Back-powering 110V system while travelling..

westend wrote:

BFL13 wrote:
I don't know, but I hope, since there will always guys like the OP doing that, they train the electricians in the field to beware.

You would hope they are taught to do a 120v measurement with a handy-dandy gizmo before exposing themselves to deathly zapping. Not to excuse the OP, et al, for doing that.

I believe it's SOP for a lineman to scan the hardware he's going to work on before any contact to see if anything's energized. Of course, how's that going to protect him when Mr. Resident decides just after that to power up.

FWIW, I have a customer that called me one night to assist him to connect a wall oven. He had already tried to wire it up but had blown the transformer in the street and three of his neighbors didn't have power, either. I'm still trying to figure out how he did it.

Up here in Cannuckistan they're really fussy about illegal 'cheater cords' back-feeding the panel from a generator through a stove or dryer socket.

A couple years back a big summer thunderstorm brought down some branches and lines. The fella next door sparked up his genset in the garage and lit up his house. Shortly afterwards the electric utility's line crew came down the road, put the bucket up and dropped his service connection lines in his front yard and drove off. He was unaware what happened but came over to ask me if I knew anything about it. I told him I watched them do it. Furious he went home to call them.

He came back 10 minutes later, they'd told him his house wiring was unsafe and had given a lineman a 'poke' (shock) and so they'd disconnected him. After he had brought his entire house up to standards he should call for an inspection and if everything was OK they'd reconnect him.

He got lucky.

He didn't kill anyone.

And he found someone to do the work for a little under $3,500......



Lesson learned.