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Energy Overload
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Engineering World

8y↑146

Why do transfomer fail?

A detailed article, click here :http://www.engineeringworldchannel.com/transformer-failure/

Chris Whittle

Why do fail grammar?

Fairly Privvy

Wrong voltage requirements. Equipment wear. Incorrect wiring. Wildlife interference. Inappropriate housing. List goes on.

Aminiarti Amy

Aku di indonesia dan di kalimantan tengah

Matt Massey

Good video, short and to the point. I like it

Caleb B

Overheating, lack of maintenance, wired incorrectly, simple maul function, short circuit, break in the line. Lots of different things.

34 More Replies...

Shannon Landsberger

8y↑611

I am pretty sure that I designed the control systems for the replacement transformer from video #1 (the last video). It was from Ponca City, OK. I don't remember the issue that caused it to fail, but if you watch closely, you will see that it heats up the oil until the PRD (Pressure relief device) pops, and you see the oil spray out and catch fire all around. The transformer did not explode, it simply performed as it was designed to in a worst-case scenario.
For those that comment on it being a crappy engineer that designed these, that is usually not the case. There are a few possibilities:
1. I have seen transformers in service for more than 60 years before failure. If they were designed poorly, they would never last that long.
2. Many companies operate their transformers at higher than rated load in order to get the most money out of their investment, or to put off installing a 2nd or larger transformer in it's place. Large power transformers cost millions of dollars to purchase and install, and power companies are in business for profit, so they are unlikely to spend money unless it is truly necessary. Running a transformer hot is not a bad thing, it is just a tradeoff. The companies know that they are taking life from the longevity of the transformer, but it may only be a few hours of day for peak demand, so it is accepted.
3. Occasionally the safety systems that were designed into these transformers are not fully installed (pick a reason). When this occurs and there is a failure, it is an expensive learning experience for the company. The transformer I built to replace in video #5 above has plenty of built in safety systems, and I believe they made it a point to do a proper install. (FYI: The original failure mode is unknown to me, I am NOT saying that Ponca City failed to provide proper safety systems at all.)
4. Rarely, there is neglect of the transformer, and it is simply allowed to fail because of ill maintenance. This is more commonly seen in rural communities or small privately owned businesses, and likely because they do not know how to properly maintain the transformer and provide adequate testing on a regular basis. The larger companies typically know exactly the condition of their transformers.

Transformers "blowing up" or "exploding" is still fun to watch though.... Just remember, they typically fail in an engineered way, via the PRD popping off.

Toa Sully

So, you worked on the transformer at 2:24

Aiki Xtal

Suicidal squirrel....

Tony McMahon

You sound like a sound guy , that is proud of your work . I work on the LV side of it .

Azam Ali

I think its because of its faulty current differential and earth fault relay.

AriBenDavid

5y↑1

@Shannon Landsberger On some of the largest transformers, losses are less than .4% Still, a 1000 MVA transformer will lose 4 million watts.

97 More Replies...

AriBenDavid

7y↑77

All high-powered electrical equipment has one philosophy: "When in doubt, explode."

luis guzman

3y↑1

Hahahaha 😂😭 I can just picture an animated transformer doing that impression of the old man meme where he is just like "I guess I'll just die then 🤷🏽‍♂️..." 😭😭😭

frequency flux fandango

8y↑94

I would like to helpfully mention that I have NO idea why transformers fail or what could be done to prevent it.
- I'm just here for the explosions. Thanks.

Boyfriend (My name isn't Keith dumb eggy lol)

Well it's nice to know that I'm also not the only one ☺ (Also I liked your comment Starwithnoname 😀)

Starwithnoname

5y↑3

Same here. Nice to know I’m not the only one.

ziasong

8y↑3

That's why you need all mechanical failure contacts wired as separated cores in a fire resistant cable to transformer protection relays and be checked regularly. I think internal wiring of buchholz relay (gas burst) should be fire resistant as well. So that the relay will trip the upstream and downstream circuit breakers before things get worse.

Engineering World

That's really a good suggestion there !

Joe Londeree

Excellent Shannon and Stephen, I designed transformers for Westinghouse for years and you both nailed it.

Phil S

8y↑11

For internal failures, water contamination is the greatest problem. It takes very little absorbed water in the transformer oil to significantly reduce the oil's dielectric strength, and this in turn leads to initially minor arcing / carbonisation, which just continues unless maintenance picks this up (as they should). Leakage may be through bushings, or via failed / saturated water absorbers on the casing ventilation system. Overvoltage (deliberate or accidental) is not that much of a problem, unless we're looking at a significant overvoltage (which exceeds the conductor to ground clearances), which can (and has been known to) occur where high-side protection systems have "failed closed". Whatever the cause, damage mitigation / cleanup (transformer oil is a listed hazardous environmental contaminant - PCB's), and replacement is going to be VERY expensive, even for a medium-voltage, sub-distribution transformer.

Engineering World

8y↑2

Thank you for sharing your amazing analysis of transformer failure. Moisture inside the transformer is indeed like 'slow poisoning' for the transformer until and unless taken care at an early stage. It is also important to note that simple oil treatment of the transformer oil does not solve the moisture problem as a vast amount of moisture is absorbed in the paper insulation of the transformer windings which can be detected using tests like DFRA.

