You guys who think you're pretty good at house wiring (like myself) might
benefit from my experience. After reading the instructions that come with
the transfer switch I felt pretty confident. I did it myself and everything
worked fine for several years. Then one time during one of our minor power
outages (5-6 times a year) we were up and running fine when all of a sudden
several lights when dim and the TV set when out with what turned out to be a
$400 "pop". When the "dust" settled and I started troubleshooting I found a
ground wire from the transfer switch inside my main breaker panel was not
tightened down quite enough. I also found blown fuses in several pieces of
electronic equipment, a dead ceiling fan controller and a toasted APU on one
of our computers.
Here's what happened: Inside the power controller of the Honda generator
there is a circuit that splits the 240 volt output into two 120 sides of the
240 volt output line. The only way it knows where to make the split is by
sensing a proper neutral (which should be as near to ground as possible).
If the neutral is "floating" because of a bad connection one leg of the 240
can be anywhere between 120 and 240 while the other leg goes low. And this
variation can be at an indeterminate high cycle rate so the effective
voltages can be just about anywhere. This is the kind of stuff you need to
understand if you're tempted to go DIY.
BTW Jim, looks like you've got a pretty slick system. I've though for a
long time about upgrading my system to a dedicated permanent propane system
running off the same 500 gallon tank as the house furnace. Winco, a US
outfit, makes a system around 10KW output on which the engine runs at 1800
rpm, a lot quieter than the common 3600 rpm units. Still in the planning
for the future stage because I'll need to replace the entire currently
overcrowded breaker box and add a propane furnace to my air handler system
plus the tank and all the plumbing. (way on the north side of $10,000)
Ed Weldon
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jim Webb" <jimwebb@nutsracing.com>
>(snip) get a transfer switch wired in by a
> professional for a safe installation.
> You can learn all about generators at northerntool.com
> Jim Webb
_______________________________________________
Support Team.Net http://www.team.net/donate.html
Land-speed mailing list
http://autox.team.net/mailman/listinfo/land-speed
|