Comments on: Current insulator fun

Current insulator fun

tellurian — Wed, 21 May 2008 22:52:04 -0800

From a .com to a .info netting the price of a Westinghouse (R-Skirt) "Telluride" Type B. SB (part of the Greatest Insulator Find in the History of the Hobby). via Zoltan Drinoczi. [previously]

By: polyglot

polyglot — Wed, 21 May 2008 23:25:19 -0800

10% escrow fee for the auction.... the smart money is in running the domain auction rather than speculating in the domains.

By: tachikaze

tachikaze — Thu, 22 May 2008 00:00:44 -0800

the domain name biz isn't the stock market model, it's the real estate model. ownership of stocks don't interfere with real-world commercial activities, while domain name squatting, like RE squatting, does (eg. nissan.com)

By: Helga-woo

Helga-woo — Thu, 22 May 2008 03:30:46 -0800

People collect insulators? Really? Wow. My granddad worked for Pilkingtons and developed glass insulators for electricity pylons, like these. And now people collect them. Wow. Although, I've been digging and not found any UK collectors of high voltage power line insulators (I think there might be a reason for that...). I did find this wonderful quote (can't find it again though) "Insulator collecting is the natural extension of bottle collecting". Of course it is.

By: rokusan

rokusan — Thu, 22 May 2008 03:44:15 -0800

I wouldn't say I collect them, but I have a few old glass insulators from power lines around my house. They're quite beautiful. $10,000 beautiful, no, but nice.

By: tellurian

tellurian — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:00:52 -0800

People collect insulators? Really? Wow. I felt the same way on discovering this. The enthusiasm of Zoltan, et al. is a strangely heartwarming and interesting window into the human condition. I find it quite wonderful.

By: Termite

Termite — Thu, 22 May 2008 04:48:40 -0800

Insulators are fascinating things. Anyone knows why they have the shape they have?

By: Helga-woo

Helga-woo — Thu, 22 May 2008 05:03:09 -0800

Pretty sure granddad would know. But he's dead. Sorry.

By: kcds

kcds — Thu, 22 May 2008 05:21:15 -0800

@Termite - mostly to minimize the possibility that rain or other moisture can create a conductive path to ground. The overhangs will tend to create dry (or at least drier) areas, thus breaking the conductive path, or, at the very least, making the path longer and increasing the resistance between the hot wire and ground.

By: steef

steef — Thu, 22 May 2008 06:11:14 -0800

They don't call them the Crown Jewels of the Wire for nothing. (This was a really neat peek into a collectors' subculture. Thanks!)

By: tellurian

tellurian — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:29:00 -0800

They don't call them the Crown Jewels of the Wire for nothing. Goodness me! I love it but... I don't think that this is something I should get involved in. I love obsessive/obscure/niche subjects and I get into lots of trouble trying to make conversation about things I have vaguely learnt about. No doubt, this will be another of those and I won't be able to help myself. Oh well.

By: rlk

rlk — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:33:53 -0800

I'd LOL, but my mother has had a steadily-growing collection of insulators in her basement for many years. I think it's something about the blue glass from the early 20th century... similar to why people collect old bottles.

By: unSane

unSane — Thu, 22 May 2008 07:59:45 -0800

Termite, insulators are shaped like that to avoid a build-up of a layer of (conductive) water on the surface of the insulator due to (for example) rain. A continuous layer of water could short out (or rather, bypass) the insulator, given the high voltages they are designed to handle.

By: Pollomacho

Pollomacho — Thu, 22 May 2008 08:05:44 -0800

Insulators are fascinating things. Anyone knows why they have the shape they have? posted by Termite at 7:48 AM on May 22 This guy has an answer, oh, wait, that's the FPP! According to wiki, the skirts increase the surface area between the wire and pole without reducing the length and to prevent wetness.

By: Civil_Disobedient

Civil_Disobedient — Thu, 22 May 2008 09:54:08 -0800

mostly to minimize the possibility that rain or other moisture can create a conductive path to ground I understand that's one reason given, but I don't understand why they would choose that design for its rain protectiveness when there are no hard (acute) angles on the surface? Seems to me like a simple metal skirt draped over top like an umbrella would be a much better way to keep rain off the conductive path. I'm sure they already thought of that, and I'm sure there's a perfectly good reason why they're not designed that way, I just don't know what it is.

By: ioesf

ioesf — Thu, 22 May 2008 11:38:31 -0800

those are quite beautiful insulators.