Kevin Crosby said the following to MIKE ROSS on the subject of
Re: Help Home Generator (20 Jan 98  23:31:26)
 KC> *** Quoting MIKE ROSS from a message to Alec Cameron ***
 MR>  [ . . . ]  AC> IF you insist on tinkering with the house wiring,
 MR> then have an action  AC> plan written out, like first open all
 MR> switches and remove the main  AC> fuses and give those fuses in care
 MR> to a reliable adult with  AC> instructions like "These *must* stay in
 MR> your pocket until-
 MR> It was rather thoughtful and careful tinkering though... Thanks for
 MR> the really great tips!
 KC> Verify...several times!!!...that the breaker panel is isolated from
 KC> the generator.  The utility worker that is trying to restore power to
 KC> your area will not take kindly to being placed across -your- generator
 KC> output!!
A good warning reminder, better safe than sorry. I really didn't want to
electrify the pole pig even for a lark. If I was in that worker's shoes
I'd be looking for a lb of flesh too if it ever happened to me.
 KC> Why not make a permanent point to attach your generator to?  They make
 KC> switching gear that is designed for this application.  It is simply a
 KC> three-position break-before-make switch....power company -or- off -or-
 KC> generator.
 KC> If you can get military surplus, the Navy calls this an ABT, which is
 KC> short for  Automatic Bus Transfer.  These had 3 positions:  Normal,
 KC> alternate, and emergency.  If you had a loss of power on the normal
 KC> bus, it would switch to Alternate.  If no power available there it
 KC> would switch to emergency.
 KC> Kevin
I like this idea a lot. Again, thanks.
... Ice Storm of '98 refugee.
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