On Fri, 09 Dec 2005 16:59:24 -0600, Richard J Kinch
wrote:

Teamcasa writes:

I must have been a huge generator. The load created by backfeeding a
system would be enormous.

No, not necessarily. A blown fuse further down the line, or on the
transformer, would result in many kilovolts on the feeder line. The
transformer would be running "backwards", stepping up the generator's 240
VAC to 13 kV or 26 kV (whatever they use in that area). The upstream loads
would be disconnected due to the blown fuse.


A 240V 5500W generator can put out 22.9A. That transformer (26KV to
240V) has a ratio of 108:1. Current is changed according to the
inverse of that ratio, so the output would be 26KV at 212mA (actually
somewhat less, since no transformer is 100% efficient). Still enough
to be dangerous.

The story is a little disingenuous, since proper procedure does not expose
the lineman in such situations. The problem was more than just the
backfeed.