Copper wire and flooding

[mantra]

It was interesting to hear how landline phone services stood up to the Queensland floods. When power was cut - so was all mobile communication after a short time and those who managed to contact emergency services relied on their home phones with the old copper wire.

Apparently electricity is needed after a period of time with fibre - not that I fully understand the set up - who does? How will this go in an emergency and will fibre optic stand up to flooding and other extreme elements?

The NBN will need some serious reconsideration after this disaster.

[Neferti]

The ABC has an article about solar panel shocks due to the floods.

Solar panel shock warning issued

People with solar panels whose houses are flooded are being warned the panels will still be producing electricity and could cause a deadly electric shock.

The New South Wales Department of Fair Trade says solar panels will continue to generate electricity even if the home is disconnected from the state grid.

Michael Cooper from Fair Trade says the panels produce more than enough electricity to electrocute a person.

"These panels will generate electricity during daylight hours," he said.

"This will occur even [though] the electricity from the state grid may have been disconnected from the home and we're not sure that consumers are aware that there's a potential hazard in their home from these panels."

Mr Cooper says the solar panels can produce a shock of up to 240 volts - more than enough to kill someone - and flood victims with solar panels need to contact their electrician or solar technician before returning to their home.

"If they've had panels installed they should ring the installer who is more than qualified to recommission their solar system to ensure that the appropriate safety measures are in place," he said.

"If they cannot get onto their original installer then they should contact a qualified electrician who has experience in DC electrical generation."

http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011 ... ion=justin

[IQS.RLOW]

Cue Monk dribbling on how fucking wonderful this fucked up waste of money is...

I hope he enjoys the horrifying budget deficit liebor will leave us. This govt is beyond a joke

[freediver]

Mobile phones worked, except that the system was a bit overloaded so it was difficult to get through sometimes.

The landlines stopped working when the power went out. Not sure why. Maybe it was just people with cordless handsets.

[mantra]

Mobile phones worked, except that the system was a bit overloaded so it was difficult to get through sometimes.

How long can mobile phones be used without electricity?

Maybe it was just people with cordless handsets.

Possibly - most of the reports said that it was the copper wire service which helped save lives.

As much as the NBN has potential - it just doesn't seem practical anymore.

People with solar panels whose houses are flooded are being warned the panels will still be producing electricity and could cause a deadly electric shock.

That would apply to all electricity. There would have to be a safety switch on the mains board to turn it off I assume.

[Neferti]

Mantra,

Mobiles phones need re-charging every so often but you can do that from the car if you have the right equipment, just plug into the cigarette lighter. Cordless phones don't work when the power goes out.

Yes, I realise that electricity and water are a dangerous combination. I just presumed that the ABC article was pointing out the solar panels create electricity that can cause the same problems. Houses have an "earth" thingo for normal electricity but I have no idea whether solar panels would but no doubt they are treated the same.

[Jovial Monk]

Some mobile towers used up their backup battery power and stopped working. Some exchanges were underwater and flatphones connected to that exchange didn’t work, fibre coming into exchanges got damaged and some didn’t work but telcos could route the signal via other routes.

Eventually battery power just runs out. Flatphones run on the 5v on the phone line—as long as the exchange is working or its UPS is working. In a prolonged disaster every medium stops working. The NBN comes with a battery to run the ONT—you can use that to make a call but that will only last so many hours.

Fibre is more flood proof than copper and easier to fault find and repair.

[TomB]

The NBN will need some serious reconsideration after this disaster.

Telstra exchanges have a large bank of batteries which supply the 50v required by copper land line phones in the event of mains failure. All other services also require some sort of alternate power supply in the event of mains failure and it has nothing to do with the technology itself which caused problems during the flooding. It is the fault of the owner/maintainer of the equipment if it didn't have adequate back up supply.

Fibre optic cable is far less susceptible to damage due to water ingress than copper cable.

[freediver]

The reason PV cells are dangerous is that you can have live wires in the house even though the whole suburb is blacked out. I expect they could even cause problems a long way away if they feed into the grid - not sure how that works. Hopefully they stop feeding in when the power goes out.