Generator

Well, normally with a manual change over, you have 2 supply's entering the change over box. Then you have 3 positions on the switch box. Lever pointed straight up, neutral, no electricity entering the house. Lever switched to the Left, power from the ESB feeding the house, Lever switched to the right, power from the generator feeding the house.

Procedure as follows for manual change over:

ESB supply fail's. Go to changeover box, and switch lever to vertical position ( neutral or dead ) Start generator, and allow the engine to run for minimum 30 or 60 secs. Switch on generator, allow to run fir a few secs, then go to change over box and switch lever from vertical to Right. Power is now flowing to the house. When ESB power returns, go to changeover switch, move lever to neutral position, allow a few seconds before switching to ESB. Go to generator and switch off generator, but allow engine to run for a few minutes without load to cool down.

For gen size needed, you have to make a list of everything that you will need power for, see what Watts it needs, then add up the total wattage required. This figure can be converted to kVa ( Google conversion rate, watts to Kva ) So you can then see what Kva generator you need. Bear in mind, that when doing the watt assessment, you will need to figure out what percentages of time the appliance will be used for each day...... very few items run 24 / 7.

Yes, I know, but that's what he asked about. Chances are though when he gets to buying and installing the Gen, it will be 100% automatic. Personally, its what I would do too. Anyway, Best of Luck to him with it. By the looks of things, he will not be the only one... I have a 6.5 kVa honda myself, and I've had to use it in the past.

If I understand you correctly...you start the Gen, plug the 3 pin into any 3pin socket in the house, and the other ( blue 3 round pin) into the generator, and that's it???

First of all OP. Don't do this ever. Madness!

Secondly check Irish Garage Supplies for genies. They have a lot of different types

I have this for my home : https://ige.ie/pacini-7-5kva-silent-diesel-generator-electric-start

When powers goes I go the generator, switch on, leave it running for 5 minutes to warm up, then go to the house fuse board, and flick a switch from ESB over to Generator and that's me done.

Sparks told me not to run the electric oven, electric hob or electric shower but fine for all the house otherwise, had a power failure 2 weeks ago and the generator was only running at less than 1/4 load with all the house on.

Thats a good sized generator, 7.5 kVa, Just remember to watch the hours on the clock, and service it on time, and it will last you years and years. When the ESB comes back on, and you switch back to ESB supply, from the Gen. Then switch off the gen, but let the engine run for a few mins without load. This will really extend the engine life.

Its normal practice in a manually operated set-up. And also, where the change over switch has 3 positions, leave it in "0" before switching either way for maybe 10 second's. Normal switch set up is :- 1.....0......2., the one being ESB, the "0" being Zero Supply, and the "2" being Generator. Hope that helps you.

Do you have any idea how dangerous that setup is. It is lethal. There is a long list of things wrong with it...

As someone said, all current going through one 13amp plug and circuit. Overheat and fire hazard.

Even with all MCBs off you will still have live plugs on the distribution side. While not an immediate safety risk, it is an extremely bad practice.

You say you have a procedure for connection and disconnection. Fair enough but that depends on the procedure being rigidly followed ever. single. time. Anything can happen. A mistake, a distraction, and you or someone else could be electrocuted. You might even fall ill or take an unrelated injury, and then whoever is around you has to deal with a maverick genny setup that is absolutely deadly without following your procedure.

Should the main switch not be opened due to any mistake or omission, you will feed power out onto the grid. Presumably, most outages will be due to storm damage. So you now will be unknowingly feeding power out onto lines that could well have ESB staff working on them. They kill the lines at whatever usual switches but unknowingly they will now be going handling live lines thanks to your crazy setup down the road.

And probably THE most dangerous aspect of your science experiment is the two plugged flex. That, my friend, is what is known in the industry as a widow-maker lead. You may think that you know how to use it safely, and maybe it is, but only under the very controlled procedure that is entirely in your own head.

Aside from What happens if you mistakenly handle the live end of the lead due to tiredness, distraction etc, say you become incapacitated for whatever reason and another person unfamiliar with the setup has to switch off the genny. How is a normal joe soap supposed to know the procedure and realise that if any step is missed they will be in a situation with a high chance of lethality.

The whole thing is a massive abuse of electricity, and selfish beyond belief because you are too tight to pay for a proper switchover box, to the point where someone else might have to deal with it if you couldn't and get killed. How would you feel then?

The whole thing is an extremely dangerous setup, and the whole supposedly safe procedure is fatally flawed because any single missed step or mistake in it creates a potentially lethal situation.

You need to stop this, and you need to destroy that double plugged widowmaker lead. These are highly dangerous devices and they should not exist. Even thinking down the line in the future, at some point you will go to meet your maker, but that lead will be lying on a shelf or in a box somewhere 10, 15 or 20 years after your passing. Some future person or a curious child might plug it in not knowing how dangerous it is and get electrocuted.

Widowmaker leads are actually more dangerous than a plugged in flex that's been cut, and had the conductors stripped and exposed. People will be naturally wary of exposed conductors but they will not be wary of a three pin plug's terminals, because they are always dead when exposed - except when it is a widowmaker.

You are playing with fire, and someone will get burned sooner or later. It is just a matter of time.

Your comments are all well and good but your setup is not safe. Fair enough, you can handle the lead etc safely and stick to your procedure to prevent feeding out onto the lines but running the house via a random socket is not right. A 13 amp socket will take ?? 3kw or so.

I know an electrician who runs his house like this for powercut but it's far from ideal.

I turn off the main breaker before I change to generator, then once I switch to generator I push up the main breaker then.