Taping the breaker 'off' is a good idea. A better idea, if possible, is to put a
padlock on it in the 'off' position. That way, it takes someone a very concerted
effort to override your intentions.
Some circuits in your home will be on one side of neutral, and some on the
other. Your 230 volt generator will be happiest when the two sides are balanced.
Houses are wired so as to balance the loads, most probably. Ideally, an AC ammeter
on each leg of the 220 would allow you to see an imbalance.
Jim
"J. Forster" wrote:
> There is a relatively safe, although not idiot proof, way of hooking up a
> generator to your house in an emergency. It assumes you have an electric clothes
> dryer or other high current appliance which plugs in.
>
> DON'T DO IT UNLESS YOU UNDERSTAND THIS FULLY !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> First, check the ratings for your generator. This method is mainly applicable to
> modest generators, say up to 5 or 10 KW. You will need to make up a short male
> to male cable, one end to fit the appliance socket and one end to fit your
> generator or extension cord to your generator, line to line, neutral to neutral,
> gnd to gnd. Use adequate wire size for the currents.
>
> If your generator is 115 volts and your house is 115/230, you can make the cable
> an adapter, connecting the neutral of the gen to the neutral of the house, and
> the line of the gen to the lines of the house, gnd to gnd. Anything that runs on
> 230 volts in the house will receive no power and should be turned off at the
> breakers and left alone. There is a chance a defective 230 volt appliance could
> become a shock hazzard.
>
> Now comes the part where GREAT CARE is necessary. To use this method you MUST
> proceed as follows:
>
> 1. Turn off the main breaker to disconnect from the utility. If you don't you
> could hurt a utility worker. Tape the breaker so someone else can not trurn it
> on accidentally.
>
> 2. Unplug your dryer
>
> 3. Plug your adapter cable into the dryer. Tape the plug so it cannot be
> accidentally disconnected
>
> 4. Connect the cable to your generator.
>
> 5. Start the generator.
>
> Under no circumstances either connect or disconnect any part of this hookup with
> the power on. If you do that, you could have a big shock risk from live exposed
> connector pins. The dryer fuses/CBs will protect the wiring.
>
> To disconnect:
>
> 1. Turn off generator and make sure house main breaker is still off.
>
> 2. Unplug both ends of your adapter cable
>
> 3. Turn main breaker back on.
>
> IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND THIS FULLY OR ARE NOT QUALIFIED TO DO ELECTRICAL
> WORK...................DON'T TRY IT !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
>
> It has worked very nicely for me on several occasions, running a sump pump,
> furnace, lights, and a TV during outages. The maximum current will be limited by
> the dryer fuses/CBs. Don't be tempted to increase their size for it could cause
> a fire. They are necessary to protect the wiring.
>
> -John
>
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This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Fri Dec 07 2001 - 00:36:57 PST