Niagara Mike

8y↑2

It's hard to tell but fire #2 looks like a capacitor bank rather than a transformer fire. The foil "confetti" in the later stage of the fire makes me think that's the source. Foil is a major component in building a capacitor. I've seen single high tension "caps" in a bank bulge and/or pop but have never seen a bank on fire.
Someone mentioned using nonflammable oil for insulating/cooling. That was the big thing in the 70s/80s. Unfortunately they used PCBs in the process and that trend stopped quite quickly.

Barefoot0Walker

did you mean “lighting surges” or “light_n_ing surges”? in any event, the catastrophic failures shown here are certainly an indication of the huge amounts of energy that these devices must handle.

CNCmachiningisfun

8y↑96

Golden rule: NEVER anger a transformer. I have seen the movies, and they can be really mean ;) .

stdorn

5y↑1

#3 has always been a favorite of mine the transformer overheats and the oil starts to boil inside this causes the pressure reliefs to open spraying superheated oil on to the arc causing the fire ball. This also happens in #1 which is a video I have not seen before and its also likely what happens in vid 2 but I cant be sure.

ice bear

8y↑1

the largest Transformer explosion I've ever seen happened in Council Bluffs Iowa about two years ago when a lightning bolt hit the power plant it was literally feet from where it was. even from where I live I could feel the vibrations from it it's a very terrifying event.

Bob Clarke

Surely there should be some sort of overload protection to prevent this happening.

Sourav Kumar Dutta

In most of the cases there are mainly two causes of it -i) lack of maintenance 2)Overloading.

Muhammad Ali Javaid

5y↑2

To avoid these type of blast we can used SF6 circuit breaker which can be protect our transform and electrically components

Jim Skaggs

8y↑7

I have a read a lot of the comments concerning the failures of transformers. The 69kv and above transformer failures are mostly because of high side bushings that fail. They do not make them as robust as they did many years ago. Doble testing can help catch a potential problem with them but not always the case. Our transformers were very well protected high and low side with SEL differential relays operating breakers on both sides to clear the fault if internal. Routine maintenance is very expensive and that is why some companies neglect to do
often as needed. They also tend to overload them to keep from spending more Capitol money. I was fortunate to work for a non-profit utility that put all the money back into the company to make it sound.

Sean Carvalho

Should have checked the oil levels on those bad boys ! Also I wonder if the last two got hit by direct faults and if there was no resistor / reactor before the return !

Kalle Klæp

8y↑32

A short within the transformer causes the cooling oil to reach its flashpoint. Once the oil is heated, there is no way back and the process is just running away.

Karl Neuffer

Sentry Global Solutions, Inc. has a Fast Depressurization System which prevents the transformer from explosion and fire. Check them out at www.sentry-gsi.com

RayDT

@Cognitive Dissident It's primarily for cooling - resistive heating in the windings and hysteresis losses in the core generates a significant amount of heat that needs to be dissapated. It's also a better insulator than just air, so the leads can be closer together; big transformers often have uninsulated bus bars carrying the current between the windings and the external connections.

Cognitive Dissident

Kalle Klæp I thought the oil was for insulation. Is it for cooling too?

Arnab Basu

an arc is extremely difficult to extinguish, because once an arc is established, it ionizes (or breaks down) molecules in its path turning them into ions, so the process is self sustaining and unless the transformers are put out of service and maintainance is don e, this is bound to happen. what makes it even more difficult that these winding to winding shorts are notoriously seen to happen near the neutral point often, making the fault current of very low magnitude and difficult to be picked up by protective relays.In some cases, even REF does not respond leaving the transformer in the hands of Buccholz or PRD

TheNajSD ꧁꧂

You can't even cut off the juice? Self-sustaining madness? Zomg. People still use that right? Zomg?!?!

5 More Replies...

R Gaines

7y↑1

The only way I can think of to prevent them is routine inspection and replacing them before they fail. It's like a hot water tank, eventually it will explode -- most of the time just its bottom and water gushes everywhere. If you can afford it, replace it every 10 years will keep away the floods.

Michael Delmage

Oil sampling/testing will be your first indication of any inherent issues with your transformer to see if undesired gasses are being produced through any sort of heat losses/arcing. Eventually you could end up like these videos with out proper diagnosis.

A. K. M. Kamranul Ahsan

Proper monitoring, effective preventive maintenance scheduling and preventing overloading will reduce this kind of devastating failures in large number.

am74343

We've had electricity for 200 years. You'd think after all this time, that we could come up with a way to prevent these kind of things from happening...

Mark van Vliet

I'd say the most common causes of failure for high voltage equipment are errors during the assembly stage. Most high transformers are still made by hand. The higher the insulation class the more critical it becomes to work accurately and cleanly. Routine testing will catch the most severe mistakes, but not the ones that take time to deteriorate. The collateral damage of such a failure can be reduced by preventing such a failure to lead to breakdown of the insulation system (e.g. by DGA, as mentioned before, as a part of a maintenance strategy) or reduce the damage by setting up an adequate protection system. On the other hand, the footage is very impressive 😉

