[PVRCNC] Re: [PVRC] Ice Report

[Willie L. Baber]

Hi Pete:

...there is always a beginner among us in something (in my  
case using a generator). I appreciate your point.  My plan 
was to have power come directly from the generator through 
a heavy-duty extension cord (to power an electric 
space heater and light) until I figured out how and whether 
I need an electrician to do the wiring to the main box.  I 
think I have enough sense to regulate the load.  

...Lights came on before I had to use it and that is 
probably a good thing because now I can learn how to use it 
before I use it, and hook it up properly also.

Safety first. And one just doesn't know what others do not 
know. A woman in Greensboro lost her life and her daughter 
is in critical condition because they powered a generator 
in an addition to their home!  Carbon monoxide killed the 
woman.

Who would guess anyone would NOT know that exhaust from an 
engine is deadly?

Another fatality involved an 83 year on man; he was asleep 
when his wood burning stove set his home on fire.  Growing 
up in a rural area we learned never to leave a fire 
unattended.

Anyway you see the point (and I thought just as you did 
about backfeeding with the mains disconnected but I do read 
instructions)...thanks for the advice.

73, Will, wj9b, dit dit

On Mon, 09 Dec 2002 10:28:43 -0500 Pete Smith 
<n4zr@contesting.com> wrote:

> At 08:58 AM 12/9/02 -0500, Willie L. Baber wrote:
> >Hi Jim:
> >
> >...glad to hear you and others report getting through ok.
> >Next field day I will pay more attention to generators and
> >such.  I purchased a 5,000 watt generator and as we were
> >dragging it across the floor to get to the deck, the lights
> >came on....Murphy in reverse, I guess.  Anyway, I'm ready
> >next time but without any experience working with
> >generators, hi!
> 
> This may be elementary for those of you who already have generators, so 
> please excuse me for restating the obvious, but...
> 
> If you decide to get an emergency generator you should only connect it to 
> your house system through a UL-approved transfer switch.
> 
> When I first thought about this, it seemed to me that I could just feed the 
> 220 into any 220-volt outlet, powering the 220volt bus off which the 
> house's 220 and 110 circuits are fed.  I mentioned this thought on one of 
> the reflectors and got handed my head by several current and former power 
> workers.  Doing so can potentially put 220V on the lines from your house 
> back to the transformer, to the great discomfort of any power lineman 
> working on your service, and even put 7400 or 11000 volts on the high 
> voltage primary. Sure, I said, but it's no problem if I pop the main AC 
> service breaker, right?  Theoretically, I guess that's so, but the National 
> Electrical Code says no, for understandable fail-safe reasons.
> 
> Also for safety reasons (though I'm less sympathetic with this), the code 
> apparently requires that the circuits to be powered by the generator be 
> hard-wired to the transfer switch, so that you're pretty much limited to 
> pre-determined circuits.  For example, your pump power would come from the 
> main panel, through the transfer switch, to the motor, with the transfer 
> switch selecting either the panel or the generator at that point.  Ditto 
> the furnace blower and any outlets you need to have power on.  I would have 
> preferred to power the main panel either from the generator or the mains, 
> and do my own power discipline, but apparently that's not OK.
> 
> As I said, all this is probably elementary to current generator users, but 
> it was a revelation to me.
> 
> 
> 73, Pete N4ZR
> Sometimes a tower is just a tower
> 
> 
> 
> 
> _______________________________________________
> PVRC mailing list
> PVRC@mailman.qth.net
> http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/pvrc

----------------------
Willie L. Baber
wlbaber@uncg.edu