Hot Line Maintenance
Hot Line Maintenance of 400/220/132kv EHV Line
At present uninterrupted supply is required in all sectors like domestic, agriculture, industrial etc. For which the 100% reliability of the transmission as well as the distribution system comes in mind. But at the same time for healthiness of the system, periodical and sudden required maintenance is a must. It requires planned shut-downs and unplanned as well. But it reduces the reliability & continuity. Some times even it becomes almost impossible to give shut-down on transmission lines or substations for the most urgent . These lines are transporting huge quantum of power even interstate also.
To avoid shut-downs as much as possible, the Hot Line Maintenance Technique or Live Line Technique, proves to be the best solution. It means working on a line while it energized, for inspecting or replacement if necessary, defective parts to avoid costly forced shut-downs or outages.
The earliest tools were manufactured in 1913 in Ohio, USA. They were home-made, crude and bulky. One by one a number of Hot-Line tools were introduced & developed over the years like electrical hook, hacksaw, saddles, clamps, clamp-sticks, wire-tongs and numerous hand tools. It is very useful when power circuits could not be easily de-energized while insulators, cross-arms, poles and other equipment were being replaced. It was realized that duplicate circuits for service purposes would be entirely too costly and that the rapid growth of electrical users would demand that electrical power be maintained without any interruption.
Initially Hot Line Work was restricted to lines up to 22kv but gradually it increased up to 500kv till 1957. In 1959, the new light weight epoxy glass handle for Hot Line Tools were introduced and by 1964 these were used in all EHV lines in USA and Canada including 735kv, almost eliminating the use of wooden tools for EHV.
Weight of Hot Line Tools is an important factor in hot line work. Because we have to
At present uninterrupted supply is required in all sectors like domestic, agriculture, industrial etc. For which the 100% reliability of the transmission as well as the distribution system comes in mind. But at the same time for healthiness of the system, periodical and sudden required maintenance is a must. It requires planned shut-downs and unplanned as well. But it reduces the reliability & continuity. Some times even it becomes almost impossible to give shut-down on transmission lines or substations for the most urgent . These lines are transporting huge quantum of power even interstate also.
To avoid shut-downs as much as possible, the Hot Line Maintenance Technique or Live Line Technique, proves to be the best solution. It means working on a line while it energized, for inspecting or replacement if necessary, defective parts to avoid costly forced shut-downs or outages.
The earliest tools were manufactured in 1913 in Ohio, USA. They were home-made, crude and bulky. One by one a number of Hot-Line tools were introduced & developed over the years like electrical hook, hacksaw, saddles, clamps, clamp-sticks, wire-tongs and numerous hand tools. It is very useful when power circuits could not be easily de-energized while insulators, cross-arms, poles and other equipment were being replaced. It was realized that duplicate circuits for service purposes would be entirely too costly and that the rapid growth of electrical users would demand that electrical power be maintained without any interruption.
Initially Hot Line Work was restricted to lines up to 22kv but gradually it increased up to 500kv till 1957. In 1959, the new light weight epoxy glass handle for Hot Line Tools were introduced and by 1964 these were used in all EHV lines in USA and Canada including 735kv, almost eliminating the use of wooden tools for EHV.
Weight of Hot Line Tools is an important factor in hot line work. Because we have to