JT H

nice video... most transformers fail for 3 reasons that complement themselves. Most big transformers supply a lot of revenue for the company or utility so taking it down to filter the oil and test the protection costs much more than the labor to do it... especially if the transformer cannot be isolated by way of some loop fed system. Some of the utilities that do not have the expertise to test the protection have to hire very expensive contractors to do the work. So not only are they loosing revenue they are spending a ton of money to do the work. And Third most of these failures are on very old transformers. When you think about how many times the iron in a transformer intensifies and relaxes in 30 years the number is staggering... just think... 60 times a second for a year is about 1.9 billion times... 30 billion is going to be lots of magnetic cycles... no wonder the connections and internal humming gets louder.... what you are actually hearing is the iron magnetizing and demagnetizing 60 times a second.... the louder the hum the heaver the load - or the looser the internal parts. Another primary cause of failure is centered on how our electrical systems have changed through the years. All you guys who have had to deal with harmonics know what I am talking about. All these switched power supplies - variable speed drives and other industrial power switching devices cause sever voltage spikes that is well over the rating of the transformers when they were built... these spikes operate to degrade the insulation of the transformers - sometimes the persons responsible do not consider how their system has changed through the years and just plain overlook it or in the alternative stick their head in the sand so they get a bigger bonus this next quarter. A few years ago I did a survey on one of the largest electrical complexes in the United States. It was built in the mid 70's and this was about 2000... The place was located right on the coast - I was not instructed to do the survey but I was responsible for the emergency backup power. When I brought the results of dismal survey to managements attention along with the cost of the impact if the transformers did go down there was an immediate opening of the money sack to get the electrical infrastructure back in shape... most folks don't have a clue what is behind the light switch and what it takes to get that nice glow out of the light bulb....

RODALCO2007

8y↑165

Lack of maintenance on the larger transformers. On major substation transformers quarterly or half yearly DGA core oil samples are taken and the oil sample is checked in a lab for traces of ethylene, methane, ethane to name a few and traces of carbon, metal etc.
Then tap changers need regular oil sample tests taken as these change taps all the time and arcing occurs and oil slowly deteriorates.
Buchholtz gas trap devices will usually trip a large transformer off line to protect the TX.
An arc furnace transformer I used to work on had oil samples taken every month.

Smaller pole or ground mounted TX's rely on fuses of the correct rating, which often does not occur and these are often heavily overloaded till they go bang.

Michael Mouse

@Aname ... thanks for the info!

cmeboxu

@Eugene Stoner That is strange that the gas monitor and buchholz didn't indicate any gassing in the transformer. I'm a controls guy, so my understanding of gassing isn't the greatest. I could understand the buchholz not going off because a certain amount of gas has to accumulate before the float activates the alarm contact. But you'd think the online DGA monitor would've detected the gassing. Funny thing, I'm actually doing a 500kV/161kV single phase transformer replacement design right now for a spare transformer that's having gassing issues.

cmeboxu

@Eugene Stoner OK, now this is starting to make a lot more sense. No need for an N2 blanket if you have a conservator as there is no "empty" space inside the transformer. Oil level changes with temperature and a bladder inside the transformer conservator expands and shrinks to consume all space not taken up by the oil. Should be a dehydrating breather that's piped up to the top of the conservator to remove any moisture from inside the bladder. I assume when you say "step" transformers you are referring to GSU (generator step-up) xfmrs, right? The breakers are using the SF6 gas as an insulator and to put the arch out when the breaker opens, where transformers without a conservator use N2 to remove oxygen from the empty space inside of the transformer to prevent any moisture from getting in the oil.

cmeboxu

5y↑1

@Eugene Stoner Its all good man. We both have a passion for what we do, which is great. Honestly, I just like discussing these types of things with people who actually listen, unlike my wife. I'm just glad I didn't have to go through all the NERC crap to get my job.

cmeboxu

@Eugene Stoner Why would low-low transformer gas alarm prevent a breaker from opening? The arcing when opening a breaker happens inside of the breaker, not the transformer. Only low-low SF6 gas alarm from the breaker should cause a lockout condition (and arm breaker failure). Some protection schemes will actually auto-trip for low SF6 gas. There is no arcing inside of the transformer when it is taken offline. think you may have confused that they forgot to charge the breaker with SF6 gas, not the transformer.

10 More Replies...

Jeff Garrett

Lightning struck a main substation transformer years ago on our line the electric company brought in a substation built on a flatbed and connected it to the line where the other one was disconnected, two weeks later they ship in the new transformer and before removing it they had a tanker with a radiation placard pump the oil out it I was told it was radioactive but I was a kid back then

BitGridTV

8y↑4

A prevention of great failures like these can be watching a station thru an infrared camera regularly. once in a week or so.
each faulty connection starts to get a few degrees warmer than the other ones.
this increases up to being red hot, the connection get welded open an then the sparks do the rest.

BitGridTV

8y↑2

ur welcome ;)
thats exactly what power companies here in Germany do.
mayb U can even listen to a failure before U can see it when U dont have an IR cam.
take an AM radio and tune it between two stations where there is only static noise.. each spark, may it be so small that U cant see or hear it will cause crackling noises in the AM band.
U can hear it e.g. when rubbing acrylic cloth over your hair.

AM radios are very handy to locate distortions from any appliance in a house. especially from poE-adapters and crap like that.

Engineering World

A very innovative and effective idea. Thanks for your feedback :)

ice bear

8y↑1

the incident in the factory could have occurred because of a short in the electrical systems or in the motor that it was driving you'll notice after it went off the way it did the motors in the background.

jake2213b

8y↑123

As a retired Transformer Tester they are a number things that can gone wrong. They arcing you can not see what started that but the fire is when the oil comes out and the arcing sets it on fire.

