In theory, Jay is correct, but assuming that theory will always work in practice is, in this case, how linemen end up dead. We're all well aware of never assuming theory = practice, but admittedly the stakes tend to be a little lower in our world.
Ensuring that a generator physically cannot backfeed is just one layer of protection against the already very high risk of the job of a lineman. Then there is, of course, checking for the presence of voltage before starting work, but it's possible for a generator to start AFTER this check. Another layer of protection is grounding all conductors prior to beginning work, so that if power does come back (via the grid or a backfeed) A: The lineman and bucket is not the best path to ground and B: The source is tripped. Reading through that forum post, it sounds like that particular contractor had a reputation for lacking proper safety precautions, so one or more safety layers may have been removed, making the risk/impact of any single mistake much greater than it should be. -Matt On Wed, Aug 25, 2021 at 11:25 AM Mel Beckman <m...@beckman.org> wrote: > Jay, > > No, because transformers work in both directions :) > > Plus, to the previous commenter that talked about “suicide cords”: > they’’re more correctly termed “homicide cords”: > > “ The lineman killed yesterday was working for Pike Electric and picked up > a line that was connected to someones house that hooked up a generator and > did not disconnect from the distribution system. The linemans name was > Ronnie Adams, age unknown. He had two children and a wife. As far as I know > he was from Louisiana. They are trying to set up a fund for his family, but > nothing I have heard of yet. I will let yall know more as I hear of it. I > wish they would really teach folks the proper connection of generators, > this was a really tragic and preventable accident. Stay Safe and think > about it before you do it.” > > https://powerlineman.com/lforum/showthread.php?711-Storm-Death > > -mel > > On Aug 25, 2021, at 10:12 AM, Jay Hennigan <j...@west.net> wrote: > > On 8/25/21 07:04, Mark Tinka wrote: > > On 8/25/21 15:59, Ethan O'Toole wrote: > > > How would this not load the generator or inverter into oblivion? > > Not sure I understand your question. Say again, please. > > > If you fail to isolate your generator from the incoming utility feed so > that you're back-feeding the utility and the power is out for your > neighborhood or the whole city, would not the load of trying to light up > the whole town completely overwhelm your little generator to the point that > it fails, stalls, or trips its own output breaker? > > -- > Jay Hennigan - j...@west.net > Network Engineering - CCIE #7880 > 503 897-8550 - WB6RDV > > -- Matt Erculiani ERCUL-ARIN
