Ned Flanders Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Yes I'm serious. Only in California. Joker Party Supplies sells thousands of mylar balloons. Owner Shant Celikian says a ban would take the air out of his business. Crafty reporting there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike32282 Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 I saw the whole thing happen. i was waiting to get in the stadium scoreboard endzone side. i saw the balloons flying, about two of them. they flew into the wires, didn't look like it was directly into the transformer (but near it), then BOOM, with some brown smoke. why didn't you get a photo of it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 Old transformers (pre 1980) had PCBs in the cooling oil. Most have been changed out over the years and now a mineral oil or, as I have seen, a soybean oil coolant is used. In some places they have "no PCBs" stickers on the transformers. Here in CA, the idiots at Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) put them on the inside of the case. They probably had to spend a few minutes determining if it contained PCBs before replacing it. The balloons shorted out the wires to the transformer, which then caused the transformer to blow. In CA, the wires and sometimes the transformers are underground, which isn't as feasible in Buffalo, because of the frost. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Jokeman Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 might have come from the limo lot. Makes sense. O'RLY? I thought they were going to blame Time Warner Cable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Steely Dan Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 I heard the problem was caused by 99 luftballoons clearly, the germans were involved...i think they wanted to turn out the lights in the stadium then nab Igor Olshanksy without anybody seeing It's the beginning of the fourth Reich! The stupid people will call us conspiracy theorists but when the waves of revolution begin they'll be sorry!! Seriously??? Once you outlaw mylar balloons, only outlaws will have mylar balloons! And nobody will be able to stop these power outages by releasing their baloons in a defensive manner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in San Diego Posted October 20, 2008 Share Posted October 20, 2008 fixed It also had nothing whatsoever to do with RWS, other than blaming them in hindsight for not having adequate backup generators, which I'm guessing will come up in the future. The transformers and wiring leading up to the "service entrance" of the stadium is 100% within the responsibility of the utility. Also, covering the transformer has nothing to do with the outage. NYSEG didn't say much besides "mylar balloons got tangled up in the wires", but that infers that wiring shorted out, blowing up the transformers. Is there something that could have prevented that? Not sure, but covering anything doesn't factor in to it. If you wanna blame someone, rag on CBS, as it appears they had no clue what they were doing during all this. If you encase the transformer in a shell or case or something then mylar ballons or small animals cant get tangled up and short the transformer out. No exposed wires means no shorts ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Tomcat Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I saw the whole thing happen. i was waiting to get in the stadium scoreboard endzone side. i saw the balloons flying, about two of them. they flew into the wires, didn't look like it was directly into the transformer (but near it), then BOOM, with some brown smoke. WOW for real...that is very interesting...you'll be telling that story forever! How load was the BOOM? What it the story with the brown smoke? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jon in Pasadena Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Thanks a lot Buffalo. Now this guy can point to this incident and a reason to pass this bill.Yeah it's going to put a real damper on all my mylar balloon-releasing outings. Seeing they were playing the Chargers this game was televised here locally. I was in Arizona over the weekend, and thought it a minor miracle that I could watch the game on TV -- or half of it, anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Yeah it's going to put a real damper on all my mylar balloon-releasing outings. No it more of the fact that we've got major problems here in CA and they're fighting over whether on not mylar balloons should be banned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stussy109 Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 WOW for real...that is very interesting...you'll be telling that story forever! How load was the BOOM? What it the story with the brown smoke? You must have too much time on your hands... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
davefan66 Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I know someone who knows someone...... Joe The Limo Driver released them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRH Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 WOW for real...that is very interesting...you'll be telling that story forever! How load was the BOOM? What it the story with the brown smoke? We were sitting way up in 334 and saw the same thing. Pretty loud. But the weird thing is it happened a few seconds AFTER the scoreboard, PA, and then the lights went out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BRH Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I know someone who knows someone...... Joe The Limo Driver released them Except his name is Sam and he's not a licensed limo driver. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BillsWatch Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Well if that car or truck had not hit the telephone poll a mile away the backup line could have carried the power. It was a comedy of errors. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
billsfanmiami(oh) Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 I saw the whole thing happen. i was waiting to get in the stadium scoreboard endzone side. i saw the balloons flying, about two of them. they flew into the wires, didn't look like it was directly into the transformer (but near it), then BOOM, with some brown smoke. I saw it happen too as I was approaching the stadium. At first I thought someone lit off a firework. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
In-A-Gadda-Levitre Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 If you encase the transformer in a shell or case or something then mylar ballons or small animals cant get tangled up and short the transformer out. No exposed wires means no shorts ! once more... no amount of covering and cases would have made a difference and there aren't exposed wires, meaning bare without insulation. I think, but don't know, that because aluminum is such a good conductor, and there's so many volts at such a high amperage going through those wires, that allowing the tails of the balloons to touch them shorts out the wires. The very same reason humans aren't supposed to touch the damn wires! It's something to do with radiating electricity outside the insulation of the wires. Other than running the wires underground, it's simply not practical to cover them. I can't see NYSEG springing for that. What you should be asking is what can the stadium and network do to avoid this type of problem again, as in bringing in more diesel generators, etc. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wacka Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Sometime, the transformers just get old and blow too. We had one two doors away go. Loud zzzzz and bright green flashes. The power crews told us to go back inside, because it was winter and it could short out to the wet ground and zap us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hammered a Lot Posted October 21, 2008 Author Share Posted October 21, 2008 Just wondering if Cable Lady rode to the game in a LIMO..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beerball Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 Sometime, the transformers just get old and blow too. We had one two doors away go. Loud zzzzz and bright green flashes. The power crews told us to go back inside, because it was winter and it could short out to the wet ground and zap us. Did you see brown smoke? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fan in San Diego Posted October 21, 2008 Share Posted October 21, 2008 once more... no amount of covering and cases would have made a difference and there aren't exposed wires, meaning bare without insulation. I think, but don't know, that because aluminum is such a good conductor, and there's so many volts at such a high amperage going through those wires, that allowing the tails of the balloons to touch them shorts out the wires. The very same reason humans aren't supposed to touch the damn wires! It's something to do with radiating electricity outside the insulation of the wires. Other than running the wires underground, it's simply not practical to cover them. I can't see NYSEG springing for that. What you should be asking is what can the stadium and network do to avoid this type of problem again, as in bringing in more diesel generators, etc. Once more, as you said, burying them would solve the problem. Hence burying them is covering them or encasing them. Sheild them is some god damn way, it is possible. Dont tell me it's not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts