From:
Fred Hopengarten K1VR 781/259-0088
Six Willarch Road
Lincoln, MA 01773-5105
permanent e-mail address: fhopengarten@mba1972.hbs.edu
On Tue, 13 Jan 1998 12:48:57 "a reflector participant" writes:
>In the interest of simplicity and low cost, I had thought to
>use a
>currently open 220 volt outlet in my garage as the input for my
>generator
>power. So if I lose the mains, I would open the main breaker on my
>power
>panel (isolating my house from the mains), plug the generator into the
>220
>outlet (it's a 220 genny, natch) and start it up. When I see the
>neighbors' lights come back on, I turn off and unplug the generator,
>and
>then close the main breaker to restore power.
>
>Anything wrong with this scenario?
K1VR: As a quick fix, it will work for you, but there are some cautions
that deserve extra special attention because of the danger (i.e., someone
could get killed) involved.
1. In order to plug the generator into your wall socket, you must fashion
a cord which is male at both ends. This is known in the trade as "a
suicide cord." The male end will be hot. ACHTUNG! ATTENZIONE!
2. Any member of your family, or a visitor, who is not in on the game,
could see the neighbors' lights on and throw the breaker, thereby putting
your generator "on line" into the power grid. In addition, any family
member or visitor not in on the game could, in error, throw the main
breaker and feed your power back up into the grid and kill a power
company worker who thinks that the line is otherwise dead, because he
just turned it off before going to work on it.
So, except for the possibility of killing a member of your family or a
guest, or the possibility of killing a power company worker, the scenario
portrayed works.
Safety first. Power second. -- Fred K1VR
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