[RFI] Electric company problem

[Tom Rauch]

> Question to all.  What is the prevailing thought about
hitting wooden
> electric poles with a sledge hammer - as a trouble
shooting tool?


As a consultant to utility companies in NW Ohio and SE
Michigan, I hit hundreds and hundreds of poles with hammers.
So did anyone else looking for problems. It was SOP, but
then everyone knew I was there to find a problem. There is
probably a very very small risk you might hit a rotten pole
or aggravate a problem, but with hundreds of pounds tension
already on the conductors and with the design of most
hardware it is extremely unlikely you'd ever cause a problem
that wasn't ready to let go any minute anyway. Probably the
worst situation is whacking a pole that has a loose hot
clamp. You can get chunks of molten metal to drop and that
can be a problem.

I would never ever shake a guy line, because that is risky.
Things that aren't supposed to bump can bump.

Whatever you do you have to remember it is someone else's
property. It's not always a good idea to do things without
the owner's permission.

73 Tom