I thouht these buildings were not supposed to have people in them due to this dangerous exposure
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Our plant is setup for -48vdc. All the equipment needs -48vdc. However geniuses in management thought it was a great idea to cook the batteries by supplying -52.80 to get a little more capacity when discharged instead of adding a string. The old round Lucent batteries handle it fine. The newer square batteries crack and it’s a contributing factor and the stagnant warm air and lack of ventilation. For those wondering why we use -48vdc, it helps the wire wrap connections keep a tighter connection and also helps reduce corrosion on the connections.
How much electromagnetism is a person exposed to working in a central office?? Thats alot of power exposure for 40 hrs a week?
I thouht these buildings were not supposed to have people in them due to this dangerous exposure
The amount of ignorance contained within this company boggles the mind.
My electromagnetism gets me ALL kinds of chicks I LOVE it…… :)
Stay in the NOC or NRC where you belong
2 pounds of potato chips and a diet soda and worry about things you don’t know about
You get more electromagnefication from the sun.
Is this some kind of sick joke? You get a much larger dose of radiation having your cellphone next to your head than you get in a month working in a CO.
Don't forget the alligators that come in through the cracks in the basements. Since the generators suck all the air out of the basement, the creatures evolved so they don't need air, just human flesh, to survive.
It’s dc powered and through concrete floors. It’s irrelevant. Another version of “wah, I don’t won’t to go back to work”.
Why all the sudden the talk about going into a Central Office? Are the WTO folks looking for a place to land? As a Central Office tech I've seen groups try to use the Central Office as a work center. One thing that always occurs is they don't get to set up on the first floor, they get the BASEMENT.
The Central Office basement is a special beast in AT&T real estate. Janitorial services dare not ever tread there. About 15 years ago, I chit my drawers one time on accident in one of these basements and will guarantee those not so tighty whiteys are still in the same bathroom trashcan right now. When it rains, it floods. Maybe only enough to get above the sole of your shoe and soak your sock real nice, sometimes up to your ankle. All of the critical equipment in the basement is up on elevated concrete pads so as to not be affected by this flooding, so nothing is done about it. The flooding does eventually go down and drain off, but I'll tell you the mold and funk NEVER leave. Air conditioning, well maybe but not much, it is a basement after all.
The basement is where the power rooms are usually and that means batteries, lots and lots of batteries. Not flashlight batteries either, these are a little bit larger than a 5 gallon bucket each, they weigh hundreds of pounds apiece and are full of lead and sulfuric ACID. A small rural CO might only have around a hundred of these.
We also house the power switch gear with breakers in the basement. These breakers are about the size of a microwave oven, and when they fail (and they do because AT&T doesn't spend money to maintain them) the Fire Dept has a busy day at AT&T.
Also included in the basement experience is the backup AC generator. His (or her) job is to provide power to the office when commercial power is lost. They are diesel powered, loud and pull air out of the basement when they run. Most air comes from designed vents from the outside, but that was SO twenty five, thirty five years ago and has fallen out of fashion from a maintenance standpoint. (The venting doesn't usually work anymore) The make up air comes from cracks in the building, sewer and sump pump drains and any other diabolical source it can pull from. Some of those sources kind of smell bad... AT&T test runs these backup generators every month.
These building are old, decades old. Like old enough that when they were built 4 out 5 Doctors recommended Lucky Strikes as the cigarette of choice. Do you want to know what also was in vogue as a durable construction material back then? Asbestos! Fire proof the structure with it, insulate pipes with it and lay down floor tiles containing it. I know, I know most buildings had to have asbestos abatement performed, but this cost money. AT&T solved this money issue by placing many signs stating "Asbestos materials are presumed to be in this area, etc). . Don't believe me, stroll down to a basement mechanical room someday. Signs are cheaper than fixing the problem.You have been warned, it is up to you to avoid exposure. Central Office techs have to take "Asbestos Awareness" courses periodically.
I would say that there are bugs in these basements, but you probably already figured that out. They come and go, roaches, crickets and even mosquitoes due to the flooding. Normally they are not all three there at once, they seem to take turns. One of these species is all ways present though. Maybe more that I can't see with the na--d eye.
The lighting kind of sucks too, unless you like the dim red glow of multiple failed fluorescent bulbs.
Not sure about your 52.8v claim but am positive about 48v & 24v.
- 8 is the float voltage of a 48 volt battery string. It is what voltage the rectifiers maintain the DC power plant when AC power is present. They drop down when discharged, closer to 48 volts and decrease more as they are discharged.
CO techs work is in a CO so they know the risk. You dont personally know all of their health history. There is no need for any other workers to be there. Most times the mgr lives close by then subjects every one under them to be there because they r oblivious to the health detriments
after the first 15 or so years, you start to glow in the dark, now my wife makes me sleep in the garage
You know your a nut job when you worry about electromagnetism and you work in a building with electromagnetism.
@yho
Not sure about your 52.8v claim but am positive about 48v & 24v.
Where else are we supposed to sleep at?
Never bothered the CO techs who spent 45 years working in them. But they weren't afraid of their shadows like you folks are.
How do some of you make through the day?
Yes very unhealthy. As is the McDonalds for breakfast, Taco Bell for lunch, and 2 liter bottle of Mountain Dew consumed by the morbidly obese tech.
There are things MUCH more hazardous stuff in Toxic-T buildings.
The most toxic stuff is not in the CO's, but rather the normal T office buildings. The Stink has outsourced GRE, and there is no sanitation in my "collaboration zone". No hand soap, no toilet paper, no paper towels.
I do not shake hands at the office!
The Stink has literally made T Stink!
There are plenty of locations to put people in real offices.
"Prolonged high exposure to electromagnetic fields can impair the bodys immune system which lessens the capability of your bodys white blood cells to ki-l off tumours and combat disease and there is evidence to suggest that this can also have adverse effects on your central nervous system, glands and the brain which are not only connected to certain types of cancer but can also produce other problems both physically and psychologically."
Safeworkers.co/uk
They have non mangement in there all day like cletrical like sitting ducks. At least managers get to leave the bldg and not be subkect to sitting there 40 hrs a week ruining their health
Where are the batteries located in a CO.
It's not much. DC doesn't have the same fluctuation in the wire as AC, so you don't have the same induction effect. They've also switched a lot of the cabling over to fiber optic which reduces the radio emissions even more.
The main thing to watch out for is your cell phone. If you want your kids to be boys, keep it in your back pocket. If you want girls, keep it in your front pocket.
Are these levels tested daily? They are always preaching about Health and wellness. Why have employees working there whose jobs have nothing to do with it. Its dangerous, period. It can makes us very sick even cancer
I am hoping to get a lot of electromagnetism so Lily will notice me.
480 volts rectified to 52 volts DC Shouldn’t be an issue Again I would be more concerned about being around the batteries for any length of time day In day out
There is certainly a lot of power in the central offices, particularly in the legacy T offices. Not sure about EMI levels but I would also be concerned about being near the batteries / power plants as the batteries are always. “Gassing”
Everything that operates in the CO operates on 52.8 volts DC. There are some power supplies to some equipment that change to +12, +5 and -5 volts. There is no danger from electromagnetism. The only danger in the Central Office is lack of maintenance from AT&T to the facilities.