ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area I feel sorry,

I agree the breaker in the genset will probably trip as soon as it sees the secondary of the pole transformer and all the upstream load but bad things do happen to good people. The real danger would be if it was a very localized failure. My lineman buddy says if they see power on a drop, backfeeding the grid, they just cut it and make sure the repair ticket keeps getting pushed down to the bottom of the pile.

I agree as well it would PROBABLY trip the breaker as well, but like what was mentioned above, if its local it may not.. Here is a senario.. its a rural area, rural building, where the high voltage is brought to a transformer on the customer's property, so the trans serves no other load but the one building... now say for example its not the secondary service drop thats down but the PRIMARY... That generator could energize the transformer backwards, and liven up the now downed primary line... If a lineman were to come into contact he would "get it" and get it good!... Remember it does not take much current to throw the heart into ventricular defribrilation( think its spelled correct!) should the current take that path And with something at minimum of 2.4kV present,there is going to be a fair current being pushed through whoever is now completing the circuit, not to mention the severe burns that would happen...

Scary isn't it?

A.D

last winter when we had a bad ice storm , we had several other co-ops helping out.they caught a guy for this very thing.he didn't have a clue that he could hurt someone.they told him to either cut it off or they would confiscate the generator & cord & turn it over to the law. but again look at any utility truck at the stckers they say this,"IF IT ISN'T GROUNDED , IT ISN'T DEAD."i was told by one lineman, if they got caught not grounding a line ,it was automatic termination! maybe a good idea.but i guess the old saying still holds true,"better safe ,than sorry."

[This message has been edited by circuit man (edited 01-09-2006).]

Maybe we could get his poco involved in this sale of MURDER CORDS ! Might be interesting to hear what they think of him selling these! Anyone know who the poco is in that part of Florida ?
I too am emailing this bozo about this and will be contacting e-bay also.
Food for Thought:
If E-Bay is told about this and a lineman is killed ; And it can be traced to a cord made by these instructions, bought on e-bay, Can E-Bay be Liable for the linemans death ?

I see that there are a lot of angry replies to that e-bay cord. I didn't check every one of this boards reply yet, but did anyone ask if the cord is UL approved? Maybe UL can get after him?

"I was asked to NOT publish this report because it exposes information that officials would rather not have known." Asked by who, his lawyer?

I just dropped him a line, and invited him here to discuss it. Lets see if he shows up....

This guy also has another item: "what the FAA doesn't want you to know."


Maybe someone should call the FAA and see what they don't want us to know...

[This message has been edited by e57 (edited 01-09-2006).]

I just emailed this guy and I also email e-bay asking them to remove the sale of this item. I explained why and invited them to have the local poco review the listing and offer their input. The more of us who contact e-bay the better !

First of all, I would like to confess that I, more through luck and reading instructions, rather than having any special talents, have hooked up a few gennys, battery banks, and so on- without any transfer / backfeed problems. May this streak continue....

BUT...I know of others who have been present when the generator power was slightly out of phase, and ran into the PoCo power.
NO, there was nothing as gentle as a breaker tripping. Rather, there was a big "BANG", a blinding flash, and molten metal flying everywhere. Often, this arc-blast took place at the panel, or the transfer switch, or some other place remote from the genny.
One of these accidents -of which I have a first-hand account- resulted in a fatality (the guy who threw the switch).

Had to ring in on this one. I wrote.
Bob
Your whole house (suicide cord) is Dangerous and illegal.
Anyone who would choose this method and put lives in danger should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law. All laws that I know of dealing with electrical wiring are to protect people and property. It is sad that someone would sellout safety for any price. How can you sleep at night knowing that you are promoting the illegal use of such a dangerous device? Many innocent ebayers who buy these instructions would probably never attempt such a rig on their own. My thoughts are with the people, their families and the electrical workers put in danger by those who have already purchased this item.
Electricians did not make the law to promote their business; neither did the power companies.
It is common sense.
Do the right thing and discontinue the promotion of this item.
Sincerely concerned
Citizen

Another angle is that this is misleading advertising. The seller would lead you to believe that you can conduct "business as usual" with this thing.
The maximum available power will be 30 amps, the rating of the back-fed breaker for the dryer.
I included this in my email to e-bay.

I am guessing that this guy will not remove this item voluntarily. He's got the exact same name as a deerfield beach resident that was the defendant in a 1992 "Do Not Use" suit in Broward County, Fla filed by Shelby Electric Inc. Defendant also in a house foreclosure, and revoked Certified Financial Planner's rights for lying to the CFP board about previous regulatory actions against him.




[This message has been edited by electure (edited 01-10-2006).]