On Thu, 2005-09-22 at 10:45 -0600, Shane Hathaway wrote: > I'll add one more interesting thing that happened. Some people who had > generators connected them into their house wiring. Their hack worked a > little too well: since transformers work both ways, people effectively > pumped high voltage into the power lines. Then, when utility workers > worked on the supposedly dead power lines, they got electrocuted. I > heard rumors that some even died.
This happens all the time. I think there may even be federal laws about it by now. But probably not. Where I am from you can get into some major trouble if you connect your generator to the mains. Those people with gensets that wish to power their homes must get the electrical company to install a mains disconnect that has 3 positions: off, on, and generator. > > Since this group has a number of people who are capable of making the > mistake of connecting a generator to their house wiring, I just thought > I'd explain one reason it's a bad idea. At a minimum, don't forget to > switch off the main circuit breaker before doing it. Never rig up a connection from a genset to your home by oneself. Get an electrician to set it up properly. Even feeding power back through a standard outlet in your home (which is definitely a bad idea anyway) can harm linemen. > > Shane > /* > PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net > Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug > Don't fear the penguin. > */ -- Michael Torrie <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> /* PLUG: http://plug.org, #utah on irc.freenode.net Unsubscribe: http://plug.org/mailman/options/plug Don't fear the penguin. */
