From: no@never.com   
      
   On Fri, 03 Feb 2017 11:59:07 -0500, "(PeteCresswell)"    
   wrote:   
      
      
   >I would have thought that with that device in place, the breaker panel   
   >would be operating exactly as it does with outside power.... i.e. all   
   >breakers enabled.   
      
   It is but if you slam your entire house onto the generator - unless   
   it's a large one - all that will happen is that the generator either   
   stalls or de-excites.  What you have to do is go to the breaker panel   
   and open the breakers to all the superfluous loads such as the heat   
   pump and electric water heater.  THEN you go back outside and throw   
   the transfer switch.   
      
   When my parents were still alive and coming here to the cabin, I put a   
   dot of white paint on each breaker that stayed closed.  They'd unload   
   the panel, roll out the 7kW generator, crank it and throw the   
   conventional transfer switch.  Unfortunately it just barely would NOT   
   run the AC.   
   >   
   >One thing it seems not seem to do is automagically cut back to outside   
   >power when outside power is restored.   
      
   That's the big kicker.  And unless you install something non-code   
   upstream of the transfer switch, you never know when the power comes   
   back on unless you can see a security light or a neighbor's lights.   
      
   When I moved here permanently about 10 years ago, I put up with that   
   system but quickly got fed up with it.  Our power comes along a 25   
   mile feeder branch through the national forest so outages are a weekly   
   event.   
      
   I installed a 10kW Generac automatic propane-powered generator and   
   transfer switch and a 250 gallon propane tank.  When the power goes   
   off the system waits 10 seconds to make sure it's not just a blip.  It   
   cranks the generator, lets it warm for 30 seconds and finally throws   
   the transfer switch.  When the power comes back on, the system waits a   
   minute to make sure it's stable, then operates the transfer switch so   
   rapidly that even my UPSs don't notice it, allows the engine to cool   
   for a few minutes and then shuts it down.   
      
   I should have gone with the 12 kW unit instead of the 10.  I got cheap   
   on fuel consumption.  If the AC, the water heater and the well pump   
   are all on at the same time, the generator has a bit of a time pulling   
   them all.   
      
   The transfer switch comes with 3 channels of unloaders so that   
   overloads can be disconnected in sequence.  It dumps each load until   
   the generator is back up to speed.  I have mine wired to dump the   
   water heater first, AC second and water pump last.  This situation   
   usually happens when someone is in the shower so dumping the water   
   heater first usually handles the overload.  When the generator's   
   control system detects that the generator can handle it, it recloses   
   the unloader.  Slick system.   
      
   My system cost right at $5k with me installing it.  A neighbor had a   
   dealer install the 12kW unit and it cost him right at $10k.   
      
   You run into some funny things with an automatic system.  During   
   multi-day outages I've had neighbors come up and bitch at me for being   
   selfish and having power when no one else did.  I tell 'em that their   
   money spends just the same as mine.  Some people...   
      
   The only thing I don't like about this unit is that it is rather noisy   
   - much louder than my 5.5 Generac RV generator.  This summer I'm going   
   to use those prefab fence panels to build a baffle around the thing to   
   direct the noise up in the air.   
      
   John   
      
   John DeArmond   
   http://www.neon-john.com   
   http://www.tnduction.com   
   Tellico Plains, Occupied TN   
   See website for email address   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)