S Devon/Ivybridge people. Hopefully these prats will manage to kill themselves but in the meantime.

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paddy555

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. Check your fields if they have cables anywhere nearby before turning out.

This came today but there was an earlier police message last month so they are still at it. .

Police are increasingly concerned about highly-dangerous cable thefts in and around Ivybridge and south Dartmoor.

Live National Grid power cables and other parts of the infrastructure are being cut from pylons with angle grinders, leaving extremely dangerous high-voltage ends behind.

Police are currently investigating a total of six incidents.

The spate of thefts started in mid-December, with incidents in Plympton, Harscombe, Ivybridge and twice in the Lee Moor area.

The most recent incident took place on Monday 2 January off the A38 at Sherford where offenders stole 70 metres of copper cable.

Sector Inspector Steven Philp said: “Live power cables present an exceptional risk not only to the perpetrators of these crimes, but also innocent members of the public.

“We strongly request that members of the community do not approach any damaged or suspicious looking electrical equipment but to report immediately to the police.

“The staff from the National Grid will always be wearing full uniform, carrying ID and be driving a marked vehicle.

“We encourage that any suspicious activity involving the power grid is reported to the police.”

“If you witness individuals working on the power lines without the appropriate uniform, please call 999.”

If you have any information that could help with enquiries, please contact police via our website here or by calling 101, also quoting Operation Langstone and reference 50220058345.
 
ycbm

ycbm

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They can't have cut the cables while they were live, it would have killed them. They must have shorted them out first (they do this by throwing a chain over them, joining two together). There should be no danger at all from being electrocuted by the cut ends. The power grid is designed to cut off if part of it gets broken, not leave live cables sitting on the ground sparking.
 
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Boughtabay

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ycbm said:
They can't have cut the cables while they were live, it would have killed them. They must have shorted them out first (they do this by throwing a chain over them, joining two together). There should be no danger at all from being electrocuted by the cut ends. The power grid is designed to cut off if part of it gets broken, not leave live cables sitting on the ground sparking.
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no they wont be left live but the power company will test the line 3 times (5 in Scotland) to see whether the short is a temp fault or an actual issue they need to go and fix. If you don’t know when the cables were cut you don’t know when these 3 tests will happen. It’s why they tell anyone who has damaged overhead or underground lives in machinery to stay in the vehicle and call the grid for further instruction.

ETA obviously the test pulses are immediate, it’s not going to happen hours later but best stay far away from broken cables regardless.
 
ycbm

ycbm

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Boughtabay said:
no they wont be left live but the power company will test the line 3 times (5 in Scotland) to see whether the short is a temp fault or an actual issue they need to go and fix. If you don’t know when the cables were cut you don’t know when these 3 tests will happen. It’s why they tell anyone who has damaged overhead or underground lives in machinery to stay in the vehicle and call the grid for further instruction.

ETA obviously the test pulses are immediate, it’s not going to happen hours later but best stay far away from broken cables regardless.
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OH (qualified to work on 400,000 volts) tells me that process is all automated and over in seconds of the line being cut.

It's never going to be a good idea to touch cut cables but that tweet really is scaremongering and will be frightening people about whether their animals are going to be electrocuted.
.
 
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Boughtabay

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@ycmb Yes agreed!

just thought it was a good opportunity to point out that a cut cable isn’t dead immediately. Quite a few accidents happen when people in heavy machinery etc. unknowingly drive or dig through a live line and then hop out straight away to investigate what they’ve done e.g. I recently heard of a man who having dug through a line climbed from his digger while the test pulses were going & as his foot grounded the electric umm … did damage (a lot ?). Pretty spectacular timing but it does happen.
 
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Where I used to work, there was a huge power cut when I got to work, and the strong smell of burned meat.

Yep, some time later a dead, burned body was found. It was a way from my work, so the smell had travelled far.

The worst part of it was that the dad had managed to get home and left son there, dead...


ETA- I should have made clear, they were out at night, stealing the cable.
 
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Peglo

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Boughtabay said:
@ycmb Yes agreed!

just thought it was a good opportunity to point out that a cut cable isn’t dead immediately. Quite a few accidents happen when people in heavy machinery etc. unknowingly drive or dig through a live line and then hop out straight away to investigate what they’ve done e.g. I recently heard of a man who having dug through a line climbed from his digger while the test pulses were going & as his foot grounded the electric umm … did damage (a lot ?). Pretty spectacular timing but it does happen.
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someone local did that and died. Tragic.
 
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