XPost: sci.electronics.design   
   From: tw@dionic.net   
      
   Howard Eisenhauer    
     wibbled on Wednesday 24 February 2010 22:37   
      
   > 1st question- Is the existing wiring out to the barn up to the job?   
   > i.e. how many amps is your genset capable of suplying- 60 amps through   
   > #10 ain't gonna cut it.   
   >   
   > 2nd- how many amps is your service rated for & how many can the genset   
   > supply?  A 60 A feed into a 200A service means you're gonna be   
   > manually flipping brakers off anyhow...   
   >   
   > 3rd- Is there a seperate main service dissconnect from your breker   
   > panel?  If not you'll have to add noe between the meter & panel if you   
   > want the xfer swittch to feed th whole house   
   >   
   > 4th- how understanding is the carrier for your fire insurance?   
   > Jerry-rigged transfer switches using non-approved parts aside  if   
   > there's any problems at all with *any* of your wiring (whether you   
   > were the last one to touch that particular part or not) that causes a   
   > fire you can probably kiss your coverage goodbye :(   
   >   
   > Personally I'd go with a type approved manual transfer switch, with a   
   > seperate feed coming to it from the generator, feeding a "essential   
   > services" sub panel .   
   >   
      
      
   I second that. Not sure about the paranoia re: insurance, but what *is* very   
   important, is that the OP does not under any circumstances back feed into   
   the utility supply. Otherwise, in a power outage, some poor linesman up a   
   pole gets a live line he thought was dead.   
      
   The IEE Wiring regs in the UK have something to say about local sources (be   
   it generator, UPS) - does the USA NEC code have regulations on this too?   
   IIRC, the NEC is available for free online (we have to pay for a copy of the   
   IEE Regs) so there's no excuse for not reading them.   
      
   I personally would go for a "proper" transfer switch. It's not just about   
   switching over - it's about maintaining required levels of mutual isolation   
   (eg contact separation distances etc) too.   
      
   Don't forget issues of earthing too - in the UK, we cannot count on the   
   utility earth (ground) in such a case, we must provision a local earth rod   
   for local generation with all that entails (eg correct use of RCD/GFCI).   
      
   Cheers   
      
   Tim   
      
   --   
   Tim Watts   
      
   Managers, politicians and environmentalists: Nature's carbon buffer.   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)