phill
Full Member
Posts: 54
Likes: 105
|
Post by phill on Oct 12, 2014 20:45:36 GMT 10
Not exactly Alternative energy but have tried this a few times with success. We loose our power up here in the hills fairly regularly and setting up the genie each time, running leads etc is a pain. Spoke to a couple of sparkies regarding an idea and then gave it a go to see.
Took my trusty generator, made up a male to male patch plug, "TURNED MAIN POWER SWITCH OFF", plugged lead into a power point and fired up the genie. Guest what, the house runs just fine as long as I don't overload the genie and no leads to run. By the way did I mention "TURN MAIN POWER SWITCH OFF".
|
|
Ammo9
VIP Member
Enter your message here...
Posts: 1,814
Likes: 2,667
|
Post by Ammo9 on Oct 12, 2014 20:56:17 GMT 10
I love the simplicity of this idea. Don't have my own house so won't go try this. But definitely something to consider
|
|
|
Post by Joey on Oct 12, 2014 21:19:54 GMT 10
Hmm first I heard of this happening, does the power still pass through the RCD switches though? I guess a better option for those in the sticks would be to have a point wired up through the fusebox for this application, jut so you know everything is still protected by the RCD's, much like a portable crib hut is setup.
|
|
phill
Full Member
Posts: 54
Likes: 105
|
Post by phill on Oct 12, 2014 21:50:09 GMT 10
I use the power point in the shed which has its on breaker switches that are then connected into the main via another breaker. Local sparkie said it will still work fine just "NEVER FORGET TO TURN THE MAIN SWITCH OFF".
|
|
|
Post by You Must Enter A Name on Oct 12, 2014 22:24:11 GMT 10
Sounds good.
I assume if you forget to turn off the main power switch and the power comes back on you will encounter a flaming generator?
|
|
|
Post by Paul on Oct 13, 2014 8:37:13 GMT 10
I have thought about doing this myself, at the moment if we loose power I just run a lead, If you dont turn the main feed into your house off I am pretty sure your genny will try to power everyone else that is in your area, Its the same with solar, when the grid goes down energex does not want there workers to get zapped from power being put back down the line. Not sure if this is true but heard if you get court with a male to male plug/lead you can get a fine due to if it comes out it is live if genny is running and who every touches it gets sapped. I heard this a long time ago, not sure if it is true about the fine but makes sense about getting zapped, so be carefull.
Paul
|
|
Frank
VIP Member
APF Life Member
Posts: 1,864
Likes: 2,739
Email: frank@ausprep.com
|
Post by Frank on Oct 13, 2014 9:39:06 GMT 10
Thanks Phill, simple and effective. Will have to look at something like this when we move to our new place.
|
|
|
Post by thereth on Oct 13, 2014 13:28:39 GMT 10
one thing to be wary of is if you are running a lot of equipment (more than say 20Amps), then you may overload the cabling. Standard powerpoint wiring is 2 core + earth 2.5mm2. This is only officially rated to 16A, but will take 20A no worries. HOWEVER most powerpoints are only rated to 10A and I have seen them melt with as low as 15A worth of draw.
To put this in perspective the cabling coming from your point of attachment to your main switch is usually between 12 and 16mm, and this will take 100A no worries.
The reason for bringing this up is if you put a large gennie onto a standard powerpoint, and use your house like normal, you could quite easily melt your powerpoint and/or wiring if you have a large draw (ie 2 or 3 fridge compressors kicking in at the same time)
Also if you are using a generator you may have issues with the neutral, even if you turn off the main switch the neutral is still connected and this could cause issues for the poor bastards fixing the lines.
Oh and the RCD's WILL NOT work as their trigger is directional and if you are providing power from the "wrong" side of the RCD it may not measure it correctly, however this is dependant on brand, HPM are notorious for aving these issues.
|
|
phill
Full Member
Posts: 54
Likes: 105
|
Post by phill on Oct 13, 2014 17:19:19 GMT 10
Good to know thereth. This exercise is just a short term fix, eventualy am getting a switch wired into main box and a large amperage plug. I will heed your advice about load in thee meantime.
|
|