Live wire demonstration

kaiser715

kaiser715

Doing hard time
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
Location
7, Pocket, NC
Very interesting.

I didn't realize, or forgot about the generator thing...I was thinking that if you backfed a generator, it would just get 220v to whoever was on the same side of the transformer as you...in reality, the transformer works backward, and you get primary voltage back on the main lines, 7.2kva or whatever, from a genset. (low amps, but still quite enough)

 
Absolutely . That’s why I harp on being careful rigging a back feed home gen.
Now “most “ of the gasoline job site models...don’t have the capacity to saturate the xfmr and will actually trip or shut down before they step up ... but...I said most .

a guy I used to work with got will hit with 12,470 this way. He survived and was very very lucky that other than a nasty scar had no lasting damage . but you simply can’t be too careful
 
That reminds me of how thankful I am for lineman, and why I won’t deal with any electricity other than on a car.
 
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braxton357 said:
I mean, it's really as simple as shutting off your main breaker.
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For guys like me and you, yes. But when you kick the bucket in a freak gasoline fight accident, Sherry's new boyfriend will probably be a dumbass since she clearly has poor judgement in men :p
 
As said, a proper transfer switch or a breaker panel that makes you open the main breaker before closing the gen breaker & vice versa is a smart idea since common sense isn't as common any more. To eliminate several calls/questions if its not you starting the gen or if you don't want to lose power for too long you can get an Automatic Transfer Switch (ATS), but you'll pay for one.

I know several NC municipalities are starting to require a lockable disconnect on solar installs so they can lock them offline while they're working on circuits.
 
kaiser715 said:
At least with 120, you just get a tickle....12v on the car, you bang your head on the opened hood when you jump.
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I only do that when I get hit by the ignition coil.....
 
Blkvoodoo said:
I only do that when I get hit by the ignition coil.....
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I've got bit hard enough by 12v to make me jump back.. you just have to be conductive enough. It's bad enough though, it hurts me to get my teeth x-rayed or be near unshielded high power rf emitters. And people say, "x-rays don't hurt" I call BS. Of course since I was ...(tin foil hat)... at about ten years old, things never been the same.
 
braxton357 said:
I mean, it's really as simple as shutting off your main breaker.
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definitely is.
But a few things to remember.
Not everyone is as knowlegeable or handy as you.
Even smart folks sometimes make mistakes or get distracted.
You dont always know who or when you will be using your setup. I think I told the story here but Ive got a friend and former colleague...dude was a generator mechanic for over 20 years and a licensed electrician and he burned up a personal gen by back powering it one time. Long story short he got very lucky but power went out middle of the night in Charleston he had been at a hurricane party and wasnt in best frame of mind...it could have been much much worse. Dude was an expert and screwed up...
 
I don't disagree with y'all but if you're intelligent enough to get a genset running and backfed into a house, you're probably smart enough to flip a breaker. I was really just hoping to hear the always common "well you could still kill a lineman with the neutral!". I'm just saying, you don't have to have a dedicated transfer switch.
 
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