Starting a Generator

[btolle]

</font><font color="blue" class="small">( Anyways the button is avoiding the root of a very dangerous issue, which is never to have anything plugged into a generator recepticle when starting it. )</font>

Another issue is WHO started a generator without verifying that eveyone else was in the clear? I know it was one of those things people don't think about, but that would be the proper procedure.

If this was on a construction job, how many idiots had boomboxes blasting away and couldn't even hear the generator stop or start?

That's why I would never allow radios on any job. Someone gets tangled up in a drill, cuts a hand on a saw, or is hanging from a roof eave, and nobody hears him call for help.

But I am one of those "jerks" who points out safety violations to people who get mad at me. Had a Corporal in the Army who looked a little ticked off when I got on him about letting his head get behind an anti-tank rocket on the firing range. Later that morning his index finger was blown off by the backblast. A couple of days later he thanked me for making him keep his head out of the way.

Keep using those trigger locks folks, it makes for interesting reading on safety forums /forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif

Bill Tolle

 

[trlong]

I would add my vote for avoiding trigger locks. Although it turned out just a bit scary, and very funny for to his wife, a friend of mine was standing (probably too high) on a ladder, drilling into a ceiling joist with a 1/2 drill and a spade bit. He locked the trigger. The bit bound up in the joist while the drill kept turning. "Body in motion...." and all that spun him off the ladder. Holding on to the still spinning drill (fortunately dialed to a fairly slow speed) he could not unlock the trigger and while screaming at his wife to unplug it, she was too busy laughing at him spinning 'round and 'round. The drill stayed plugged into a fairly long extention cord and he got his legs wrapped by the cord until it pulled from the wall. Only then did his wife stop laughing and set the ladder back up so he could untangle himself from the cord and back the drill/bit out of the joist. He was lucky he only got a bruised ego and upset with his wife for a couple of days.

 

[BigEddy]

Think about it. Synchro ws about to walk back to the generator and start it himself. Immediately that drill would have started spinning round and round until it wrapped itself up in the cord and broke it free, Synchro noticed it, or worse still something flew loose and hurt someone. Hopefully Synchro could see the drill from where the generator was.

Whether it's the lock button or leaving it plugged in - the message is - make sure nothing is going to start before you start the generator.

 

[Highbeam]

Agreed. Do everything methodically and carefully so that the unexpected doesn't bite you in the backside.

 

[Soundguy]

On our jobsites we use power boxes with electromagnetic interlocks on them. You plug in the extension cord with the power box into the generator with the generator powered. There is a red and green switch on the power outlet box. You hit the green switch and then the plugs are energized. If power goes out and then comes back on, you must manually reset the green button to restore power. the read button is the manual trip button. There is also provision for personal gfi on the boxes.

Insurance company loves this setup... No way to have someone plug in a extension cord and have the load power up without direct manual intervention.

We have noticed that a few devices do not 'like' the gfi outfitted boxes.. or rather that the gfi boxes do not like the load device... for those loads.. we keep some plain interlock power boxes.. no gfi hardware.

As far as I know.. these power boxes are standard equipment and comercially available at contractor supply houses.

Soundguy