Hoover Dam Explosion

[hallett21]

Anyone got info on this?

Small explosion at the Hoover Dam in Nevada

A small explosion happened at the base of the Hoover Dam in Nevada on Tuesday morning, causing a fire that was quickly extinguished, local officials and witnesses say. There were no reports of injuries. The incident happened just after 10 a.m. on Tuesday when an explosion occurred at the turbine...

bnonews.com

 

[QC22]

Global warming.

 

[Hydroman55]

That’s not good

 

[hallett21]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1549446000129064960

 

[CLdrinker]

Power shortages in 3..2..1...

 

[Xring01]

Most likely a transformer, that was either at the end of its life, or had an internal fault.
They dont last forever, and most are ran well beyond the ”end of life”.

Knowing how Hoover Dam has maintained its assets over the years. They probably ignorred the last DGA reports, and kept running When its was probably 40-50 years old already.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Better charge up yore Teslas.

 

[DLow]

Better charge up yore Teslas.

Somehow this will create a run on gas at the pumps. Oh, and toilet paper. Don’t forget the toilet paper.

 

[wzuber]

I wasn't aware they were producing food, chicken or beef there....strange.

 

[Yldboyz]

Lights out!

 

[SummitKarl]

could mean water shortage for cali, MWD employees tell me 1/2 of hover dams power is required to pump water to so. cal from Havasu

 

[TPC]

Jus' Sayin':
A lot of generators of that era are Hydrogen cooled. Hydrogen is an amazing coolant if handled properly. Other wise very explosive. Hydrogen is then cooled in water heat exchangers.
Dunno if Hoover dams generators are Hydrogen cooled. If they are, where the smoke is billowing is where the hydrogen is. Might be the best spot for a terrorist to hit too.

I used to purge and fill Hydrogen into/out of LADWP power plant generators. 4% air mix and you're fucked.

 

[TPC]

Somehow this will create a run on gas at the pumps. Oh, and toilet paper. Don’t forget the toilet paper.

I'm heading to Costco now.

 

[MSum661]

https://twitter.com/i/web/status/1549446000129064960

I see a couple of vehicles down near the transformers.

 

[HALLETT BOY]

Putin did it , Russian interference…

 

[PRIMO]

No Debris Field / Looks like an overheated transformer ( polychlorinated biphenyl oil burning)
High Temps Recently

 

[QC22]

High Temps Recently

Toldja.

 

[stephenkatsea]

Some flames and black smoke could be seen outside the building. Recent reports say fire is out. No status given on transformers etc.

 

[TPC]

No Debris Field / Looks like an overheated transformer ( polychlorinated biphenyl oil burning)
High Temps Recently

Most likely especially with the black smoke.

 

[Warlock1]

Lets see, the water level has been dropping, now an issue with one explosion. All it takes is one more occurrence for it to be a pattern...

 

[TCHB]

Transformer failed in service. I am betting they have a spare.
I remember the residential guys at SCE telling me how many thousands of lower voltage transformers out in the field. Think about how many transformers in the city with SCE numbers on the side.

 

[The Prisoner]

VIDEO: Fire breaks out, extinguished after transformer explodes at Hoover Dam

A transformer exploded at Hoover Dam Tuesday morning, igniting a fire near the Arizona turbine house, a source confirmed.

www.8newsnow.com

 

[Marios Metalworks]

Damn Dam run is going to get spicy if the no-go line is crossed

 

[jetboatperformance]

My Back pastures can be RV and Tent camping for those displaced

 

[ikester]

Trump's fault.

 

[Racey]

Definitely was a Transformer.

Kind of odd though because i think a couple weeks ago the lake went 'inactive pool' (no power generation) when it dropped below 1,050MSL

I thought someone had posted an article here.

 

[QC22]

Kind of odd though because i think a couple weeks ago the lake went 'inactive pool' (no power generation) when it dropped below 1,050MSL

Dead pool is around 850' and years away. Headlines were SERIOUSLY misleading.

 

[Mototrig]

(me stirring the pot...)
I trust nothing anymore.
Obviously far fetched.......
But the first thing that comes to mind is the dam was sabotaged to kick the "fear" narrative into high gear. Just seems very coincidental an explosive fire would break out just as the water level is nearing minimum power pool.

Edit:
I believe these are correct.....if not please correct me
Inactive Pool 1050ft (dam no longer produces power at 100% capacity and every dropping foot of water level reduces power generation capacity by a %)????

