JoeSixPack wrote:

"Richard J Kinch" wrote in message
. ..
As dangerous as this is, is this even possible?

All I can say is that here in SE Florida since Hurricane Wilma this week,
with 6 million people out of power, with my neighborhood as a sample,
there
must be about 1 million backfed generators hooked up and running. It is
not just commonplace; it is the norm.

One neighbor had a (gypsy) electrician install a 4-wire twist-lock socket
in his garage specifically for backfeeding through a suicide cord.

Just stand in the electrical aisle of Home Depot for 5 minutes. You will
see a steady stream of people buying wire and plugs and asking how to make
a backfeed connection.

The same thing happened on a slightly smaller but still massive scale last
year after Hurricanes Jeanne and Frances. I don't recall any reports of
utility workers or users being harmed by the practice. There were
certainly more people poisoned by carbon monoxide from generators than
hurt
or killed by electrocution from backfeeding or other misuse.

Do you know what a step-down transformer does? It converts 7200 volts to
240 & 120 volts. Do you know what happens when you backfeed 240 volts
through it? It puts 7200 volts back into the line.

Many areas operate with primary voltages higher than 7200 volts.

Do you know how little
current it takes to kill you at such a voltage? Very little.

It's the same current that it takes to kill you at 120/240 volts. The
difference in not in the current requirement, it is in the amount of
insulation required to protect you.

Your limited
knowledge and limited reasoning power are forming dangerous conclusions.
Stop doing that. Someone may get killed because of what you are saying.

Your limited knowledge is forming incorrect assertions.

The amount of current flowing across the heart required to kill you is
small and a constant. The voltage necessary to achieve this current
varies depending on the contact conditions. Once you exceed the voltage
necessary to produce that current across the resistance of the human
body over the distance between the contact points, you're toast.

Pete C.