Glossary B
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| Baker Board – A insulated platform used to work above the ground on a pole. |
| Balanced Load – Refers to an equal loading on each of the three phases of a three phase system… |
| Balanced polyphase system – A polyphase system in which both the currents and voltages are symmetrical. |
| Ballast – A device that by means of inductance, capacitance, or resistance, singly or in combination, limits the lamp current of a fluorescent or high intensity discharge lamp. It provides the necessary circuit conditions (voltage, current and wave form) for start |
| Bandwidth – The data carrying capacity of a transmission path, measured in bits or bytes per second. |
| Bank – A group of electrical devices, usually transformers or capacitors, connected in a way to increase capacity or to inter connect as three-phase. |
| Basic impulse level (BIL) – A reference impulse (voltage) insulation strength expressed in terms of the peak value of the withstand voltage of a standard impulse voltage wave. It is used to express the ability of electrical equipment such as transformers to withstand certain levels |
| Basic Insulation Level – A design voltage level for electrical apparatus that refers to a short duration (1.2 x 50 microsecond) crest voltage and is used to measure the ability of an insulation system to withstand high surge voltage. |
| Battery – A combination of two or more chemical cells connected together electronically to produce electrical energy. |
| Battery Tray – A contained with a base and walls for holding several cells or batteries. |
| Bay-O-Net – A fusing device frequently used to protect transformers and downstream devices. A Bay-O-Net fuse may include a Partial Range Current Limiting Fuse in series with n under oil fuse link. |
| Beacon – In wireless networking, a beacon is a packet sent by a connected device to inform other devices of its presence and readiness. |
| Beam Spread – With regard to outdoor light, the angle between the two directions in a plane in which the intensity is equal to a stated percentage of the maximum beam intensity. The percentage is typically 10% for floodlights and 50% for roadway luminaries. |
| Belt – Refers to a lineman’s climbing belt. |
| Bias Current – The current used as a bias quantity in a biased relay. |
| Biased Relay – A relay in which the characteristics are modified by the introduction of some quantity, and which is usually in opposition to the actuating quantity. |
| Bikeway (Lighting) – Any road, street, path or way that is specifically designated as being open to bicycle travel, regardless of whether such facilities are designed for the exclusive use of bicycles. |
| BIL – 1) See Basic Insulation Level. 2) See Basic Impulse Level. |
| Blackout – The complete interrupting of load to an electric utility customer or group of customers. |
| Blowing – The act of installing fiber optic cable into a duct using air pressure. |
| Bluetooth – A wireless computing and telecommunications specification that defines how mobile personal computing devices work with each other and with regular computers and phone systems within a close range. |
| Bonding – The joining of metallic parts to form an electrically conductive path that will ensure electrical continuity and the capacity to conduct any current to be present in a safe manner. |
| Boomer – A lineman that moves from job to job. |
| Boost Charge – A charge applied to a battery which is already near a state of full charge, usually of short duration. |
| Booster Transformer – A current transformer whose primary winding is in series with the catenary and secondary winding in the return conductor of a classically-fed A .C. overhead electrified railway. |
| Breakdown Voltage – The voltage at which a dielectric material fails. |
| Breaker – See “Circuit breaker”. |
| Brownout – Refers to a reduction of voltage on the system. This dims the lights as a means of conserving energy. |
| Buck – The act of lowering the voltage. |
| Bucket – A basket or platform that supports one or more linemen attached to a boom of a truck. |
| Bucket Truck – An aerial lift truck used to lift men high enough to work on overhead lines. |
| Building Wire – Conductors and cables used in commercial building construction. |
| Bulb – The outer enclosure of a light source; usually glass or quartz. |
| Bulb Envelope Lighting) – The outer enclosure of a light source; usually glass or quartz. |
| Bull Line – Heavy line used to pull wire or cable into a conduit or into an overhead configuration. |
| Bull Wheel – A reel device used to hold tension during the wire installation process. |
| Bunched Stranding – A term applied to a number of wires twisted together in one direction in one operation without regard to their geometric arrangement. |
| Bundle – Multiple cables used to form one phase of an overhead circuit. |
| BURD – Buried Urban Residential Distribution. |
| Burden – Load imposed by an electronic or electrical device on the measured input circuit, expressed in volt-amps. |
| Buried Urban Residential Distribution – Refers to the system of electric utility equipment installed below grade. |
| Bus – A conductor, which may be a solid bar or pipe, normally made of aluminum or copper, used to connect one or more circuits to a common interface. An example would be the bus used to connect a substation transformer to the outgoing circuits. |
| Bushing – An insulator having a conductor through it, used to connect equipment to a power source. |
| Bushing Well – See Universal Bushing Well. |