And the lights go out again.

[Dave A]

We've been sourcing a cross-over switch at the moment.

Just a warning for the do-it-yourself types that comes from one conversation today - Do not connect your generator into your exsisting installation - When the power comes back on - one fried generator.

And I know some bright spark is going to say - "But if I switch off the mains isolator?"
You need an interlocked cross-over switch to make sure there is absolutely no way the mains power can reach the generator. Period.

It takes proper equipment and some planning to hook a generator into your existing electrical installation. For goodness sake, if that is what you want, get it done by an electrician!

[Chatmaster]

Well despite the Eskom website stating we will have no power cuts today, the power went off as I closed their website. It resulted into me spending R4500 on a portable Ryobi 650w and a Ryobi 2700 from Mica. Tomorrow I will be prepared and hopefully back in business.

[duncan drennan]

A question here for the electricians....

Generators have a ground terminal, does that have to be connected to a reasonable ground for safety purposes? If so, what is the best way to do this? What could happen if it is not connected?

[murdock]

from my experience dealing with power issues...my first choice would be an online UPS for all sensitive electronic equipment then a generator to run the UPS.

the connection you are talking about is promoted at places like makro i was listening to the fella selling generators at makro explaining to someone how to connect plug to plug...we call it a suicide cord because if you forget to switch off your main switch you could kill an electrician working on the line...depending on the impedance of the generator it might not blow up when the power comes back on it might just catch on fire...just remeber there is no circuit protection for you or your family if you connect it this way.

you need to connect the generator earth to the generator neutral as close to the generator as possible...and some people advise to put an earth spike just because it would be the closest route to ground...but there are a lot of debates going on about this...bottom line there are no regulations for generators at the moment only guidelines.

[Dave A]

Surely the mains supply earth is not being isolated in the power-down?

If we stick to the main earth safety strategy (no floating earths), I'd expect the best thing would be to connect the generator's earth to the main supply earth. Bridge neutral and earth at or near the generator if it isn't bridged in the generator circuitry already and mission accomplished.

Something else for me to bug my guys about tomorrow morning
They're the ones who have been doing our backup generator installs.

[Dave A]

Aaargh! Serious backlog on supplies of the cross-over switch. My guys are building some contactor based box for the job now.

Power going down at 2.00pm - install time!

[Chatmaster]

I must say, I am very happy with my Ryobi RG 950, 650w. Had to test it this morning and it was working really well. I had my AMD 64 Athlon, 19" screen, Speakers and the fan on, no problem!

[Chatmaster]

So my wife said she wanted coffee and I thought I should investigate how much electricity a kettle would use. Well I eventually found this article on the kestrel site giving approximate electricity usage for appliances and more. It seems I will have to use the big boy for the kettle alone, lol

[IanF]

So my wife said she wanted coffee and I thought I should investigate how much electricity a kettle would use. Well I eventually found this article on the kestrel site giving approximate electricity usage for appliances and more. It seems I will have to use the big boy for the kettle alone, lol

Chatmaster,
Easy solution just drink a cold beer or juice. Coffee is bad for you

[Chatmaster]

Chatmaster,
Easy solution just drink a cold beer or juice. Coffee is bad for you

lol, I actually do have a fine bottle of nicely aged Grape "juice" in the kitchen, looking for the corkscrew right now!