3 ms·

For anyone who doesn’t see why this is a bad idea: If you plug your generator in like this, you can backfeed the step-down transformers in your neighborhood, w

For anyone who doesn’t see why this is a bad idea: If you plug your generator in like this, you can backfeed the step-down transformers in your neighborhood, which then step up the voltage from your generator and energize your local utility lines with potentially several thousand volts. This can be a nasty surprise for utility workers trying to restore power to what they think are de-energized wires.

andrew_ 4y ago
In Florida there are specific legal penalties for injury from this, due to prolific generator use. The simple solution is to turn off the main breaker before plugging in the generator to the home/building. Interlock kits [1] are widely available and can be used with a secondary breaker that an auxiliary male plug can feed. [1] https://interlockkit.com/ https://interlockkit.com/
KennyBlanken 4y ago
No, you won't. This myth needs to die; at least you didn't include the claim that "dozens" of line workers have been killed by this (they haven't.) First off: line workers don't touch anything unless they've verified with testing equipment that it isn't live and/or they're using something like hotsticks. Anything they actually put hands on is grounded first. Second: if power is out, your generator would be connected to everything downstream of the point of isolation which means the main breaker in your house is effectively connected to a near-zero-ohm shunt. Your generator likely cannot power even one or two full households worth of surge load, much less an entire neighborhood. Said generator would immediately bog down, and also pop its breaker. Stop talking about things you know nothing about.
kwhitefoot 4y ago
Only if you neglect to trip the main breaker.
moistly 4y ago
It gets worse: in BC, the local lines lead back to a substation, and from there to the switching yard, by which point tens of millions of volts backfeed into the grid that connects to the WAC Bennett or Revelstoke dams, causing them to run backward, sucking all the water upriver and absolutely decimating the salmon population. So just don’t use the cheater cords. Save the fish, save the planet, save your fingers.
- pcdoodle 4y ago
  This is bullshit. Having more volts does not mean your 10kw generator is going to spin a dam backwards.
  - sgerenser 4y ago
    I think it was a joke.
  - moistly 4y ago
    Tell that to the fish, buddy, tell it to the fish. Oh, wait, you can’t because they’re all dead now! Now stick that in your pipe and smoke it. Mmmm. Smoked salmon.

andrew_ 4y ago

In Florida there are specific legal penalties for injury from this, due to prolific generator use. The simple solution is to turn off the main breaker before plugging in the generator to the home/building. Interlock kits [1] are widely available and can be used with a secondary breaker that an auxiliary male plug can feed. [1] https://interlockkit.com/ https://interlockkit.com/

KennyBlanken 4y ago

No, you won't. This myth needs to die; at least you didn't include the claim that "dozens" of line workers have been killed by this (they haven't.) First off: line workers don't touch anything unless they've verified with testing equipment that it isn't live and/or they're using something like hotsticks. Anything they actually put hands on is grounded first. Second: if power is out, your generator would be connected to everything downstream of the point of isolation which means the main breaker in your house is effectively connected to a near-zero-ohm shunt. Your generator likely cannot power even one or two full households worth of surge load, much less an entire neighborhood. Said generator would immediately bog down, and also pop its breaker. Stop talking about things you know nothing about.

kwhitefoot 4y ago

Only if you neglect to trip the main breaker.

moistly 4y ago

It gets worse: in BC, the local lines lead back to a substation, and from there to the switching yard, by which point tens of millions of volts backfeed into the grid that connects to the WAC Bennett or Revelstoke dams, causing them to run backward, sucking all the water upriver and absolutely decimating the salmon population. So just don’t use the cheater cords. Save the fish, save the planet, save your fingers.

pcdoodle 4y ago
This is bullshit. Having more volts does not mean your 10kw generator is going to spin a dam backwards.
- sgerenser 4y ago
  I think it was a joke.
- moistly 4y ago
  Tell that to the fish, buddy, tell it to the fish. Oh, wait, you can’t because they’re all dead now! Now stick that in your pipe and smoke it. Mmmm. Smoked salmon.