"Michael Chare" wrote in message ...
"Chris Hogg" wrote in message
...
As we live in a remote country area and suffer the occasional
power-cut, we are toying with the idea of getting a portable generator
to power the essentials at such times, especially as the predictions
going around ATM don't inspire confidence for the future. The one
we're thinking about is the Wolf 230V/2000W model (I assume AC), from
Screwfix. Probably not cost-effective, but at least it'll keep the gas
c/h, TV, lighting and freezers going. But before we splash out, I have
some questions.

If you want to use your household wiring, you would need some sort of change
over switch so that you either connect to your generator or the normal power
supply.

The reason for this is that you are dealing with alternating current. If you
connected your generator to a live mains power supply it likely would not be
running in phase (and maybe at the wrong speed). This could lead to large
current flows and accompaning fireworks.


My late father used to work for the Central Electricity Generating
Board and he told me they would line up the phases very carefuly
before bringing a powerstation on line. On one occasion they got one
120 degrees out of phase; it broke the shaft that linked the turbine
to the alternator.

R