wondering what it is that actually starts burning ? i mean theres normally stone and iron around those things right .... blimey !
Jaiguru - April 12, 2006, 15:20
Nothing this cool ever happens around here...I hope no one was hurt.
Rex (guest) - April 13, 2006, 00:32
I wonder about that big shadow from the right in the end...
mike (guest) - April 13, 2006, 01:10
shadow was from the smoke
Moonbat (guest) - April 13, 2006, 05:58
Most of the flames would be from the transformer oil, a coolant.
Ben (guest) - April 14, 2006, 20:47
nice sound
Evilll (guest) - April 14, 2006, 22:23
nice
krichers (guest) - April 17, 2006, 20:43
nice what is it?
Misha (guest) - April 19, 2006, 04:47
Tranformers are normally oil filled, it has somehting to do with the cooling. Oil burns.
JOhan (guest) - April 19, 2006, 17:37
Cool
AZ0 (guest) - April 26, 2006, 22:26
Quick, get the baking soda!
Bullfighter (guest) - April 28, 2006, 13:28
Sounded like Luke and Dart batteling it out
Sitnalta (guest) - May 1, 2006, 10:42
Yes, transformers contain a special, slightly toxic oil used for cooling. You can see the second transformer in the foreground burst open and spray boiling oil before it too exploded.
The Shadow on the right is from the mushroom cloud that was probably produced.
I saw one of those go up when I was a kid (didn't burst into flames though). It's super cool to see it on video, but incredibly scary being around. You can feel that buzzing resonating in your chest and the end explosion is like that of a sizable bomb.
VXO (guest) - July 11, 2006, 09:34
Ahhh, this video certainly gets around.
Here's the story behind this:
This happened at the San Simeon substation in Aventura, FL (Northeast of Miami).
A fault on the low voltage side of the transformer (7.2KV) flashed like an arc welder from hell for a while, drawing lots of current. During this time, the transformer is getting hotter and hotter inside due to the overload, and a circuit breaker failing to trip...
As the oil overheated inside the transformer, it outgassed and pressurized the transformer casing. "Safety" valves opened, releasing a mist of oil...
Some of you may know that diesel fuel, which is basically oil, isn't very flammable... unless you spray it into the air in a mist. Well, that's what these safety valves do. How amazingly safe, right? That's the cloud you see... which is promptly ignited by the continuing arcing.
BOOM.
The resulting explosion, though not fully visible in this video, blew pieces of the transformer casing and substation framework 150 feet into the air.
And this is why owning a condo in a complex built around a substation sucks. :D
Jinxed - July 18, 2006, 21:37
HELL YEA!!!
Killa (guest) - July 26, 2006, 17:30
VXO is correct. the main problem (why the fault occured) was probably because it wasn't maintained properly... About that safety, it's perfectly logical to release the oil, because you saw the explosion and it would have occured even if it wasn't released (the oil) and under the larger presure it would have been a lot biger and more dangerous...
arleas - August 29, 2006, 06:03
I've seen one of these explosions in real life, but not quite this big...
Deleted0001 - September 16, 2006, 18:37
Crazy!
keke (guest) - September 25, 2006, 11:41
AWESOME
fish - September 30, 2006, 15:49
Great! this would be really cool to see in real life!
nl (guest) - December 1, 2006, 16:25
nice fire to barbeque
nex (guest) - December 15, 2006, 15:08
yheeeeeeeee!!!!:)
JohnJ (guest) - January 27, 2007, 16:53
Isn't the 'explosion' one of the substation's fuses finally blowing?
JohnJ (guest) - January 27, 2007, 16:56
Yeah, here's the link that explains the bang:
http://www.komar.org/christmas/faq/exploding_transformer.html
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