteen floors to my condo.

Luckily, I don't live there now, but still have the problem at my house in the hinterlands, just not as often.

As long as Thailand refuses to enter the modern world, it will remain Third World.

[Soutpeel]

Probably a lot to do with workmanship and the state of the poles etc. Have look at the mess of wires and old patched up power poles, to much mai Pen Rai attitude. A bit wind and it all starts to fall apart.

Yes........poor design and workmanship..........just look at the wires going all over the place.

Corruption from top to bottom........big companies (that dominate the entire market) making a buck by not investing in modern infrastructure.

This is a serious problem in Jomtien.......can't count the number of times I had to hike up sixteen floors to my condo.

Luckily, I don't live there now, but still have the problem at my house in the hinterlands, just not as often.

As long as Thailand refuses to enter the modern world, it will remain Third World.

.......Power trips during thunderstorms due to corruption....why dont you blame Taksin as well while your at it for causing the thunderstorms

The vast majority of "wires" you see on the poles are not even power related.....

Here is the solution to your serious problem....move....16 floors....think of it as your daily excercise, and soon the girls in the bar will not be calling you "The big fat farang" ...

Reasons for trips during thunderstorm/rain.....1 .Water getting into things, 2. Lightening/ground strikes near power supplies causes havoc with RCB's causing them to trip due to power surges, changes in ground potential...

[Richb2004v2]

Probably a lot to do with workmanship and the state of the poles etc. Have look at the mess of wires and old patched up power poles, to much mai Pen Rai attitude. A bit wind and it all starts to fall apart.

Yes........poor design and workmanship..........just look at the wires going all over the place.

Corruption from top to bottom........big companies (that dominate the entire market) making a buck by not investing in modern infrastructure.

This is a serious problem in Jomtien.......can't count the number of times I had to hike up sixteen floors to my condo.

Luckily, I don't live there now, but still have the problem at my house in the hinterlands, just not as often.

As long as Thailand refuses to enter the modern world, it will remain Third World.

.......Power trips during thunderstorms due to corruption....why dont you blame Taksin as well while your at it for causing the thunderstorms

The vast majority of "wires" you see on the poles are not even power related.....

Here is the solution to your serious problem....move....16 floors....think of it as your daily excercise, and soon the girls in the bar will not be calling you "The big fat farang" ...

Reasons for trips during thunderstorm/rain.....1 .Water getting into things, 2. Lightening/ground strikes near power supplies causes havoc with RCB's causing them to trip due to power surges, changes in ground potential...

I imagine there is not a lot that can be done about lightening strikes. Am I right?

[Soutpeel]

I imagine there is not a lot that can be done about lightening strikes. Am I right?

Other than moving to a "non-lightening" country....No....Have heard that a tin foil hat sometimes helps...

[h90]

Probably a lot to do with workmanship and the state of the poles etc. Have look at the mess of wires and old patched up power poles, to much mai Pen Rai attitude. A bit wind and it all starts to fall apart.

Yes........poor design and workmanship..........just look at the wires going all over the place.

Corruption from top to bottom........big companies (that dominate the entire market) making a buck by not investing in modern infrastructure.

This is a serious problem in Jomtien.......can't count the number of times I had to hike up sixteen floors to my condo.

Luckily, I don't live there now, but still have the problem at my house in the hinterlands, just not as often.

As long as Thailand refuses to enter the modern world, it will remain Third World.

.......Power trips during thunderstorms due to corruption....why dont you blame Taksin as well while your at it for causing the thunderstorms

The vast majority of "wires" you see on the poles are not even power related.....

Here is the solution to your serious problem....move....16 floors....think of it as your daily excercise, and soon the girls in the bar will not be calling you "The big fat farang" ...

Reasons for trips during thunderstorm/rain.....1 .Water getting into things, 2. Lightening/ground strikes near power supplies causes havoc with RCB's causing them to trip due to power surges, changes in ground potential...

:D

[Richb2004v2]

I imagine there is not a lot that can be done about lightening strikes. Am I right?

Other than moving to a "non-lightening" country....No....Have heard that a tin foil hat sometimes helps...

I didn't mean anything I could do personally. I meant that it was unavoidable for the power companies, and that it is nothing that they are doing wrong or could do.

[Soutpeel]

I imagine there is not a lot that can be done about lightening strikes. Am I right?

Other than moving to a "non-lightening" country....No....Have heard that a tin foil hat sometimes helps...

I didn't mean anything I could do personally. I meant that it was unavoidable for the power companies, and that it is nothing that they are doing wrong or could do.

In every country I have lived in which have a lot of "energetic" thunderstorms, similar things occur, an exploding transformer after a lightening strike is really something to behold...

Edited May 15, 2010 by Soutpeel

[longball53098]

I lived in south central Wisconsin, USA for many years. We have heavy winds and tornadoes in the area, ice storms,rain storms accompanied by huge lightning and I can't recall any time the power was off at all! AT ALL! Maybe a dip in the lights occasionally but no outage. I have never been without power and the phone service is just as reliable.

Thailand buys good equipment but I think the standards for proper installation of the system is not followed. Just look at the crap hanging on the poles. Where I live here in Ban Chang we have an outage of power at least weekly for a few minutes to an hour. If the area has any wind more than a few k's per hour or a thunder bumper in the area we can expect the lights to go off for any length of time. My dsl is down for a day on average of one day a month due to weather.

It's not the equipment but the people and poor workmanship at fault. They do not follow any standard code and there is no quality and pride in the installers work. And it's really not the installers fault as there is no proper training and quality checks to ensure the job is done as the spec is written if there is even a spec.

