OT: generator for ice storm

[Duane Attaway]

On Tue, 4 Jan 2005, Brian Densmore wrote:

> Idea to drive your house off of 10 gauge wire is beyond me. While it may 
> be possible, it's (IMO) extremely bad to do. I wouldn't use anything 
> less than 0 cable. Of course it also depends on the length of run from

Zero guage wiring (welding cable) might be good, but may be overkill for a 
temporary circuit.  The cable servicing my house from the meter is only 6 
guage.  My voltage drop after 15 feet of 10 guage didn't let the voltage 
drop below 110 volts under a strong load of the house air conditioner.

I forgot to mention I had the UPS recreate the waveform, but everything 
still worked in manual bypass.  Fortunately, my UPS checks the voltage and 
frequency for me and sounds the alarm horn when it strays beyond the set 
limits.

But you are right about the stong cautions about what can go wrong.  We 
are pushing this simple wiring idea to the limits.  It breaks for many 
people and that's why they keep pushing this on the news.  If I see 
professional engineers make mistakes year after year, I'm sure the common 
homeowner such as myself can miss something obvious and burn down the 
house.

The first caveman who harnessed fire took a risk and we are too. 
Unfortunately for us, our houses aren't made of rock like the caves, so 
beware...

-=Duane
http;//dattaway.org