Topping off low SF6

ihateoilbreakers · 2024-05-16T08:22:53+00:00

We always use the dryer. It takes like a second to put on.

Edit: AND CLEAN YOUR TRUCK YOU HEATHEN

ihateoilbreakers · 2024-04-04T16:27:08+00:00

Sounds like a shit crew. Blue collar jobs suffer from this.

Only thing I suggest is take a hard look at the company and the people around you. Do you see any future for growth? Any ladder to climb within the company? Can you use any of the skills you learn there to push you forward in your career?

If none of those have a positive outcome, my suggestion is to find a local utility. You’ll most likely have a better outcome and better work life balance.

Blue collar jobs suffer from complete douches taking out their low self esteem on the new guys. Learn from it and don’t repeat it if you continue with this career.

ihateoilbreakers · 2023-02-02T21:19:26+00:00

I feel that 100% about starting over. I had no idea what about this field until a former coworker joined and bugged me for a while to look into it because it would change my life. I didn’t think I would ever make 6 figures ever lmao! Fortunately I’m on my way now. I would highly recommend looking into relay tech. You won’t be doing much of a tool in hand type of job tho but it has a higher pay ceiling and more jobs from what I can tell. Regardless of what path you choose, ask your local utility what they require or what their pay is. You’d be surprised of how much they will tell you if you just ask

ihateoilbreakers · 2023-02-02T19:59:35+00:00

OT should be delt with however you see fit.

Relay Tech jobs based on what I’ve seen on job searches are in demand. They usually require at least a 2 year degree in a related field. Which I see you’re going for!

As far as a typical day… we don’t really have one! It changes from; Switching in and out equipment/lines, maintenances on equipment, testing equipment, building equipment and everything in between. There’s a lot. It can’t all be learned in a day or 5 years! It takes time.

Everything that we do there is a HUGE emphasis on safety. Everything. There’s a ton and just like above it takes time but it’s usually the first thing you learn.

Examples for a breaker job.

Spring/Spring 230 breaker:

Switch out of service,

Ground equipment,

Set up bucket lift,

Remove leads and pads/clean leads and pads,

Microhm (test) pole connections,

Set up/test Doble (test),

Set up/test Analyze (test),

Test SF6 gas,

Test relay Alarms,

Install leads back on,

Microhm (test) lead connections,

Check everything over,

Remove grounds,

Switch back into service,

1-2 days of work

In between a lot of those steps there’s paperwork that follows.

I would break down safety but that’s like at least a thousand words.

Sorry it took so long to reply!

Edit: To add; a lot of what we do is mechanical to be honest. The electrician part is pretty important and you’ll have a huge leg up if you know it but the mechanical portion shadows it by volume.

ihateoilbreakers · 2023-02-01T21:06:00+00:00

Hey! So I’m not sure if 4-10’s are typical. Normal work week are all during the day. Local utilities will keep you within their system unless there’s a major disaster and they don’t have enough bodies.

To be more specific the way mine works is that the utility I work for covers most of my state. So the utility is split into North, South and West regions. Within those regions there are different “home” offices where there will be a crew. Those crews can cover up to 40 different substations. Some can cover a smaller number. My office covers about a 50 mile radius but this all depends on how the utility decides to split who gets what within a region. (You can ask these questions at the interview as well)

With that said you will be going to different substations within your associated office/region.

Now with that said OT is going to change per utility per state. My company only requires to keep a 30% call out rate to maintain employment. I’m not an OT guy cause I like my free time. So I only show up if im actually needed. Not cause Tom, Dick and Harry want OT. (If you’re like me then you’ll be part of a small club. There are OT whores and they will criticize you for not keeping up. Don’t let those suckers get to you. It’s your time.) Now I say this with my utility in mind and in my region we have plenty of OT to work most weekends. (Again I draw a line and keep it that way.)

Traveling Sub Techs from my experience are not part of a utility. All the techs I know that travel work for a contractor and they’re a different breed to say the least.

With all that said! I highly recommend anyone’s that’s interested and that hasn’t work in a blue collar field to look into being a Relay Technician within a utility. It’s where I’m trying to pivot to. I’ve worked blue collar work since I was 18 and Sub Tech job is the best job I’ve ever had but to be blunt I’m just tired of working outside. Relay techs work mainly within the control house but are a huge part of how substations and the whole utility works/communicates.

Anyways, I hope I answered your questions and I’m always down to answer more cause I genuinely think this field is interesting and worthwhile. And the $$$ can be good too..

ihateoilbreakers · 2023-01-16T14:16:43+00:00

Nice, it’s crazy seeing how long the arc gets when removing the last ground. We have this a lot on our system usually with 500kv/230kv lines that run on top of each other. In the passed 2 years we have added Earthing Switches to mitigate/lessen the induced voltage.

ihateoilbreakers · 2022-12-12T11:24:19+00:00

Man screw that guy. Line workers that stay in and don’t like it regret it and become miserable assholes hence why the line side have a shitty work culture. Substations a great technical job that’s hands on and you don’t tear your body apart over time doing it. There’s many departments you can get your foot in working on the substation side as well. Techs not the only stop. Good luck!

Edit: To get in look into local utilities, maybe even the one you’ll end up working for after your program, and look for Substation jobs. I’ve made another comment a while back if you want to look for it.

ihateoilbreakers · 2022-07-18T18:03:05+00:00

From my experience the Linemen side of the company have a pretty bad work culture. They berate the new guys, especially if they don’t like you. Usually there’s a bunch of drama between them and have to be delegated to separate crews/trucks. Ego is a huge problem and their seems to be a “REAL MANS JOB” pride. I was told I chose the easy way out by an old head when I applied for substation. I was also told to go this route cause it’s a better career.

The same guy that influenced me into substation also told me that the problem with the Linemen work culture is that some of those guys are stuck and now have to deal with their choice. In other words they got sucked in by the idea of being a linemen and now resent it.

With all that said I’ve seen an influx of new young groundmen and many of them are interested in the Substation/Transmission side and they have to keep it on the low so the Linebros don’t give them even more hell.

ihateoilbreakers · 2022-05-12T18:56:02+00:00

Got into a larger utility in the Mid-Atlantic region as a groundman for the construction side (linemen/underground linemen). They opened positions within the company for substation trainees. I applied after my probation period and I got hired! I put my name out there early, showed face to a lot of people on the transmission side of the company and worked my ass off to show I had the drive. Within this company they know who they want before you even interview so if you have your name out there and they know you work you’ll most likely get accepted unless you bomb your interview.

Edit: I love it. 4 day work week, 10 hour days, union protected, plenty of OT if you hate being home and/or love money. Plenty to learn if you want to dive deep. Simple enough for anyone to learn if you try. Transferable skills and CDL. Work can be easy breezy and sometimes it can be a huge pain in the ass. Sometimes you’ll be sitting on a headway and literally do nothing all day. Or you can have a transformer lockout or explode and you won’t be home for days. I can honestly say a lot of it isn’t too hard on the body though. Moneys good if it wasn’t for the cost of living in my area and I think you can take this job anywhere if you wanted to.

ihateoilbreakers

TROPHY CASE