POWER BOARD'S PROBLEM.

Auckland Star, Volume LVII, Issue 145, 21 June 1926, Page 9

POWER BOARD'S PROBLEM.

UNEXPLAINED SURGING EFFECT. RESULTS IN SPLIT LOAD. i At a meeting of the Auckland Po.ver Board, held this afternoon, ilr. R. H. Bartley, general manager, reported, upon the altered arrangements in the utilisation of power from Horahora. He said that they had been experiencing trouble with tlorahora and King's wharf staI tions whilst running in parallel, and this had resulted in several interruptions of the supply in the southern Area of the district. It was difficult to say "what was the exact cause of the trouble, but it was undoubtedly due to some surgI ing effect being set up Jbetween the two stations, owing to the inability of Horahora at its particular stage of heavy j loading to govern as quickly or as sensitively as the King's wharf station. I I There appeared to be a big loading, which came on and opened the circuitbreakers, both at Penrose .and Newmarket, and frequently the bus station section switch at the King's wharf station. I j These switches could all !>e put back i again, and matters eecmed to continue i normally for the time being, but tLe I cause of the trouble wa3 not ascerj tamed. j "It is realised. ,, ?#tl' Mr.: Bartley, | "that these interruptions, aliioajrli only j of short duration, are very ioeonvenienc [ and annoying to our eonsuiSws. As a j means of eliminating them, we will have to split the running of the two stations j during the late afternoons and evenings, j when this trouble appears to occur. I Since doing this, ten days ago, there has i been no further trauble in this area. J ' This split means that a. section of our i I area, including Onehunga, Epsom, Te i j Papapa, Ellerslie, Tamaki, Otahuhu. I ■ Manurewa, Papakura, etc., are being | ; supplied from Horahora alone during the period in which the stations are I split. They are then subject only to any interruption due to a fault with I Horahora itself. The remainder of the j area is during those hours supplied en- j i tirely from the King's wharf, and is I accordingly not subjected to any . troubles which may occur at Horahora lor on the Horahora line.' , \ "It is fairly certain," Mr. Bartley con--1 tinued, "that the Public Works Depart - ' ment will not like this arrangement of splitting the two stations. In the in- . terests of our consumers and of continuity of supply, however, it was the j only thing to be done, especially as the ' interruptions were occurring too fre- | quently.' ? The general manager went on to say I that they had been subjected to several I troubles on the board's own system, I mainly due to connections in the high tension trifurcating boxes and nigh tension fuses. With the two stations in parallel, trouble of that sort was far more widely spread than with the two j stations separated. These matters had i now all been rectified. In connection with faults with tho board's own system, they were bound to have become more numerous proportionately with ! I the growth of the system. There was j a variety of reasons for their occurrence and it was difficult to control. The I efficient operating of the system was now demanding that trouble? of that sort, •which at the most only took a matter of minutes to put risrht. would have I ito be provided for. The system had j grown so much, and now covered such a wide area, that the time lost in enl- j lecting men and getting them to the j'">b j was becoming a serious item. He hoped to place before the board a detailed report, in which recommendations would jbo made to cater efficiently anrl expediI t'onslv for the class of work mentioned i right throughout the 24 hours.