JoeSixPack wrote:

"Toller" wrote in message
...

"Chris Lewis" wrote in message
...
According to Toller :

Geez you're a moron! My 2kw genny is going to power a 80 square mile
grid
for a second or two? Do you understand the concept of "power"?

Who said anything about 80 square miles?

I did; up a few posts. The three time I have used my generator, there
hasn't been a lineman within 10 miles of my house; hence 80 square miles.

If my generator attempted to backfeed the grid during our last outage, it
would have put 4KV on our feed poles without any difficulty whatsoever.

Yeh, and then what?

Hint: the 4KV disconnect feeding our pole pig _only_, had fried.

Ah, but that hasn't happed to me.

In our ice storm, since the closest break was only a few houses away,
the generator would have probably managed to energize two houses'
feeds (people were instructed to kill their main breakers until
told otherwise) and put 4KV up on the local distribution segment.

That's true in your case, but not in mine.
Besides, how long would my 2kw have lasted trying to energize two houses?
I don't bother to bring out the genny unless it is clear that the outage
will last more than a few hours; so what are the odds that there is a
lineman on my feed when I turn it on?

And if there was, would there have been enough amperage to do anything?
The two house, and whatever I have on, is a rather better ground than the
lineman. I doubt he would have gotten measurable amperage despite the
voltage.

Still, I have transfer switch now.


Incredibly stupid discussion. A service transformer steps voltage down from
say, 7,200 volts to 240/120 volts. Backfeed 240 volts through the
transformer, and 7,200 volts goes back out through the line. Anyone toucing
the line can be killed at those voltages with very little current (milliamps
in fact). It can and does happen, so stop using your limited knowledge to
reach dangerous conclusions.

Um, it only take milliamps to kill you at 120/240 volts as well. The
only difference between 120/240 and 7,200 is amount of insulation
required to protect you.

Pete C.