wireless ac mains detection circuit

Well, this is what happens when you buy the circuit breaker interlock puzzle plate instead of real transfer switch. Whoops.

Yeah I just look at the neighbors. Maybe put a little neon light thing on the not-house side of the power switch? GH

install a mirror so that you can see the neighbours lights from inside,

No actually an AC voltage detector, not current.

the picture calls it "voltage sensor"

Sounds dangerous. Is the mains disconnected from the branch, when it fails? Or is it the same manual switch used to connect the generator that disconnects the mains?

A transfer switch usually does this in break-before-make manner, whether automatic or manual.

You can use line power to drive the transfer switch in one direction only, to disconnect the generator before transfering mains back on; however, without synchronization you'd be risking your switch gear and any motors on the line.

Depends on the voltage used in the electromechanical level/tilt switch

- AC/DC or whatever. You're sure that 'up' is the shorted condition? >

Use a fused control transformer on the mains line, before the transfer switch, to power the garage door indicator. Open the garage door manually, whenever the generator is running - a simple precaution when gas motors are operated in confined spaces.

RL

It's an interlock, a metal or plastic card fitted to the breaker box that is shaped so that only one of the supply breaker groups (pairs in USA) can be on at a time. Some variants slide others pivot.

Transfer switches require that you choose which circuits will be capable of accepting generator power at time of installation, as a result they are, in this way, less capable than a panel equipped with a generator interlock.

<snip>

Nope. 2 switches: the mains breaker is one switch and the generator breaker is the other. Sequence of operation: o Mains power fails. o You turn the main breaker off. o You raise the interlock (a sliding plate, that CANNOT slide up until the main breaker is off) o You turn the generator breaker on, which can only be done when the interlock (sliding plate) is up

When mains power becomes available, you do the steps in reverse. In both cases, break before make is the sequence.

Yes, it is a manual connection to live mains via the main breaker, assuming of course that utility power has been restored.

The slide is NOT the switch. It physically blocks both breakers from being turned on at the same time, but does not switch anything.

Ed

This is what I'd try, or at least simulate, no idea if it would work, but it would be fun...

Wrap foil around the two separated incoming insulated wires to give some capacitive coupling. Connect these to the input of a bridge rectifier made with low leakage diodes and connect a low leakage capacitor across the output. Then connect a Neon lamp across the cap.

Then wait for the Neon lamp relaxation oscillator to flash.

And if it did work, put a high efficiency LED in series with the Neon, much brighter.

Can't speak for everywhere, but in my area, when you call in to report an outage, you can also opt for a call back voice or text message alerting you when power has been restored. Since it's totally automated, there is no latency of practical significance. Generators are okay except when the outage is extended, like on the order of weeks or more. The people who thought they were smart buying a big 10kW job were soon knocked back to reality when they realized they were going through $100 of fuel daily. That might be okay for one or two days, but when you're looking at one or two weeks, it gets expensive. Then when you consider they're using only 5-10% capacity for 95% of the time with all that money mostly going to idling an oversized machine, it becomes outright stupid.

Doesn't work, in practice, here. When I notice an outage, I start watching for the crew to show up in the neighborhood. Then, tend to hang out with them while they "do their thing" -- partly to see *what* the problem is and partly to learn a bit more about the distribution system in our area.

So, I know *exactly* when the power is back on -- cuz I witness the repair. After watching them drive off, I'll wander back into the house. Some time later (often, the better part of an hour!), the phone will "ring" (our phone doesn't ring but I can see a visual indication of when my phone system is processing an incoming call). This last time it was in the wee hours of the morning ("Who the hell is calling at this time of night? Something REALLY BAD must have happened for anyone to be trying to contact me, now!").

Yup. OTOH, there's no need to run a genset continuously. Yeah, you might like having electricity when others don't. But, all you really need is to keep refrigeration running (which can be cycled) and, possibly, central heat (again cyclable). For lighting, UPSs work great -- they're *reasonably* portable, don't give off CO and can keep small loads up for hours! (this computer, the router and the microwave ISP link will stay up for 3 hours; if I switch to a laptop, I can probably get *5*!)

Smaller also offers the advantage of being easier to move around. You're not likely to leave a genset sited out, away from the house, where you'd *run* it -- unless you're actually running it! So, you've got to move it to and fro. Fine if YOU are doing it. Not so fine if your other half has to!

The easiest and cheapest way to get uncomplicated switch over to minimal generator loading is with the so-called indoor manual transfer switch. Just plug it in and flip the loads on:

drawback is the installation requires a LOT of rewiring. Every candidate circuit for generator backup and its panel connection has to be routed to new switch. You're going to need a lot of wire nuts for this job. Since your service panel remains untouched, just plug a night light into an unswitched circuit to get a power restoration indicator.

Yeah, they're really slick--they protect the linemen from getting zapped by some idiot's genny backfeeding the disconnected mains segment.

Cheers

Phil Hobbs

I understand the need to protect the linemen.

However unless the house is the only one that is being fed by the line the lineman is working on most generators would trip their breakers or other means of shutting down due to the heavy loads put on the line by other houses. Even a 10 kw generator is not going to power up 10 or 20 houses for long.

That requires access to the branch circuits as they exit the panel. Fine if you have a panel located in a basement, etc.

But, if your panel is on an exterior wall, the branch circuits are

*in* that wall. Not particularly accessible.

We just use extension cords -- but, we're not powering fully loaded branch circuits; rather, just specific appliances. I've a nice collection of 12-16AWG extension cords, depending on the size of the load.

We shut off the big loads (as a courtesy to the utility) during an outage.

*Something* in the house will have been left "on", regardless. A light, the microwave oven's clock, a radio, etc. So, there's always something that startles us into knowing the power has returned (if I'm not already outside watching the repair crew).

But, the OP has a whole-house genset so nothing available that isn't already backed by the genset.

The linemen have been developing live line work techniques for nearly 100 years. They're not going to get zapped by anyone's generator.

one thing there are big fuses in line with each hot line tap going to the stepdown feeding the residential. They have a stick they use to rotate those out of the line and open the circuit. End of problem from Joe Blow.

I would make it accessible by mounting a weatherproof enclosure next to it, and then put the transfer switching in that. Connect it to your original panel via a single polybutyl conduit.

He doesn't have a lot of money it. He can use something else.

A bulb across the mains before your generator switchover device. If you want to control things, anything will do, for example a relays. No need for fancy things. You could connect an analogue voltmeter and maybe a frequencimeter and ammeter if you wish :-)

Then why not just put a transfer switch on the panel? Much easier to divert the utility drop than to divert multiple branch circuits.

The advantage of extension cords is there's no commitment to which circuits/appliances you want to backup -- just like with a transfer switch. If you can live with much less power than you normally consume, then this is a perfect compromise.

I'm not going to bother starting the genset until I'm many hours into an outage AND the prognosis is for a continued outage. (So far, the longest outage was of natural gas, not electricity!) I can baby the freezer and refrigerator by being more disciplined in how I use those appliances.

I can prepare warm meals on the grill (we currently use charcoal for that but moving to propane would also give us support for a dual-fuel genset) without needing the stove/oven.

Yeah, I'll miss the ACbrrr -- esp if more than a day or two. And, I might get tired of having to watch movies on a small screen. But, given how infrequent, I can live with that.