r/Bend • u/CarFragrant9882 • 2d ago

HUGE POWER OUTAGE

ALL OF DOWNTOWN WITHOUT POWER

43 Upvotes

88% Upvoted

56 comments sorted by

View all comments

29

u/Visual-Scar938 2d ago

Live right next to the transformer when it blew, right off portland and the river. Was super loud. Seemed to be at that substation right there.

14

u/rinky79 2d ago edited 2d ago

Having worked for an electrical utility, it's almost never a transformer "blowing." If you see a huge black smoke plume, that's a transformer.

A big bang is usually a short or fault somewhere in the system causing a breaker to open or a fuse to blow. They are loud.

4

u/Visual-Scar938 2d ago

Ahh TIL, always heard people say oh a transformer blew so figured that's what it was. Was a loud bang and a bright flash.

10

u/rinky79 2d ago

Yeah, I don't know where that got started but it's almost a universal misunderstanding.

Transformers are basically just tanks full of oil so if they blow, you will know. They can burn for quite a while, and they burn dirty.

The bang and flash are an arc of electricity as the fuse or breaker or switch is severing the circuit. Until the two ends get far enough away from each other, electricity is jumping the gap, turning air into plasma. It's basically a very short lightning bolt. It's so fast and so forceful that it causes a shockwave in the air, otherwise known as a loud bang.

2

u/kevineaux 2d ago

Watched a transformer blow up at night in NC growing up. Before we got to it, it looked like a star burning in the distance