Last night around 7:30 I caught a callout at mile 14 on a 12kV feeder — single-phase flicker every 3–5 minutes, nothing obvious on patrol. I sectionalized with a hot stick, clamped amps at each open, and found a hairline crack in a cutout plus a loose neutral bond; kept full cover-up on the adjacent phase, test-before-touch with a phasing meter, and set grounds before any hands in. What’s your go-to sequence for these ghost faults after dark, and any safety steps you never skip?
“before any hands in” — same. After dark my go-to is a UV corona light sweep at the opens and suspect cutouts; it flags hairline leaks IR misses, but if it’s misty I’ll drop a pocket volt recorder on the end tap to match the 3–5 min cycle — do you keep a UV on your truck?
On those 7:30 after‑dark calls I keep a cheap AM radio tuned between stations; walk the span and the static will spike right at a cracked cutout or a loose neutral bond. Not as slick as @dconnor77’s UV, but it hears a “sizzle” IR and patrols can miss, especially with a 3–5 minute cycle. Watch fence lines and pump motors nearby — false hits — so I’ll cross-check with a quick load check at the open before I button it up.