Transformers are filled with oil for aluminum, or copper, conductors to
transfer heat to the case, then to the air. High current through
conductors creates a lot of I squared R heat. With conductors tightly
packed together in a transformer winding the heat is difficult to dissipate.

> Aluminum conductors evaporate because their resistance increases

> exponentially, Copper is not as bad.

Last I heard, at reasonable temperatures the resistance of aluminum,
like that of copper, doesn't significantly change.

Kindly provide a link with information on aluminum conductors evaporating.

>> On Jan 22, 12:19?pm, someb...@somewhere.com wrote:

>> I asked a buddy with a electrical engineering degree, at one time he

>> designed transformers for power companies.

>> he claims a overheated line will not majorily change power

>> consumption. very minor if any difference

I agree with dpb's answer to hallerb - wrong question.

--
bud--

Posted by Neon John on January 23, 2008, 6:37 pm

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wrote:

>> The moral of the story? ?Don't let those high power usage days go

>> unchallenged.

>I asked a buddy with a electrical engineering degree, at one time he

>designed transformers for power companies.

>he claims a overheated line will not majorily change power

>consumption. very minor if any difference

Not to pick on your buddy, because this is obviously one of those "idiot in the
middle" problems, but... Guess again.

If a length of conduit is "too hot to touch" as the OP described it then it is
radiating significant power.

Let's do a little math to find out how much. We'll be using Stefan-boltzmann to
compute radiated power from a length of conduit. Let's say that there is 6 ft
of 2"
conduit with a thermal emissivity of 0.85. A temperature too hot to touch might
be
80 deg C and ambient might be 20.

There's a slick little Stefan-boltzmann calculator here:

http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/Hbase/thermo/stefan.html#c3

surface area is pi*d*l. 3.1415*6*0.17 = 3.14 sq ft

Plugging that into the SB model we get 115 watts. If it radiates constantly for
the
whole month, that's 7*24*30.25 = 546 hours. Times 115 watts is 63kWh. At 10
cents a
kWh, that works out to $6.30.

If ambient were freezing, 0 deg C and the conduit were 80 deg then the pipe
radiates
140 watts, 76kWh and $7.60 cents worth of energy.

If the conduit is weathered and dirty then the emissivity might be closer to
0.95 and
the radiated power would be 157 watts. 86kWh and $8.60.

If that length of outside conduit is radiating power then so is the inside
conduit,
the breaker terminals, the meter terminals and the conduit containing the drop
from
the weatherhead. We can confidently say that the whole mess would use $10/month.

If his usual bill around $100/month then a 10% change in either direction would
certainly be noticed.

John
--
John De Armond
See my website for my current email address
http://www.neon-john.com
http://www.johndearmond.com <-- best little blog on the net!
Tellico Plains, Occupied TN
Alcohol, Tobacco & Firearms should be a convenience store, not a government
agency.

Posted by Stormin Mormon on January 24, 2008, 9:09 am

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He's not talking resistance -- he's talking about a short circuit. Please be
sure of your terms before you call someone else names, and insult them.

I've known of houses with broken down insulation in the lead in wire,
creating a high energy bill. So, it's a real condition.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
.

>I called in an electrician, and he was able to open things up. The

>aluminum wire between the meter and the breaker box had been heated to

>a point that it had begun to seriously corrode and add resistance of

>its own, and had _almost_ burned away enough insulation between the

>wires to create a direct short.

>The moral of the story? Don't let those high power usage days go

>unchallenged.

No, the moral is, you just wrote a load of total bullshit.

If you have a high resistance joint anywhere in your supply then total
power consumption will always fall.

Posted by CJT on January 24, 2008, 8:55 pm

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Stormin Mormon wrote:

> He's not talking resistance -- he's talking about a short circuit.

I don't think so.

"I called in an electrician, and he was able to open things up. The
>aluminum wire between the meter and the breaker box had been heated to
>a point that it had begun to seriously corrode and add resistance of
>its own, and had _almost_ burned away enough insulation between the
>wires to create a direct short."

Please be

> sure of your terms before you call someone else names, and insult them.

> I've known of houses with broken down insulation in the lead in wire,

> creating a high energy bill. So, it's a real condition.

--
The e-mail address in our reply-to line is reversed in an attempt to
minimize spam. Our true address is of the form che...@prodigy.net.

Posted by Floyd L. Davidson on January 24, 2008, 9:19 pm

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>He's not talking resistance -- he's talking about a short circuit. Please be

>sure of your terms before you call someone else names, and insult them.

>I've known of houses with broken down insulation in the lead in wire,

>creating a high energy bill. So, it's a real condition.

More total bullshit. That would burn the house down
long before you got the bill. As Mike said, if the
connection where so hot it was shining brightly in the
daylight... and indeed that is what it would take to
create a high energy bill, and it *would* set fire to
something.

--
Floyd L. Davidson <http://www.apaflo.com/floyd_davidson>
Ukpeagvik (Barrow, Alaska) floyd@apaflo.com

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