Craig Roberts

love the smell of failed transformers in the morning. Smells like........................failed transformers in the morning!!!

sparkyy0007

Kelli Rowe
Thanks Kelli. Benjamin Esposti had a really good point against it though. Crow-barring the primary with an oil temp safety trip would cause a huge millisecond surge before the external fuses blow. Combine that surge with the line inductance could produce one hell of a high frequency spike upstream, possibly damaging other equipment.
Not worth it.

Charlie Buckets

@sparkyy0007 ahhhh i love it when folks talk smack to the expert ... you sir rule

Kathrine Murray

sparkyy0007 I have little knowledge on what you guys were fusing about and somehow stumbled upon your disagreement after doing research on electricity and finding this video, coming down to the comment section and reading all of these interesting comments. I would like you to know that I support your side of this argument.

drbobwoolery

One brand is Shell Diala AX. I bought 5 gallons for X-ray equipment. Old equipment CAN still contain PCBs. PCBs sink in water and will not burn.

28 More Replies...

retiredkiwi

The one i saw, was due to test staff leaving protection in TEST position after finishing there work(so circuit breakers did not trip). Unfortunately the substation operator also left 3 earth sticks on one side of a large transformer, and switched it on, was very pretty to watch, from the staff cafe at smoko time, huge fireball from all the oil contained in it. (addington substation christchurch new zealand in the late 70's)

Lord Wrex

the way to prevent the violent explosions is with proper relay protection to cut the feeds to the transfomer in milliseconds upon detecting any internal arcing

Fine Art Video

8y↑1

Another cause - insulation failure in the coil windings from weather deterioration, mechanical stress or overloads.

Man Animal

More transformers per line translates to less load current per unit and individual fault detection helps stop the cascade effect of any ground fault. Both options are rather expensive capital investments. How often do substation transformers fail?

MrWildbill47

I am guessing that the laminations break down over time and the coils short as far as them failing without some other external cause, another internal cause might be loose connections from bolts coming loose that then start heating up. Other things external like overloads and spikes likely take them out sometimes also. Everything in them is constantly being vibrated at 60 Hz and I suspect that may lead to the mechanical failures.

Greg Gallacci

#4 Was a training video about the hazards and causes of arc-flash.
#3 Personal favorite!

gpadepedro

5y↑1

Transformers fail due to dielectric or insulation breakdown. Regular testing of the dissipation factor and dissolved gas analysis could have prevented catastrophic failure.

Nick Holzemer

Overheating probably causes many of them to fail. I remember one failed (a long time ago) because a squirrel got into it, fried itself and the transformer...

Wesley Earl

Power transformers have all of the proper protection i.e. Differential, High Side Overcurrent and sudden pressures relays on the xfmr itself. This is all that is needed. I believe that lack of routine maintenance( DC Operational checks) or just flat out a failed relay is the biggest problem for xfmrs.

David Curran

7y↑1

Years ago, I watched a large truck turn too sharp and snag the guy-wire of a wooden pole that had a large barrel style transformer mounted close to the top. This made the top heavy pole oscillate back and forth wildly, causing the electric cables to whip around and come into contact with each other. The transformer exploded like a bomb and made a huge fire ball.

Jerry greenlee

8y↑2

I believe your relay scheme is defect or the circuit switches would have isolated it before the station transformer ruptured

oron61

So, what causes the explosion proper? Metal and electricity don't just make massive fireballs you see from an oil refinery.

ikonix360

8y↑8

Sensors that can kill the power to the substation in event of an impending or actual problem then alert the power company.

With as technologically advanced as things are now I'm sure some of that is being implemented.

Philipp K

And of course checking the transformer for partial discharges (PDs) might be a good idea. Ideally using a 24/7 PD monitoring system. I happen to work for a company that provides such systems... ;-) (monitoring as well a diagnostics systems).

Engineering World

Thank you so much for the amazing piece of information. The concept of continuous DGA analysis is indeed a very good idea, it will can give us prior information with regards to any failure. Where do you work ?

DesertTripper Tripper

8y↑1

Where I work, a few important technologies are in place. One is differential protection, where the transformer trips if the power in doesn't roughly equal the power out (the only other place power would go, barring normal transformer losses, is into a fault.) Another is "sudden pressure," where a pressure sensor initiates a trip if it detects a sudden increase in tank pressure, which would indicate a fault. (These can false-trip due to earthquakes, so they're not foolproof.) The coolest technology they are rolling out is Dissolved Gas Analysis (DGA), where there is an actual chemical analyzer module which transformer oil circulates through while the bank is operating. It can detect hydrogen, CO and a bunch of other compounds whose presence indicates localized heating or other sign of an impending fault. So far it's only for monitoring, not protection, but that could change. Our utility has had several huge bank fires over the last couple of decades so they're taking a lot of effort to prevent them.

soundseeker63

Those safety systems HAVE been implemented in other countries for ages now. It's just that north America is very slow to catch up! (all bar one of those videos was in North America).

2Truth4Liberty

Yes, there could be audio sensors (the electrical arcing sound is fairly unique), video sensors (pick up on the light from flames) and heat sensors(ditto).
AND - With some testing it might be found there is a magnetic field involved too for which a magnetic send or could be used as well.

1 More Replies...

aidansparkes12345678

8y↑6

a lot of them fail due to age, they cost a lot of money to replace and are often used far beyond the time they where expected to last.

Rodrigo Henrique

bhjgggg

aidansparkes12345678

8y↑4

im from the uk and work on many sub stations, a lot of the stuff was built in the 1960's when the goverment put up the money to have it all built, it would cost billions to replace all the old stuff, and many sites have "no go areas" around old transformers and breakers due to them failing and going bang. many have also had blast walls built around them.

