----- Original Message -----
From: "Jeff Wheeler" <jsw@inconcepts.biz>
On Sun, Jun 26, 2011 at 12:23 AM, Alex Rubenstein <alex@corp.nac.net> wrote:
At least here in JCPL territory (northern NJ), closed transition is frowned upon. Too much risk, they think. They are correct, really, but the risk is mostly yours. If you lock to the utility out-of-phase, you will surely lose and they will surely win. The fault you create that they will see will probably not hurt them. Unless it is extraordinarily large and you are very close to the nearest substation.
Utilities concern themselves with not only their gear and your gear, but also your neighbor's gear. I would not like to be next-door to a large genset that is connected to the grid out-of-phase. My equipment would be affected by such an event.
More to the point, as I note in another reply, you don't want to be *the lineman down the road with his hands on a "dead" wire*. Pretty much the *first paragraph* in NEC 700 (700.6) says this: """ Transfer equipment shall be designed and installed to prevent the inadvertent interconnection of normal and emergency sources of supply in any operation of the trans- fer equipment. """ So, if your transfer switch is *physically* capable of connecting your genset to the incoming power wires, then it violates 700.6, unless you're in a cogen sort of environment, in which case you're following Article 705, and a whole different set of rules apply. Cheers, -- jra -- Jay R. Ashworth Baylink jra@baylink.com Designer The Things I Think RFC 2100 Ashworth & Associates http://baylink.pitas.com 2000 Land Rover DII St Petersburg FL USA http://photo.imageinc.us +1 727 647 1274