[Richb2004v2]

I did wonder if the ingress of water due to poor installation might play a part. I started wondering about this when I had a guy round to sort my faulty internet connection out a couple of days ago, just after a storm. After he'd left I noticed he hadn't bothered to reinstall one of the small junction box covers properly even though it is partially exposed to the elements. If that's anything to go by there is no wonder things short out.

[Soutpeel]

I lived in south central Wisconsin, USA for many years. We have heavy winds and tornadoes in the area, ice storms,rain storms accompanied by huge lightning and I can't recall any time the power was off at all! AT ALL! Maybe a dip in the lights occasionally but no outage. I have never been without power and the phone service is just as reliable.

Thailand buys good equipment but I think the standards for proper installation of the system is not followed. Just look at the crap hanging on the poles. Where I live here in Ban Chang we have an outage of power at least weekly for a few minutes to an hour. If the area has any wind more than a few k's per hour or a thunder bumper in the area we can expect the lights to go off for any length of time. My dsl is down for a day on average of one day a month due to weather.

It's not the equipment but the people and poor workmanship at fault. They do not follow any standard code and there is no quality and pride in the installers work. And it's really not the installers fault as there is no proper training and quality checks to ensure the job is done as the spec is written if there is even a spec.

It must be localised outages then, as I live in BC as well, and yes get the power goes off, but not once a week, in fact cant remember exactly when the last time was...may be 6-8 weeks ago for an hour.

As for dsl...again has dropped out on occassion, but dont ever remember that being "weather" related as such..

[galvheim]

I think IMAFARANG has explained it pretty well. Very informative. Explanations about wiering, as seen in Jomtien/Pattaya, or direct hits in the transformers, is not the explanation the OP was seeking, since that will usually take much longer time to fix and are not the outages that the OP describes.

I have bought an UPS for my stationary computer, that will last long enough to save and shut down my system. Now I mostly use a laptop so I mostly have battery enough for the current to return.

I live in Norway outside the city, close to the west-coast, and have always been wondering about how wind or rain could trip the electric system. This is very common where I live during winter storms.

AS for my internet-connection it seems like all the Thais turn off their phones and computers during thunder and rains, leaving me with all the capacity that I want. Not matter how much I explain to them they will still turn them off when lightening approaches nearby.

Thanks for very interesting contribution IMAFARANG.

[garyh]

I'm quite familiar with the problem(s).

It also happens here in Greece. Here it's due to the power transformers being outside on the electrical poles. They have no proper cover over them. So when it starts raining the transformers get wet. Eventually the water soaks the top of the transformers; then arcing occurs, and sooner or later it causes a power outage due to the arcing on the wet transformers to ground. It happens every year in Greece (Crete) during the fall and spring when the rainy season takes hold. It doesn't happen in the summer when we have little rain here in Crete. I've been here for 12 years, and I see it every fall and spring during the wet weather.

So here in Greece, it's specifically due to rain soaking the power transformers and the problems that causes.

Now when I was in Iceland and the Faroe Islands (North Atlantic islands) we often had power problems due to the heavy winds. A long distance power line on poles outside is like a two metal conductors covered in insulation. A current through the conductor generates a magnetic field around the conductor. When two magnetic fields cross each other they generate a back voltage in the moving conductors that generate that magnetic field. So with two conductors moving in a wind, a varying electric voltage is generated by those two moving conductors, as the wind moves these two conductors closer and further away from each other. The net result is a varying electric current due to the wind moving the electrical lines about...with the magnetic fields interacting and causing the varying current. On long distance power lines, the wind can cause enough varying voltage to cause the protective devices to trip at the power plant and cause an outage on the electrical power grid. I saw it happen in Iceland and other islands in the North Atlantic due to the high winds, often in the winter during the storms there.

Then finally there's the similiar varying current in the power lines caused by lightning...common to areas where a long power line runs through an area where thunderstorms and lightning are common.

So that's three problems that often interupt power. Rain, winds, and lighting are all problems the power station has to face and overcome to keep power flowing.

See, you thought it was simple, and any fool could operate a electric power station, didn't you?

Transformers are on the poles in Australia and they rarely explode and this in areas where there climate is not that different to Thailand.

[Tejas]

Thanks.......I was not aware that some of the lines were phone lines

Please tell us how wonderful the power-line/telecommunication infrastructure is

Or, get real. The system sucks.

I have only see worse in the hinterlands of India.

[Thaddeus]

The power is turned off intentionally during a storm.

[lopburi3]

The primary cause for short outages is wind (with the rain) causing tree branches to short out or take out the wires. This happen often every year during the first few weeks - trees are indeed trimmed but growth rate is so fast it is never enough. After the first few storms there are fewer outages.

The hour or two outage is likely a transformer fuse blown in city (probably takes longer to fix upcountry).

[PhilHarries]

It also happens here in Greece.

.................. It happens every year in Greece (Crete)

Are you in Crete? My sister has a house in Elounda that I keep threatening to go see.

Maybe next year.

Animals, monkeys, birds and snakes, often get across the wires and then BANG! Instant BBQ.

Power cuts are a fact of life in developing countries and it may be a sad comment on our lifestyle if we find ourselves at a loss for what to do when they happen.

[Soutpeel]

Animals, monkeys, birds and snakes, often get across the wires and then BANG! Instant BBQ.

See the aftermath of a guy in Africa who was messing with a 6600 volt supply (actually, he was trying to steal the cable)

and it literally was just smoking shoes left..