Why do lights flicker bofore a power outige
In: Technology
There are “fuses” in the line called oil circuit reclosers or OCRs. The purpose of these OCRs are like fuses, if they detect too much current, they open the circuit (killing power to the line). The difference between OCRs and fuses is that the OCRs can also automatically close the circuit, restoring power to the line whereas once a fuses opens, it stays open until someone from the power company manually shuts it again. OCRs exist because occasionally tree branches and wildlife can create a temporary short in the system and power needs to be cut before too much current melts the power lines. Once an OCR detects this high current, it opens the circuit, waits a fixed amount of time and then closes the circuit again. If the OCR doesn’t detect a high current after it closes, it stays closed and power remains on the line. If it still detects a high current once the circuit is closed, it opens again. It opens the circuit three times. After the third time, the OCR stays open until the source of the short can be investigated. As an end user, you see the power go off, come back on, go off, come back on, and then go off and stay off.
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