robdingnagian1 wrote:
You might want to consider some start buttons to turn it all back on.
They make pushbutton stations that have large "panic" buttons for the
stop button and also include a start. Also, check your codes as to what
gauge wire is going to need to feed your subpanel. See if they will
allow your particular setup.

Yes, that's actually one of my questions - exactly how do I turn this
back on? And, obviously, I'll need to include my building inspector in
all this. But I need to be able to talk vaguely intelligently about
what I'm going to do, first.

As to the question, I think of two basic possibilities:

Either, as you suggest, there needs to be a "turn it all back on" switch
that resets the relay somehow, or, the way this is *supposed* to be
wired is so that, when the relay closes, it causes a dead short and
trips the breaker on the original subpanel, and when the power cuts the
relay opens automatically. I have no opinion about whether that's a
good idea, or if it works, but, if it's not, I'm expecting to get flamed
right about now.

All the threads I've seen previously on this subject have tended to the
"tell an electrician you want emergency stops" type of answers, but it
doesn't seem to me this should really be rocket science, and I hope we
can figure it out and document it for everyone else.

ps. Brett, where are you located?

I'm in San Carlos, CA.

-BAT