Engineering World

That's definitely one of the reason for the failure of transformer especially when utility companies have very tight budgets to maintain operations. Thank you for your valuable input.

Jon Painter

As a Control Systems Engineer of over 30 years. I have seen quite a few transformers fail.In general a failure is not typically a single point of failure. Most often is a result of compromised protection (Circuit Breakers) and also other factors such as overheating or more often Overload. Typically a transformer often has over capacity built into the design.Often on control panels the transformer is located at the bottom of the panel for panel stability reasons but in this location gravity will influence anything that can land on them. Transformers run quite warm and sometimes hot depending upon load.

UtwoBed

I find the image you used for your post showing firemen hosing down an electrical transformer fire as being insane. What fireman in his right mind would spray water on a live high voltage fire? Wouldn't they be immediately electrocuted?

Magnanimous Contributor

What was happening to the transformer at the clip at 2:49, is suspiciously similar to what had happened to the one at 1:13, just at a different view.

Varun Nigam

8y↑1

Transformer fails usually because of overload (Over current or over voltage). That's why you should always use Overload Protection relays with the switchgear.

Varun Nigam

Engineering World You are welcome. I have worked for 3 years with a switchgear company

Engineering World

8y↑1

That's indeed correct. Thanks for your feedback ! :)

TheThunderLightning

The second video with the dry-type reminds me of many transformers I have seen in facilities where they just have no good maintenance

James West

The second video was most probably on a ship, sounded like 900 Hz to me. This is why we don't energize equipment with the shielding removed. This was probably a test.

Master Builder Engineer

You forgot to mention "Incorrect Tap Changer Connection" or The Tap Changer" operated under load or left in an incorrect position, not making full contact with the corresponding transformer windings. Also incorrect electrical connections (this usually applies to first-time energization, I witnessed one where a fellow electrical contractor erroneously connected the secondary spade terminal of a 3,000KVA, 38KV Delta to 13.2 KV Wye Secondary power xmer. The spades terminals were not id' at the factory, but they were clearly indicated in its ID S/Steel Plate as being in the sequence of X1, X2, X3 and X0 (reading from left to right), Someone incorrectly ID'd the spade terminals as X0, X1, X2, X3 which is what was the way it was eventually connected, thus they connected it in the wrong sequence with a "Bolted Fault" to ground. When Energized (I had walked back about 100 ft), in the few milliseconds that a 46KV rated S&C, "E" speed fuse blew, the transformer commenced to blow up. Being about 8Ft wide, the Xmer case (1/2" plate steel with reinforced channels, expanded over 8", when it was opener for possible repairs the interior windings and core were long gone and unserviceable, just trash, However, this event lasted milliseconds because the 46KV rated fuses did their job, I would really like to see the explanation for these Faults-Fires, Either there was no protection to the bus that faulted or The protection was most probably poorly engineered and not coordinated with other protective devices which are mandatory in substations of these sizes shown. I have over 40 years of experience in this field and I have never ever had a major incident much less a fatality under my watch in dealing with nearly 1000 substations (either design, construction, maintenance, retrofit, modifications, expansions et al), You will see my channel soon THE MASTER BUILDER ENGINEER, Nevertheless the images are AMAZING, Electricity is normally an invisible phenomenon that very few people understand, Thus whenever you actually SEE IT, you or someone else is having A VERY BAD DAY", There is no mention if there were injuries or fatalities in the events shown in the videos, A much better video should have had some explanation, at least in layman's terms of what happened in these events, There needs to be an explanation in order to serve as teaching video vs the sensationalism of an impressive fire.

Sir. Lord. Dr James bottom tooth the 3rd

6y↑1

After a while, the insulation between the coils degrades and fails, causing a short between coils, producing heat and sparks. They are also submerged in mineral oil, for cooling. This oil boils and ignites, hence the fire balls.

J.J. White

With the proper microprocessor differential protective relays and the correct settings on the fault pressure or sudden pressure mechanical protective relays, most of these transformers should not have faulted long enough to fail to destruction. Improper or no maintenance are the likely culprits.

psun256

Amazing what a large coil of wire can do!

Cotirlan Vladut

I don't know too many things about the power lines transformers, but I think they fail to work and proceed to blow up or burn, because the voltage across them drop to zero, obviously.

ed gullo

I wonder if, with solar energy, it would be possible to make 12 or 24 volt systems the HOME standard except for heavy duty uses? Lights, electronic communications equipment..they all use low voltage. It would make wiring a home safer and cheaper. And the use of 120 or 220 ONLY for heavy duty appliances might reduce the need for large substations.

Vladislav Damqnov

8y↑1

Sooo many ways to protect from such faults. Good interwinding dielectric insulation, keeping everything within the ranges the transformer was designed for, good input regulation (no more than 20% tolerance and that`s highly optimistic), good humidity insulation, fuses here and there, avoiding prolonged short circuits, because theoretically transformers act as a current limiter to an extend, when the core saturates, but they can`t tolerate the heat a short circuit dissipates, plus the core heats up from the saturation and the insulation breaks down and boom. Also for extremely powerful transformers its good to have some sort of a dielectric coolant like mineral oil or wax or something. And last but probably not least in importance, everything needs to be very tightly secured. Transformers tend to mechanically vibrate (thus the buzz of a loaded transformer) and the internal parts loosen or dislodge over time and that may accidentally cause two wires getting too close to each other, ultimately resulting in a short circuit. So yeah, that`s about it, at least all I can think off.

