On Thursday, November 13, 2014 12:31:08 PM UTC-5, Leon Fisk wrote:
On Thu, 13 Nov 2014 07:43:45 -0800 (PST)
wrote:

snip
What I'd really like is a little light to come on and tell me when
mains power is back on.

Mount a handy-box right next to the breaker box. Use a short or offset
nipple. Get a fused outlet cover for the box:

http://www.buyhardwaresupplies.com/?...emNumber=30727

Try assembling the two first. That combination doesn't always fit
together well. The fuse hot lead/wire likes to bump into the nipple. So
look over the clearance good before taking a knock-out out. It can be
done with the right combination

Very carefully route a 12 gauge wire from the new fuse cover/outlet
over to one of the mains cable lugs. This has to be someplace before
the main breaker. Route/attach a neutral over to the neutral bar. When
you have the new cover/box all assembled, ready to go carefully loosen
the main lug and slip the #12 wire in along with the main lead. BE
REALLY CAREFUL IF YOUR MAINS ARE STILL HOT! I did this for a living,
not a big deal to me. Either that or you'll have to wait for a power
failure, pull the meter off... Tighten the lug back up and then tug on
the leads some to make sure they aren't loose. It will most likely go
poof if something ever goes wrong with the #12 wire (pinched, rub
through...). So you don't want that to happen. Put in a 20amp fuse. Now
this plug will always be connected to the outside line, even when the
main breaker is off. Plus you get a handy little outlet by the breaker
panel.

Plug something into the outlet, light, noise maker, radio... whenever
you have the main off and want to know when the main line comes on
again...

--
Leon Fisk
Grand Rapids MI/Zone 5b
Remove no.spam for email

Thanks Leon, Since this only happens once every few years it's not that big of a deal. I've got a big knife switch on the side of my house where the mains comes in and this is where I switch it off.

George H.