DIYbanter - View Single Post - Interlock locks to be used in lieu of transfer switch

Mark Rand

On Fri, 11 May 2007 13:53:02 -0000, (Chris Lewis)
wrote:

According to Solar Flaire :
That might be but stop using the trained lineman as an excuse to put
proper interlocks in your generator/grid tie-in. It's just crap.

_I_ wasn't. Backfed wires are a hazard to everyone. Linesmen
are just one.

Even trained linesmen get tired, make mistakes, or just
get zapped by something unforeseen.

You have an ice storm that takes out power for weeks. The crews are
dead tired. There's wire draped over _everything_, buried under snow
and ice. Linesmen are hanging out the side of helicopters 200' up at
-40F and strong winds (not to mention the windchill factor from the
helicopter itself!) trying to repair HT lines. The army is out dragging
out power poles and the remains of high tension towers, rescuing people
from frozen homes, stuck cars, and houses filled full of CO. Everybody
is just trying to survive and get the job done as quickly as
possible.[+]

How do you think they'd feel about idiots backfeeding?

Then is not the time to set booby traps. It's just stupid. Do
it right.

There's a special place in hell reserved for those who endanger
emergency crews or steal emergency equipment during an emergency.

Has everybody missed the point that fitting proper interlocks is _precisely_
what Iggy is proposing to do? OK he's not buying a nice idiot homeowner retail
kit from home-generators_R_us. He is engineering a solution that is at least
as foolproof and effective. Good luck to him!

Mark Rand
RTFM