Case Studies

Lessons learned from this adventure:
•
Have a good working relationship with
your utility company. Without their help
this problem would not have been isolated,
located and solved.
•
Have good electrical drawings of your facility
and surrounding area as far back toward the
source as possible. Visually check and update
the documentation periodically.
•
Pay particular attention to the utility’s equip-
ment as far back as 50 miles from your facility.
Capacitor banks and voltage regulators are sure
signs of past anomalies. Note step down and
buck up transformer combinations.
•
Monitor your utility voltage and current real
time for any problems and consult the supplier
as soon as any abnormality occurs.
•
Special electrical equipment is needed to
pinpoint this type of power problem. Taking
voltage and current measurements do not tell
the whole story. Even looking at the waveforms
with an oscilloscope may not be good enough.
Each harmonic in the voltage and current
waveforms must be quantified.
•
Running all lift equipment and snowmaking
together in the fall is a good test of the power
system, lift communication and equipment
reliability.
Reference and Credits
“IEEE Recommended Practices and Requirements for
Harmonic Control in Electrical Power Systems”, IEEE Std.
519-1992, page 78 Table 10.3 “Current Distortion Limits for
General Distribution Systems”, page 85 Table 11.1 “Voltage
Distortion Limits”, IEEE, New York, NY, April 12, 1993
Events and Fluke 41B documented by Vaughn DeCrausaz
of Starboard Electric.
Fluke RPM graphs by William C. McConnell,III,
Var+Technologies, [e-mail]
Photo by Don Svela
4 Fluke Corporation Power quality accountability
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