cerviarborist
Very stable member
- Location
- Florida, USA
As many of you are now working to assist people on the eastern seaboard who have trees downed, courtesy of Hurricane Irene, I thought I'd mention this...having just heard it from a friend, reminded me of this particular risk.
My friend lost power and connected her generator to her breaker panel by means of a male clothes dryer pigtail, spliced into the output line from the generator. They plug that into the dryer outlet and energize their home. This does not meet code and is patently dangerous, but a lot of people do it none the less.
If the homeowner uses this process and neglects to turn off their main breaker, then in addition to energizing their home, they're also energizing the service drop going back to the transformer.. Just as the transformer turns high voltage into 220 for residential use, running the path in reverse can cause the transformer to put high voltage back into the distribution lines.
I guess my short point is this. If you hear a generator running near where you're working, take extra steps to make certain you're well clear of any conductors. There are going to be a lot of electrical wild-cards out there.
Be safe everyone!
My friend lost power and connected her generator to her breaker panel by means of a male clothes dryer pigtail, spliced into the output line from the generator. They plug that into the dryer outlet and energize their home. This does not meet code and is patently dangerous, but a lot of people do it none the less.
If the homeowner uses this process and neglects to turn off their main breaker, then in addition to energizing their home, they're also energizing the service drop going back to the transformer.. Just as the transformer turns high voltage into 220 for residential use, running the path in reverse can cause the transformer to put high voltage back into the distribution lines.
I guess my short point is this. If you hear a generator running near where you're working, take extra steps to make certain you're well clear of any conductors. There are going to be a lot of electrical wild-cards out there.
Be safe everyone!
