[FieldDay] GENERATOR SAFETY

[Phil Lefever]

>"Hot fueling" a generator is not good practice for whatever reason it is
>done, in fact, it is downright foolhardy.

I guess it all comes down to each individuals definition of "acceptable
risk". Crossing a busy street without looking will likely kill you just
as dead a lot faster. Shutting down a generator means dropping the
computer network and the stations that are running on it. Sure we could
put a UPS on each station but that is many pounds more equipment that
has to be hauled out each year.

A few years back I worked with a motorcycle endurance road racing team.
When the bike came in to pit we shoved a dump tank into the fuel tank
on the bike and loaded 5 gallons of fuel in less then 10 seconds, all
with the bike idling and the header still glowing red. A second guy
standing by with a CO2 extinguisher aimed with the pin pulled made
the risk acceptable. Shutting down the engine only removes about one
possible ignition source and would slow things considerably, especially
if the engine was slow to re-light.

I realize that this is a poor analogy to field day operation but I feel
that we minimize the risks involved to an acceptable level. Lightning
and storms scares me more. Not to mention pulling temporary towers up
by hand! Field day like life in general does have some risks.

>Stupid, time wasting precautions?  Ask a fireman.  I don't think so. And by
>the way, don't use a gas fired lamp or lantern to provide light for=
 refueling
>operations when the generator is shut down.

I am not arguing at all that it would be preferable to shut down, just that
we feel that the small risk is manageable and acceptable. We do ask that
the fueling team guys not smoke while doing the deed too ;)

>Another good reason to shut down is that it is an excellent time to check=
 the
>oil unless you are running a 2 cycle plant.

True enough but not a concern. The generators only run for 28 hours or so.
We always change the oil in both prior to the event and both generators
have a low oil level shutoff.

73

Phil
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Phil Lefever, KB=D8NES   		Field day Chairman 1995-2001
Twin Cities Repeater Club		W=D8BU 3A MN
Burnsville, Minnesota			http://www.tcrc.org=09