My Close Encounter with a Power Line Tower

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the sounds and sensations experienced by a participant while stargazing near power line towers. Participants explore the nature of the clicking sound, potential causes, and whether the experience could indicate a risk of electric shock.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant describes a clicking sound heard near power line towers and questions if it is normal or indicative of danger.
  • Some participants propose that the sound could be due to static electricity buildup, similar to a van de Graaff generator.
  • Another participant suggests that thermal expansion and contraction of the conductors could cause unusual noises, especially in desert climates with significant temperature drops at night.
  • There is speculation about the possibility of insects bridging conductors, though one participant expresses doubt about the likelihood of this occurring.
  • A participant mentions the concept of "corona noise" associated with high voltage transmission lines and discusses potential causes for clicking sounds, including surface discontinuities or contaminants on insulators.
  • Technical details about voltage levels and their relationship to sound intensity are provided, along with a reference to resources on arcing discharges.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views on the cause of the clicking sound, with no consensus reached. Some suggest static discharge or thermal effects, while others consider the possibility of electrical faults or environmental factors.

Contextual Notes

Participants note various assumptions, such as the conditions under which the sounds were heard and the specific environmental factors at play, including temperature variations and the presence of contaminants.

whozum
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I was out stargazing tonight in the middle of nowhere. there's plenty of washes out in the skirts of our suburb and I drove out into one of them to avoid city lights. After about ten minutes I started noticing a small clicking sound, kind of like that of static electricity or a small spark, and was curious where it was coming from.
I looked around and I noticed there were some of those huge power line towers running right behind where I was parked, and the noise started coming from one of those.

A couple minutes later I started feeling something really intense coming over me and the clicking kept on going, I was laying on top fo my car which was on gravel. Then I started feeling a little tingly and at this point I knew I needed to get the **** out of there so I took a quick dash away from my car. When I realized I wasnt about to get zapped todeath I got back in my car and drove away.

Anyway, the point of this story is, are those things supposed to be clicking like that? Was I really about to get zapped, or was I just tricking myself into thinking it?

Appreciate it.
 
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wow, maybe the static was building up around that area of that power line, then maybe it will release a static discharge like a van de graff generator. lol
 
Oerg said:
wow, maybe the static was building up around that area of that power line, then maybe it will release a static discharge like a van de graff generator. lol

Thats what I was fearing but I figured that would be a very very very remote possibility, presuming they take precautions on this sort of thing.
 
no, you were probably just high :)
 
Gza said:
no, you were probably just high :)

Sober, this time :wink:

So its not possible? Was it static discharge that I was hearing? Nothing else really makes sense.
 
whozum said:
Was it static discharge that I was hearing? Nothing else really makes sense.
It could have been thermal expansion/contraction cycles of the conductors. I don't know where you live, but desert areas get quite cold at night. If the lines and/or towers were hot in daytime and were cooling after the sun went down, all sorts of weird noises could arise. I suppose it's also possible that clouds of insects might bridge between two conductors and create a temporary short, but I've personally never seen a bug cloud dense enough to do that.
 
Danger said:
It could have been thermal expansion/contraction cycles of the conductors. I don't know where you live, but desert areas get quite cold at night. If the lines and/or towers were hot in daytime and were cooling after the sun went down, all sorts of weird noises could arise. I suppose it's also possible that clouds of insects might bridge between two conductors and create a temporary short, but I've personally never seen a bug cloud dense enough to do that.

Scottsdale, Arizona

I think it was about 100 today and probably about 70s-80s that night, so not a big drop. I wasnt near the actual tower, but the wires were just over my head, I'd say about a few dozen feet. There weren't any swarms around or any insects that bothered me, and the clickign suond was very familiar, in Sudan there are a few faulty telephone wires that start clicking at the transformer after it rains, it sounded just like it, but there were visible sparks on those, I couldn't see any sparks this time.


PS, don't forget, tomorrows the grand opening. PM me if you need info.
 
whozum said:
PS, don't forget, tomorrows the grand opening. PM me if you need info.
Working on it; thanks for the reminder, though. I'll see what I can dig up amongst my friends around town about the wire thing. I'm assuming that the lines are aluminum, although I don't know if that would make a difference or not. Maybe if there's some sort of irregularity in the resistance at some point, it could cause enough air ionization to form a spark, or maybe the wires just aren't spaced far enough apart.
 
whozum said:
Anyway, the point of this story is, are those things supposed to be clicking like that? Was I really about to get zapped, or was I just tricking myself into thinking it?

High voltage transmission lines have an audible hum (at 60 Hz, which is AC frequency in US) called "corona hum", or "corona noise". Noise levels will vary (30-50 dBA normally) according voltage and cable conditions (which are usually multi-strand aluminum).

Any clicking sound could be an arc (or short) and may indicate a discontinity in surface of the cable or a dirty or flawed (cracked) insulator. Bird droppings, mold, moss are common contaminants - as are particulates, basically whatever is in the air that might settle from air or condensation.

Nowadays utilities use microprocessor relay systems to monitor the power lines (and grid) to detect potential faults.

IIRC - 115 kV, 138 kV, 240 kV, 345kV, 500 kV, 765 kV are common voltages and the sound will increase with voltage (energy).

Here is a site with some arcing discharges - http://205.243.100.155/frames/longarc.htm

Download the mpegs and then play them. :biggrin:
 
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