Stalwart
Well-known member
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- Redmond, WA
So Dan (AN/ARC186) came over yesterday and orchestrated the proper addition of a transfer switch to our home. When we loose power it commonly can strech for a week or more so plugging in a fridge and the one of the gas furnaces isn't quite enough.
So early yesterday afternoon Dan and I started to wrestle some pretty big wires, for two of the three breaker panels we had to pull copper 3-3/0THHN plus gnd. And the other we could move a conduit and make the prior wires work. The REALLY fun part was the copper 500 MCM THHN wire that made the 3/0 look TINY!
Rather than pull the meterbase and let the power company, and later the city know of the changes, Dan decided to do the cangeover hot. Being he has over 30 years experience and all the "hot" equipment, it sounded like a plan to me. BTW, the reason I didn't want the city to know is they are money grubbing tyrants. They want you to pull a permit, at the cost of $179, to replace your existing water heater!!!!!
After fighting wires and a little digging in the dirt we were finally through. After Dan closed the transfer sw. contacts I brought the 2 house panels back on line and everything came back on. SUCCESS . . . for only 3-4 minutes and then the power outage alarm on the burgerlar alarm went off.
Dan and I were looking at each other, asking WTF? Everything was done correctly, we had tested the transfer switch, and all lugs were torqued with a torque wrench. We walked over to the switch and I was expecting smoke or something. We removed the covers and checked voltage and we had NONE. Since the Seattle area isn't known for its heat, or the need for air conditioning, power issues in the Summer are non existent.
My wife came home at that time and asked if we had managed to take out the local grid, she said the vast part of the city was out. At least it went out after we first tested it, if it had been out when we closed the transfer switch we'd have been REALLY confused!
One little thing I added to the switch box was a small fused circuit that takes power from the mains and will turn on a small light when the power from the power company resumes. I'd hate to stay on generator any longer than necessairy.
Thanks again Dan!
So early yesterday afternoon Dan and I started to wrestle some pretty big wires, for two of the three breaker panels we had to pull copper 3-3/0THHN plus gnd. And the other we could move a conduit and make the prior wires work. The REALLY fun part was the copper 500 MCM THHN wire that made the 3/0 look TINY!
Rather than pull the meterbase and let the power company, and later the city know of the changes, Dan decided to do the cangeover hot. Being he has over 30 years experience and all the "hot" equipment, it sounded like a plan to me. BTW, the reason I didn't want the city to know is they are money grubbing tyrants. They want you to pull a permit, at the cost of $179, to replace your existing water heater!!!!!
After fighting wires and a little digging in the dirt we were finally through. After Dan closed the transfer sw. contacts I brought the 2 house panels back on line and everything came back on. SUCCESS . . . for only 3-4 minutes and then the power outage alarm on the burgerlar alarm went off.
Dan and I were looking at each other, asking WTF? Everything was done correctly, we had tested the transfer switch, and all lugs were torqued with a torque wrench. We walked over to the switch and I was expecting smoke or something. We removed the covers and checked voltage and we had NONE. Since the Seattle area isn't known for its heat, or the need for air conditioning, power issues in the Summer are non existent.
My wife came home at that time and asked if we had managed to take out the local grid, she said the vast part of the city was out. At least it went out after we first tested it, if it had been out when we closed the transfer switch we'd have been REALLY confused!
One little thing I added to the switch box was a small fused circuit that takes power from the mains and will turn on a small light when the power from the power company resumes. I'd hate to stay on generator any longer than necessairy.
Thanks again Dan!
