Ron Poehlmann
Member
- Location
- Central Missouri
I have an electrician who has installed a generator (permanent installation) and an ATS in a residence. The installation is in a rural area and the rural electric co. wants the neutral broken when the generator is supplying power. I did not think this was necessary and from reading other posts it sounds like it is not. None-the-less the utility co wants it broken.
The homeowner is not willing to pay the cost of a new ATS that switches the neutral, and the electrician doesn?t want to eat the cost. So I am trying to help out and not hang myself out to dry.
I was going to have him install a definite purpose contactor to break the neutral between the meter and the neutral bar in the ATS, but as I think about it I have a few concerns.
The contactor may last 20 or 30 years before it fails, but when it does the residence will loose the neutral.
The other concern is that when switching back from generator power to utility power the contactor may not switch as fast as the ATS and there could be a short duration without a neutral.
Has anyone seen this situation and a good solution? Are my concerns well founded, or did I miss the big one?
The homeowner is not willing to pay the cost of a new ATS that switches the neutral, and the electrician doesn?t want to eat the cost. So I am trying to help out and not hang myself out to dry.
I was going to have him install a definite purpose contactor to break the neutral between the meter and the neutral bar in the ATS, but as I think about it I have a few concerns.
The contactor may last 20 or 30 years before it fails, but when it does the residence will loose the neutral.
The other concern is that when switching back from generator power to utility power the contactor may not switch as fast as the ATS and there could be a short duration without a neutral.
Has anyone seen this situation and a good solution? Are my concerns well founded, or did I miss the big one?