Engineering World

Thank you for your excellent feedback !
Would recommend everyone to read Mr.Daamqnov writeup.

krishna kanth

5y↑1

Can be due to insulation failure and ineffecient colling at that time.

Mark Forrester

8y↑2

in the UK we still have 275kv to 132kv transformers with 60 years of service on them. I would say most failure would be due to a bushing failure causing the transformer to catch fire. Bushings are under far more electrical stress than the transformer main tank. bucholz rarely go wrong but are they quick enough to react?

Mark Forrester

8y↑1

an internal arc in a transformer tank produces a shockwave that will split the 1 inch steel tank right open.

jmr1068204

8y↑1

Transformers, to the best of my knowledge, fail usually when there is a power surge. There is a surge arrest, but it takes something like 60ms to kick in and apparently it fails before it can kick in.

whyrtyre

8y↑4

Electric hum around transformers is caused by stray magnetic fields causing the enclosure and accessories to vibrate. Magnetostriction is a second source of vibration, where the core iron changes shape minutely when exposed to magnetic fields.

Engineering World

That was quite informative !
Thank you !

Howie Dewin

temp fluctuations through the seasons cause the mineral oil in transformers to expand and contract, and as the case 'breathes', atmospheric moisture enters and contaminates it. Eventually there's enough to conduct the kV's and cause an internal failure. Weathering of connections and the expansion / contraction from temp swings often causes external failures.

Vishnu Vichu

Take it as simple we need to calculate the load. Imagine if it is 10volt, it can be increase 3 or 10 times more by anyway and that can't be unpredictable. So the load will increase

Cadaverdog

I love how you know they're just going to get worse.

Evan Keats

8y↑2

A bit more cash spent on maintenance and real time monitoring will avoid these issues. However, the people with MBAs that now run the world consider such expenditure to be fiscally irresponsible (i.e. it will hurt their bonuses).

Adam Mangler

8y↑17

Oil cooling is quite efficient for most purposes. But in high ambient temperatures/overloading, it can reach flashpoint. There are better ways to do it, but they are expensive.

Edward Carberry

Ones I have worked on have anticipatory circuitry which when the load goes up the pumps and then fans come on to cool the oil, prior to the oil getting to heating. I am surprised that the breakers not clearing that zone , opening! Guess they set them differently. 3 cycles phase to ground and 1 cycle phase to phase.

Benjamin Esposti

7y↑1

The oil will not burn unless there is oxygen to do so, even if it is above flashpoint.
Also, if the transformer is getting THAT hot, something is terribly wrong. Even on hot days, transformers normally don't go over 100 to 120 degrees C.

The reason why the transformer tanks rupture is because a failure of the insulation inside can cause an electric arc. The arc is thousands of degrees, and causes the oil to turn into gas. This is what causes the tank rupture. Subsequent fire is caused by either: 1. The transformer oil being above flashpoint (introduction to oxygen allows it to burn), or 2. An electric arc or spark ignites the oil.

Do note that oil degrades faster at higher temps. So in the long run, running a transformer at high temps (generally 95+ degrees C) will shorten the lifespan. Some estimate that running at 115C for 24 hours reduces transformer insulation life by 1%.

Raeffi

8y↑1

the oil isnt for cooling only, it insulates the windings

Dave B

Something like Polychlorinated Biphenyl? We know what the price is for that stuff. and I don't mean money. I wonder how much of that is released into the air when one goes up. I wouldn't want to be down wind.

Engineering World

8y↑3

That's very true.

Thanks for your feedback :)

Tom Mallon

I get it now. The function of components and wiring is to protect the fuses and circuit breakers.

JP Noll

well, for one thing, use non-flammable materials instead of oil, use another liquid or another kind of coolant.

Phillip Pearl

Is there not an oily type material that could be used that does not catch fire?

Could we circulate something around them to remove heat and extend their life span?

Knut Holt

It usually begins with a shortcut due to breakage, foreign body or corrosion. That results in increasing heat and release of hot gasses seen as flames. The heat can also be caused by bad function of the cooling system, including chemically degraded transformer oil. Eventually the heat melts holes in the transformer leading to leakage of transformer oil. The oil begins to burn and the outer cover of the transformer burst even more due to the heat both from the fire and the shortcut. Then all the transformer oil escapes,ignites and explodes.

ricks holocaust

8y↑10

It reminds me the 1998 ice storm in Montreal,we were in the big triangle,we lost power for over 14 days !! Thanks for the upload !!

Craig Roberts

love the smell of failed transformers in the morning. Smells like........................failed transformers in the morning!!!

MrHillfolk

My grandfather lived in massena and had pics of the destruction all the way up to Montreal. Bad stuff

butterflyflyhig

There was an ice storm in Toronto in 2014 and some people lost power for over a month!

ricks holocaust

8y↑1

YW :)

Engineering World

Thanks for your feedback.

Mark Gohl

Overload due to short circuit. Internal arching started by lightning pulse. Oil degrading due to water contamination. Overload due to magnetic storm (Rare but it has happened) Oil leak leaving transformer windings exposed to air. Short circuited turn.....or just leaving the thing unmaintained for like forever. That can do it too.

hardleecure

When those big ones go off it's a spectacle for sure. Used to be a security guard at a factory night shift. The one camera overlooking the back of the property picked it up in the neighbourhood behind. The lights went out and the camera monitors (system runnig on UPS now) just went from black to daylight.

