I suspect this very dangerous

[JB4310]

Given that the lineman are working huge amounts of OT to restore power after a storm it is easy for them to make a mistake. How easy would it be to miss a step you have already done dozens of times in the day and think you had already done that step? When in fact you had NOT done that step at the new site. After working 10-12 hours I know I can not do any mentally demanding tasks if the work needs to be done correctly.

I have seen the lineman out in some very bad weather up in a bucket in the rain/sleet/snow/cold. Glad it is them and not me. After 12+ hours up there working they have to be mentally and physically worn out.


Get a danged interlock and setup the panel correctly. It is cheap. It is easy. It is safer for the homeowner and the lineman. My interlock kit, 30 amp connection, and installation was around $250-300. Save your pennies if you must but do it right.

Later,
Dan

I can easily accept that a lineman may forget to ground a wire as you mention after being tired and worn out.

I can't figure how a responsible home owner with a generator is gonna forget to open his main breaker. The type of person that does the right thing and installs a legit transfer switch or interlock is the type of person that would never back-feed the grid.

The threat is gonna come from a desperate person that picks up a cheap generator and rigs a queer cord made of lamp wire and plugs it in the living room, probably run the genny in the living room as we've heard.
Of course it could also come from a family member that doesn't completely understand the routine and tries to back-up house when dads not home, thus the importance to make it foolproof.

The risk is always gonna be there for the linemen, but the responsible type people that participate in a thread like this and practice proactive safety would never back feed the grid regardless of how they powered their panel.
Wonder if there's any simple safety device that can be part of the meter that would detect and prevent back-feeding.

JB.

 

[coobie]

Got curious so I googled. I found multiple references to lineman being killed by back feeding generators. I remember one death a few years ago. One reference said that at least 5 lineman were killed in 2005 due to back feeding generators.

Given that the lineman are working huge amounts of OT to restore power after a storm it is easy for them to make a mistake. How easy would it be to miss a step you have already done dozens of times in the day and think you had already done that step? When in fact you had NOT done that step at the new site. After working 10-12 hours I know I can not do any mentally demanding tasks if the work needs to be done correctly.

I have seen the lineman out in some very bad weather up in a bucket in the rain/sleet/snow/cold. Glad it is them and not me. After 12+ hours up there working they have to be mentally and physically worn out.

One of the searches I found was from a man whose neighborhood lost power. Quite a few of the houses were back feedings. When the lineman came into the neighborhood he found the back feeding houses and pulled their meters. It took weeks to get the meters back and the homeowners were fined.

Get a danged interlock and setup the panel correctly. It is cheap. It is easy. It is safer for the homeowner and the lineman. My interlock kit, 30 amp connection, and installation was around $250-300. Save your pennies if you must but do it right.

Later,
Dan

Thank you for this post,you hit the nail on the head.coobie

 

[Patriotic Stabilist]

We have a sheet typed up and taped by our panel box for the generator so I never forget a step. My husband practically etched in my brain. STEP 1 TURN OFF MAIN BREAKER. I will never forget that long as I live then every step is listed so I can get the house power up and going. We encased it in plastic so it won't get wet and deteriorate. We only have to use it every year or two but it sure is a lifesaver in hurricane time.

 

[texas42]

This is from the website of my electric distribution and transmission company.

[I]"肘f you choose to use a portable generator during a power outage, make sure the main circuit breaker in the electric service panel box is in the OFF position or, in older electric service panel boxes, that the main fuse block is removed. This is necessary to prevent your generator's electricity from going back into the power lines in the street and potentially endangering the lives of line crews and other emergency workers."

 

[rj's barn]

If you have a generator back feeding the local grid it will step that 120v from each service leg to 7200v at the transformer at 500 milliamps. That's a whole lot of stuff I'd rather not accidentally grab after working 14 hours out in the frosty freezing cold.
Everybody that has a generator should browse the NEC code book
and make sure what they have is safe and right. Better yet hire a licensed journeyman electrician and have him spec it out. That guy reads the NEC book for a livin :thumbsup:. Everybody needs to have a buddy that's an electrician.

 

[jinjimbob]

We have a sheet typed up and taped by our panel box for the generator so I never forget a step. My husband practically etched in my brain. STEP 1 TURN OFF MAIN BREAKER. I will never forget that long as I live then every step is listed so I can get the house power up and going. We encased it in plastic so it won't get wet and deteriorate. We only have to use it every year or two but it sure is a lifesaver in hurricane time.

No joke, what if you're drunk at the time?
Its not fool proof. Get a transfer switch.

I can't believe people are so stupid when it comes to other peoples safety.