"Pete C." wrote in message
...
George wrote:

Toller wrote:

Bull. In the last 5 years we have had 3 poweroutages where I used my
generator. There wasn't a lineman within 5 miles of me on any of them.
My
2kw generator is going to power up 80 square miles? Don't think so.



So you have some sort of radar/GPS/RFID system to determine the location
of lineman?

But lets say you don't and consider other scenerios. Suppose the primary
is knocked down (ice storm etc) leaving you on a deenergized segment. So
you thoughtfully engergize the secondary and hence the primary (7 Kv in
my area) which may be laying on the ground or otherwise accessable.

And my point being you can't possibly know about every condition and
scenerio and that is why you install a disconnect so you don't have to.

Remember the "Always assume a downed power line is live"? Also the main
breaker on your service panel *is* a disconnect.

The main thing here is the even if you, Joe Homeowner screw up and
backfeed the mains, you have virtually zero chance of killing a lineman
directly, only assisting a Darwin award candidate. Every report I've
seen of a utility worker "killed by an improperly connected home
generator" has shown that it was a perhaps overworked / over tired
lineman who got careless and didn't follow procedures.


Regardless. If my installation allowed my wife/adult-son to energize a line
from the home generator because I didn't bother installing a positive
disconnect, and it killed an over-worked, tired lineman who missed one step
in his safety procedures, the guy is still dead. Or some stranger touched a
down line at an accident scene, that was supposedly switched off by the
utility but wasn't actually de-energized yet because of my generator, they
are still dead.

And regardless of lawyers, wrongful death suits, contributing factors, or
any other 'paper excuse', someone ending up dead because I skimped on a
safety feature, isn't going to help me sleep at night.

Some of us care more for our fellow man than to just say, "Well, they
obviously didn't follow procedures", or "Another candidate for a Darwin
award." Maybe you should go tell the widow of a dead lineman who was
working for 20 hours trying to get people their power back, how it's
obviously her spouse's fault that he's dead. Or the widow of the rescue
squad guy that touched a live wire after the utility folks pulled all the
fuses, trying to save someone else's life that they deserve the "Darwin
Award" for the year.

daestrom