Gene Bethune

I, actually, saw a company that checked transformers using a thermal imaging device to predict xformers that were about to fail.

Loren Nicholls

8y↑5

they need to keep on the maintenance of these more frequently then they do

rob1248996

5y↑2

Thanks for converting to flammable oil. It makes the failure much more entertaining.

James West

@rob1248996 Politics can really get political at times.

rob1248996

5y↑1

@James West And you can thank Nixon for that.

James West

5y↑1

@rob1248996 Thank you to our friends at the EPA.

rob1248996

5y↑1

@James West So are blazing infernos. At least the PCBs were contained in a heavy steel tank. It's just like Freon. It was the best refrigerant ever developed but that wasn't good enough for the politicians who probably couldn't tell you what a refrigerant was used for but proclaimed themselves as "experts".

James West

Because PCBs are bad, I guess.

TwoBussard

I think they overloaded them in most of the videos.
Bad maintenance services could also be the case.
In Germany you are as an operator or company responsible to let it clean and shit every 4 years.
What should I say…we don’t even have these 2 conductor system transformators and i really wouldnt think about to place them outside.

Kendra Watkins

I designed them and know just how they cut corners to make it them work. At one time there was always a percentage of over built in them but as time went on and cost went up people wanted more for there money and therefore this over build was slowly removed until then they always would see maximum power drawn from them. Things did go to so much electronics but the older ones never had that signal protection to warn of internal failures. As for the external connection that was probably the same thing. Also as climate warms they will be put under more strain because the ambient temp that they were designed for should be higher.

Sourav Porey

The incidents shown in the above video are deadly and thrilling, the main cause of transformer failure if carefully analysed should be damage to winding insulation which causes electrical short circuit among the winding, the inter winding capacitance and also the capacitance developed between adjacent turns of the winding play a role in the fire, there must be some means to measure such capacitance and when it crosses some threshold limit power entering transformer must be stopped to avoid fire and explosion. Excessive current, poor core lamination and failing temperature sensors and lack of fir extinguishing system nearby of such transformer are additional causes that must be evaluated. Extensive research is needed to develop special insulator for transformer's winding otherwise the death toll will increase abruptly. Thank you Sir, Any incorrect information is highly regretted.

IMediaDiscovery

3y↑3

1:09 this happens when you don't want to pay an electrician but still do your own installation at home xD

djblackarrow

I would equip older plants with SF6 shielding gas (sulfur hexafluoride) in the active plant parts.
In addition, I would use fire circuit breaker for the primary and secondary sides of the transformers, if there are any for those high voltages. These are available for the house installation. They detect sparks / arcs due to massive current fluctuations and switch off before it comes to the fire.
The fire protection switches could be equipped with auxiliary switches which can report a fault to the respective energy provider via the Internet. In this way, the energy provider can approach specific problem areas without having to wait until residents or passers-by make an appropriate emergency call if they see some arcing or something else.

I'm from Germany. I am a trained electrician. But I have no authority to enter large substations. For this you need a special training with us. Nevertheless, I find these substations very interesting. For us, I mainly see transformers and switching elements from manufacturers such as ABB, BBC, Siemens. No substation in my immediate vicinity had in all my 35 years of life transformer fires or similar. In modern substations or transformer stations even SF-6 is already used.

Bogdan N

SF6 is mainly used as an arc extinguishing medium in HV breakers, as they are more compact than oil filled ones, so they can be used in indoor substations, but they are pretty darn expensive. Also, in indoor substations gas based fire extinguishing systems are available, but they are used only after making sure no one is on the premises, as those gases are lethal, and in the cases presented all fires started on outdoor transformers. The reasons for igniting the arcs are numerous (aged insulator bushings or winding insulation, animals, etc., all falling in the insulation failure category). OK, maybe the arc current was not so high as to trip the overcurrent protection, but still the question remains: why did it had to get to the point where the oil burst out and ignited, as there are other safety systems (Buchholz relays for oil boiling detection, transformer temperature monitoring), which could have disconnected the faulty equipment.

Adam Kurach

That is why you need a dry type cast resin transformer. They dont blow up, they dont burn, no toxic fumes.

Rosale Alvaran

8y↑2

I've heard that overloaded electric supply can cause explosion. please explain more. I'm interested on the jumper wires connected to the electrical post. Am I right?

Rosale Alvaran

@rickd248 they are also using gas?
How about the solar electricity? It's more cheaper than power electricity
But some power companies refusing to introduce it to my country

Breaking Studios

Muller Stone you saved me words thanks :D

rickd248

8y↑1

Rosale Alvaran For many years power companies have been trying to convince a poor 50 KVA XFMR that it can really do the job of a 75 KVA. Well, somethings got to give and it usually does, the 50 blows it top. The newer XFMRs are filled with vegetable oil so just a routine clean up is good. The older guys have PCB added to the oil so a HAZMAT is required. That's lots of fun. You get to wear the space suits and breathers and all the goodies.

Muller Stone

8y↑3

Hi Rosale Alvaran !
The most common cause of transformer explosions is adverse weather. Lightning strikes can cause transformers to overload and explode. Sudden damage to transformers can also lead to overloads.
There are many other causes for that explosion , but I cant mention all of them .

Engineering World

8y↑4

Hey Rosale !

