Jim Dunmyer said the following to Mike Ross on the subject of
RE: HELP HOME GENERATOR (21 Jan 98  07:27:22)
 >AC> Place engine outdoors, on leeward side. NOT in basement or garage.
 > The generator was set up in the
 > doorway of the garden shed well away from the house since the garage was
 > apt to be a fumes problem. Note that a separate ground wire went from
 > the generator frame to an earthing stake.
 JD> Mike,
 JD> You did things pretty much 'right'. It's a real bad idea to have a
 JD> generator near or in a building that you care about. A fella I've
 JD> corresponded with went to start his generator and apparently had a bad
 JD> connection to the starting battery. Saw a big spark when trying to
 JD> start it, investigated, and found a loose connection. And gasoline
 JD> leaking from the carburator; he nearly lost his barn!
 JD> My generator is in a metal shed all by itself. If you have Internet
 JD> access, yoi can have a look at www.oldengine.org/members/jdunmyer,
 JD> under 'other stuff'.
That unfortunately happened to more than one folk over recent events.
One fellow died in the ensuing fire when trying to refill the generator
while it was running. Another home burned down due to a generator fire.
Early on in the ice storm a couple of fellows died of fumes when
starting a generator in the basement. Leads me to think that some people
really weren't thinking very rationally. The way I see it, I rather lose
the garden shed than the house or even lives.
... Ice Storm of '98 refugee.
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