Tips & News - September 2012

TIPS NEWS & ANNIVERSARY ISSUE

BUMPY TRANSITION As a trial, we bought and installed three of the new USCO switches. Although the construction crew members said they liked the switches, they complained that the switches were not packaged the way they wanted them to be nor were they comfortable with the installation instructions. Further, our old switch configuration included an interrupting bottle that dropped the parallel line charge on the lines for up to 40 miles. Some of our people wanted to continue using the vacuum bottles. Others didn’t want to use the bottles. And some didn’t want the USCO switches at all. Another issue was training. Even though USCO/Hubbell Power Systems offered to train our crews on how to install the Center Break V Switches, our APS crews couldn’t work it into their busy schedule. Despite all this, APS decided to buy and install the USCO Center Break V switches, as our new standard on new and existing 795 ACSS lines. In the beginning of 2010, TDES began receiving reports of USCO switch failures in Yuma, AZ; problems included both vacuum bottle and switch operation failures. APS had purchased and installed 10 USCO switches in the area and, after an investigation, we discovered that each of the 10 switches had been installed in a different manner. It became very clear that the problems were due to lack of proper switch installation training. Pete Swales, Sales Representative for Hubbell Power Systems, and Ron Chamblee, Production Supervisor for Hubbell’s USCO brand were immediately contacted for training assistance. Without delay, Hubbell started working with us to fix the problem. Although Ron was based out of Alabama, he said “If I have to jump on a plane tomorrow, I will.”

Working with TDES, Pete and Ron set up on-site training, in Yuma, to make sure that all USCO switches were properly installed and operated correctly. This training took place in the middle of the Arizona summer, when temperatureswere hitting 110 degrees Fahrenheit, every day. Ron came down twice and spent a week each time with the crews responsible for installing the switches. He even went up in a bucket with groups of crew members to make sure everyone really learned how to properly install the switches. While Ron was here in Arizona, we had the APS training department make an installation training video, which is currently available on our internal APS web site.

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