That's a very good question you asked. Yes, one the primary reason for the failure of transformer is overload where in the transformer is trying to supply more load than it is rated for which leads to weakening of insulation of the coils in the transformer and will eventually result in KAAAABOOMM !! xD (if no preventive measures are taken on time)

The jumper wires used in a electrical post is used to provide a path so that its far away from the earthed pole to avoid any mishap.

Tulock the Werewolf

Cant imagine how toxic those clouds of smoke are

kimmer6

8y↑7

It failed the Hi Pot Test. The operator was High on Pot and thought it would be cool to put 2000 Megawatts on line 180 out of synch. You can always tell a good High Yard Operator if his feet hit the desk before his ass hits the chair.

Robert Defoe

Never think for a second you can control electricity. It's always out to get you plus when the place I work at got a new laser cutter and was powering it up for the first the substation blew up.

José Roza

Simple, replace it very often, and shorten the fire trigger time, what I see is it taking too long and the smoke getting contained too fast too little Bum 💥 happens 😂

Daryl C Mills

Overcurrent/earth fault protection systems - which clearly none of these had.

ice bear

8y↑1

shorts can occur after years of use the insulation between the coils breaks dawn and high voltage arks over and the oil in larg transformers catchiness fire and explodes because it is in a sealed box / cylinder. it is unavoidable because it all depends on time.

Engineering World

But don't you think regular maintenance and periodic testing of transformers to check the healthiness can prevent such incidents from happening?

David Borrelli

5y↑4

I think the most common cause for a transformer to fail is that when they were in school back on Cybertron they didn’t pay attention.

Vincent Quinn

A very safe nonflammable insulating liquid is Florinert. It is very expensive compared to mineral oil.

Jeremy R.

What causes these failures, whether it be on a power pole or a transformer? I know that trees cause shorts because electricity takes the closest ground, but I don't understand why wires and transformers just start exploding out of the blue...?

Walter Clark

When a transformer fails, e.g, it will cause a power outage just after it explodes. Before it explodes, it creates a spark (brighter then the welders arc) creating a loud humming zap sound. This video will give you an idea to how dangerous and deadly powerlines and transformers can be. This is why you should never touch these powerlines

ice bear

8y↑1

in a sense yes but the problem is you can't see the coils inside the Transformer so you never really know what's going on with them. electricity is really unpredictable and sometimes power companies are just playing too lazy to check up on all of their Transformers.

R5H4D0W

8y↑18

Why have we not found an nonflammable dielectric that can possess the properties as mineral oil but doesn't burn

christopher

Is that why they still have hudson river pcb dredging?

kleetus92

7y↑8

Actually no... PCBs weren't so awful for the environment, but if you worked in that shit for 30 years with no protective gear you might get cancer.

SF6 being a greenhouse gas is hilarious... What's the total world supply of that stuff, 1000 ton maybe? Whoopdee fuckin' do. It's such a piss in the ocean, but liberals don't understand math so they go on a rampage and scare everyone else who doesn't understand math and we get shit like global warming/cooling/climate change/ weather and everybody loses their minds.

Benjamin Esposti

7y↑2

Yeah, PCB oils were wonderful ... so good, that they were actually bad (for the environment and such).
Now they tend to use vegetable oil and related oils. Sometimes they also use synthetic oil, which requires a higher temperature to ignite, so it is slightly less of a fire hazard.

Le Maquis

8y↑2

Yes this things exist it's name (PCB) polychlorobiphenile this product dont burn easier but dangerous for the environnement(nature)

Albert de Beaufort

8y↑1

R5H4D0W we definitely have those but they are expensive like reactor cooling water (it costs 1million per Liter) but oil is the cheapest

8 More Replies...

The Folklore of Being

Imagine living in the early Edwardian era when electricity was a new thing and they just had bare wires hanging everywhere. No Earth, no insulation, just wires coming from the light fixture on the ceiling, to any appliance they had plugged into it...

Babloo Aich

There should be a automatic breaker system.

Nikolaos Peterson

(Only first one '5' here was 50 Hz remaining 4 were all 60 Hz thus most likely in North America) if transformers use NON-FLAMMABLE coolants like Skydral or other aircraft non-flammable lubricants, such would reduce explosion hazards. That is what causes the most damage, not the short circuiting proper, but the explosive potential of vegetable oil or other flammable coolants.

Brett Caldwell

as long as we are dependent on an electrical grid, transformer failures are a necessary evil.

Jao Pao

8y↑3

Steps to avoid these kind of accidents:
1. Regular maintenance of transformer and protection systems
2. Good protection discrimination study to isolate transformer on 1st sign of failure.
3. Proper commissioning of transformer and protection system guarding it.
4. Removal of arcing asap by proper operation of protection systems (tripping of HV / MV / LV breakers asap)
5. Investment in good and adequate automatic firefighting system.
6. Regular maintenance of transformer and protection systems
7. Regular maintenance of transformer and protection systems

Engineering World

Thank you Mr. Jao for sharing with the valuable information.

niteshift92

Internal arc causes the oil to gas off (boil), expand, and the pressure in the form of oil and vapor mixture is released by the overpressure relief. Once the arc is exposed to the dielectric oil vapor and air, it serves as the ignition source for the explosion. the arc can be caused by lack of maintenance (poor quality oil, moisture, oxidation), insulator breakdown, and other issues resulting from heat, overcurrent, shorts, grounds, and grid overload.