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[Debbie Dunkley]

https://foxbaltimore.com/weather/hurricane-stories/hurricane-florence-claims-a-third-life

Plugging 'IN' a generator.

[Jeff Bankston]

Maybe he was using a cord with 2 male ends and was going to plug it into an outlet. I have seen this done before. The main breaker in the panel is turned off. This will only power circuts on that phase or 2 phases if they are using the 120/220v outlet on the genny. I do not recommend doing this. If this is what he did then its possible he touched the live male end of the cord.

[Debbie Dunkley]

Maybe he was using a cord with 2 male ends and was going to plug it into an outlet. I have seen this done before. The main breaker in the panel is turned off. This will only power circuts on that phase or 2 phases if they are using the 120/220v outlet on the genny. I do not recommend doing this. If this is what he did then its possible he touched the live male end of the cord.

I have heard of this - very possible.
If this is the case then with linemen out there right now trying to get power back up for so many people, this is even more of a no-no as it can cause  injury or worse to those guys too (from what I have read).

Governor Roy Cooper in both of his press conferences mentioned generators and to stay safe when using them.

[Scott Holtzman]

I have heard of this - very possible.
If this is the case then with linemen out there right now trying to get power back up for so many people, this is even more of a no-no as it can cause  injury or worse to those guys too (from what I have read).

Governor Roy Cooper in both of his press conferences mentioned generators and to stay safe when using them.

I used to backfeed through my compressor box with the mains off then got off my lazy butt and put a transfer switch in.

If I accidently energized the mains and injured or killed a lineman I could never forgive myself.

Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk

[brian maddox]

I used to backfeed through my compressor box with the mains off then got off my lazy butt and put a transfer switch in.

If I accidently energized the mains and injured or killed a lineman I could never forgive myself.

Sent from my VS996 using Tapatalk

i'm working through a backup rig for myself right now, and this very thing is  policing my thoughts.

yeah, i'm smart enough to get a generator to make all my stuff work with Very little Cost.  But...  Doing it RIGHT means i don't hurt someone, and that's a principle i learned VERY quickly when i first got into this biz For Real. 

So yeah.  Do it right.  Wire your stuff so it isn't live to the grid.  i mean seriously.  is this something that needs saying?....

[Mike Sokol]

I used to backfeed through my compressor box with the mains off then got off my lazy butt and put a transfer switch in.

I hooked up a generator without a proper lockout at a friends house in New Jersey a few years ago during another hurricane, but I pulled the meter first and bagged the box so it was impossible to back feed into the power line. There were no other options since all generators and parts were sold out for hundreds of miles away. I happened to be driving back to the east coast from Chicago at the time, so I picked up a genny and a few blitz cans of gas at a Home Depot and drove it all the way to his house. His power was out for over a week, and once power was restored he called the power company and asked them to plug his meter back in and attach the security tag. I figured this was a the safest way to do an emergency generator hookup without the proper lockout or transfer switch.

[Frank Koenig]

Energizing the lines is a real concern. Transformers work both ways, let us not forget. In response to this, as well as the possibility of errors on the power company's side, line workers usually ground nominally dead lines before touching them. But even so...

Have I ever used a double male cord? Well, let's just say it was under controlled laboratory conditions and performed by trained personnel 

--Frank

[John Roberts {JR}]

Energizing the lines is a real concern. Transformers work both ways, let us not forget. In response to this, as well as the possibility of errors on the power company's side, line workers usually ground nominally dead lines before touching them. But even so...

Have I ever used a double male cord? Well, let's just say it was under controlled laboratory conditions and performed by trained personnel 

--Frank

My very old neighbor (now RIP) used a dual male extension cord to get power to his shed when the underground line was faulty... I tried very hard to discourage him for using it. If I had my way, I'd hard wire it into the shed power circuit so the free end was always cold, but then that becomes a hazard if the underground line ever gets repaired.

I bet that extension cord is still around, waiting to sting somebody who doesn't know about it, or worse. I probably need to ask his widow or son about that.

JR

[Stephen Swaffer]

You can buy kits for most panels-I know for sure Square D- for about $50 that take maybe 30 minutes to install that interlock the main and usually the top right breaker.

Super easy install- I usually feed that breaker with a permanently installed cord that plugs into the genny.  If bigger than a 6kw genny I'd probably leave a pigtail to wire in to the genny.

Genny's are useful tools-but better to do without electricity than be unsafe.

[Mike Sokol]

You can buy kits for most panels-I know for sure Square D- for about $50 that take maybe 30 minutes to install that interlock the main and usually the top right breaker.

I'm getting ready to install one of these for my Dad next week. As you can see it's just a slider that only allows the generator circuit breaker to be turned ON if the Mains breaker is OFF, and vise versa. You just need to add the appropriate male inlet receptacle and cordset and you're in business.

[ProSoundWeb Community]