Deadpool 895ft (dam no longer produces power)????

 

[Racey]

(me stirring the pot...)
I trust nothing anymore.
Obviously far fetched.......
But the first thing that comes to mind is the dam was sabotaged to kick the "fear" narrative into high gear. Just seems very coincidental an explosive fire would break out just as the water level is nearing minimum power pool.

Edit:
I believe these are correct.....if not please correct me
Inactive Pool 1050ft (dam no longer produces power at 100% capacity and every dropping foot of water level reduces power generation capacity by a %)????

Deadpool 895ft (dam no longer produces power)????

Deadpool means no water can flow out, and 895 is that number.

There is no drain at the bottom so that is essentially the lowest the level the dam can pass water from what i understand.

 

[SoCalZero]

They should get some water on that…ohh wait.

 

[575cat]

Time to dismantle , it will never go back to normal use .

 

[Sleek-Jet]

Transformer fire maybe

No Debris Field / Looks like an overheated transformer ( polychlorinated biphenyl oil burning)
High Temps Recently

There hasn't been PCBs in transformer oil for 50 years now. Most likely mineral oil.

 

[BoatCop]

could mean water shortage for cali, MWD employees tell me 1/2 of hover dams power is required to pump water to so. cal from Havasu

Parker Dam Power Plant is what powers MWD pumps. It was originally built solely for that purpose. It wasn't until much later that it was tied into the Western Power Grid, after they determined that they were generating excess power, beyond what was needed for MWD.

 

[rrrr]

Most likely a transformer, that was either at the end of its life, or had an internal fault.
They dont last forever, and most are ran well beyond the ”end of life”.

Knowing how Hoover Dam has maintained its assets over the years. They probably ignorred the last DGA reports, and kept running When its was probably 40-50 years old already.

Exactly what I was going to say. Those transformers operate near capacity in hellish temperatures. Not only that, the secondary voltage that powers transmission lines is 287 kV. That requires damn good insulating properties in the transformer secondary windings, and it inevitably breaks down after time.

 

[CLdrinker]

Transformer failed in service. I am betting they have a spare.
I remember the residential guys at SCE telling me how many thousands of lower voltage transformers out in the field. Think about how many transformers in the city with SCE numbers on the side.

There’s a couple.

 

[TCHB]

Transformer fire maybe


There hasn't been PCBs in transformer oil for 50 years now. Most likely mineral oil.

We had spare main Transformers that were from 1950 that were never used. They were maintained but never used. The old GE days built a lot of reliability into the old power houses.

 

[boatpi]

Power still on in Vegas, and the pool is 87 degrees...

 

[spectra3279]

Somebody let the magic smoke out. We will have to get @shintoooo to use his flying carpet to put it back.

 

[done]

could mean water shortage for cali, MWD employees tell me 1/2 of hover dams power is required to pump water to so. cal from Havasu

Colorado, Wyoming, New Mexico, Utah ,Arizona,Nevada all draw from Lake Mead, They may have a problem also.

 

[WTR&PWR]

Unfortunate but it happens. They should have a spare. You shouldn’t see any effects on the customer level in any way.

 

[TPC]

People used to do drive by shootings of the Main Bank transformers on Vista Del Mar at Scattergood. 1/2" hole with oil pouring out, the remaining oil gets hot and starts to vaporize then the Buckholtz relay would trip the unit off line.
Took just a few days to roll in a new temp transformer and hook it up.

 

[Kachina26]

Somebody let the magic smoke out. We will have to get @shintoooo to use his flying carpet to put it back.

For those that don't know...

Magic smoke - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[monkeyswrench]

Anyone else interested in how the transformer replacement takes place? Nothing in that whole operation is small, and a lot of stuff isn't easily accessible. It looks like it was all built to be worked on though, gantry cranes and staging areas, but not the same as a substation. Just impressive stuff, even when it breaks.

 

[BajaT]

.

 

[rivermobster]

. View attachment 1138426 View attachment 1138427

Looks like all the damage is outside?

 

[Racey]

Looks like all the damage is outside?

Yes the transformers are outside.

 

[rivermobster]

Yes the transformers are outside.

Good news.

 

[500bbc]

This could have been easily prevented...

 

[bonesfab]

This could have been easily prevented...

It would have failed sooner. Hate them things.

 

[fishing fool]

So we stayed running last night (229mw) not sure if it is because of this or not.....