Re: (ET) More Power Inverters

["David Roden" <etpost drmm net>]

I posted that as a warning.  It was certainly not intended as any kind of 
personal attack.  I hope nobody (else) took it that way.

I don't know Mike but I'm sure he's a nice enough guy.  However I would 
like 
to remind all that, though I don't speak for the list manager, I don't 
think 
this list is the place for political discussions.  

When someone goes beyond factual statements and makes disparaging remarks 
about others' politics, that's just asking for a flame war.  It happens 
that 
I lean a bit to the left, though I live in a conservative state. I didn't 
much appreciate what Mike said and implied about my personal views.  

That's putting it nicely, I think. This is the SECOND post I've written 
about it.  You wouldn't want to see the first one. My blood pressure's a 
good bit lower now. ;-)

I didn't say anything Mike's (apparent) right wing views and I didn't 
(intentionally) denigrate his electrical work.  I stated facts, not 
opinions, or at least tried to.  It wasn't necessary for him to comment on 
regional politics - or mine - to explain his practices.  Heck, it wasn't 
even necessary for him to defend them since I didn't attack them.

I generally keep my political opinions to myself.  I hope it's not going 
to 
far to ask that others here do the same, whether they're on my side of the 
aisle or the other.  We're all here as ET owners and fans.  In the real 
world as in the virtual, I think that if we'd all concentrate more on what 
we have in common than on our differences, things would run a lot smoother.

BTW, on that subject, I think my own apology is in order.  I just noticed 
that my signature contains quotations pulled from a list, and some of them 
might be construed as espousing a particular political view.  I didn't 
realize until now that I had it set up that way for this list.  My 
apologies 
if anyone has been offended by them.  I'm turning the quotations off 
entirely for this list.

Apologies too if anything I said there or in the body of the previous post 
offended anyone.  However, I stand by my premise.  The backup power system 
Mike recommended IS hazardous and IS a violation of the NEC (National 
Electrical Code).  

As a practical matter, because of the possibility of personal litigation 
(that is NOT a political comment but a statement of fact), I don't think 
it's a good idea to advocate code violations in a public forum.  I suggest 
that if you post about methods that are violations, you include a 
disclaimer 
("I use this, but I don't recommend it for others because it's a code 
violation and could be hazardous under some circumstances.")  Too "PC" for 
you?  Well, good luck then.

And I say again : a Square D manual transfer switch (actually a 60 amp, 6 
position subpanel with two main breakers and a lockout that allows only 
one 
main to be on at a time) is not very expensive.  I paid in the low 2 
figures 
for one on Ebay, and later saw one at Lowe's for less than $100.  I 
woudn't 
be surprised if Mike's special plug and receptacle cost nearly as much as 
I 
paid for my panel.

Most electricians will tell you that if you can't or won't install a 
transfer switch, it's actually safer to use extension cords to connect 
loads 
to temporary backup power.  But use common sense and, if you're using a 
portable genset instead of (or in addition to) your ET and an inverter, 
for 
goodness sake locate the genset outside!