TRANSMISSION LINE

Poverty Bay Herald, Volume LV, Issue 17067, 27 September 1929, Page 14

TRANSMISSION LINE

RECENT 3-DAY STOPPAGE POWER BOARD’S PROTEST LINE IMPROVEMENTS REQUESTED The recent breakdown of three days, on the transmission line between Tuai powerhouse and the sub-station at Patutahi, was the subject of a brief but spirited discussion at to-day’s meeting of the Poverty Bay Power Board, which was affected financially by the breakdown. The board received from Mr. flregory, engineer in charge at Tuai, an acknowledgement of the Poverty Bay board’s attitude during the period of the breakdown, the officers of the board accepting the situation and refraining from harassing the department with inquiries. Mr. Gregory explained ‘briefly the nature of the breakdown, which was as stated in the Herald ut the time, the gale having affected a portion of the line lor some distance, one span coming down to the ground and causing a complete cessation of the supply from Tuai. Idle chairman, Mr. F. R. Ball, suggested that the board should inform the Government that serious inconvenience had been caused to the board, and that in its opinion the line should be duplicated in order to protect the district ] against the possibility of further breakdowns in the future. Mr. A. C. Steele recalled that when the Rt. Hon. J. G. Coates switched on the current at Tuai, he had promised that if a single line to Poverty Bay proved inadequate, steps would be taken to duplicate the line. He recalled that promise distinctly. Mr. Steele stated. / Mr. L. .H. Maclean said he failed to see whv the difference, in voltage should mean that the. Napier transmission line was built on towers, while the Poverty Bay line was supported' on wooden poles. Twice, if not three times, the Poverty Pnv line had been affected by high winds, and they should ask for an improvement. “SHOULD PROTEST TO GOVERNMENT.’’ Quoting from an official electrical journal, Air. S. V. Beaufoy called attentionto the fact' that the 'Poverty Bay line was carried on wooden poles, with an average span between poles of 9i chains, and a maximum of 21 chains. In bad country, said Mr. Beaufoy, it was simply looking for trouble to expect woooen poles to carry such spans, and the effect on the board’s finances was rather important, since it cost tlid board £3O or £4O a day to carry the load while the transmission line was out of order. He. suggested that the board should make a very definite protest to the Government. The chairman remarked that lie had had in mind a motion drawing, the attention of the Government to the unsatisfactory nature of the line! He agreed that the Government should ho asked to consider the duplication of the line. That the. Government had exposed the Power Bbard’s district to a great risk, was the opinion expressed by Mr. T. Corson, who also recalled that. Mr., (.'bates had promised the duplication of the lino if the single line failed to give satisfaction. He suggested that the longer spans should he carried on steel towers, at least, in order to prevent a recurrence of gale damage. Mr. Corson held that if the damage had occurred in winter there would have been a more serious delay in the restoration of the national supply. Mr. Beaufoy stated that lie felt very strongly on this matter. The fault had occurred and it had been fixed up, and the hoard had no information as to its real nature. In view of the fact thai the board was paying £IO.OOO a year to the Government, it .should be entitled to information at least. “Von wouldn’t get a better in Russia,” declared Mr. Beaufoy. _ “It’s all for the Government and nothing lor consumers.” The chairman’s motion was carried unanimously. ROTARY CONVERTER DAMAGED. Reference to another cause of expense to the board was made at a later stage of the meeting, the engineer, Mr. W. 11. Buswell, reporting that the rotary converter had been 'burned out owing to a sui;ge of current coming through from Tuai, consequent upon the unbalancing of the load through a fault on the Hawke’s Bay line. It was explained that the converter was not at full efficiency when the burn-out occurred, hut it was quite capable of carrying the normal load. The surge had increased the load on the converter by nearly one-third, however, and the result had been a “flashover,” \yhich punctured the insulation and caused damage leading to the necessity of re-winding the armature of the converter. The engineer stated that he had drafted a letter to the engineer in charge at Tuai, asking what steps copld be taken to protect the board’s plant and also the installations of consumers. Apart from the damage to the stand-by plant, these surges of current brought floods of complaints of lamps being burned out in private consumers’ installations. Further, the possibility of damage through this class of hazard had caused concern to the Kaiti freezing works management, which proposed to install rotary converters for use with their own stand-by plant at the factory. It was decided l that a copy of the engineer’s letter as drafted should he dispatched to the, headquarters of the Public Works Department, with the resolution recorded above in connection with the transmission line breakdown.