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First power outage with the MEP803A
- Thread starter csheath
- Start date
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- MA
Enjoy it!
Haoleb
Member
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- Raymond, Maine
Would I be officially crazy if I admitted that I am kind of disappointed I have not yet had an extended power outage to use mine?
I'm surprised my chance came this soon.
All went well except the utility company did not call when power was restored. That may happen with some delay. Had to go up the road to see if neighbors had lights.
I was a bit conservative and turned the AC off before running the hot water heater. Max amp load imposed was 23 amps.
Ran it for 4 hours straight and only used 2 gallons of fuel so I am very happy with that.
All went well except the utility company did not call when power was restored. That may happen with some delay. Had to go up the road to see if neighbors had lights.
I was a bit conservative and turned the AC off before running the hot water heater. Max amp load imposed was 23 amps.
Ran it for 4 hours straight and only used 2 gallons of fuel so I am very happy with that.
- 737
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- Location
- Bothell, WA
- 400
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- Healdton Oklahoma/ SOOK
I have a pilot lite attached to bottom side of meter base. It is permanent feature. I can tell if my electric is on with glance when I pull in driveway.
JRM
Member
- 166
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- Brightwood, Oregon
My first run of the 803 also came way before i had planned, it was wired in just a few days prior and we were in the middle of a kiddos b day party (excuse to drink with friends) with a house full of people, I spiked 110% a few times with a kitchen full of crock pots, toaster oven, microwave, hot water heater, well pump, dishwasher, etc. It was also my first startup intoxicated too so cannot complain! I have 400A service to the house and purposely put "generator" stuff on only one panel, when the grid power kicks on my oven beeps and lets us all know.
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- 3,684
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- MA
Been looking for something like this! I use an interlock on my panel, but that should be uneffected by this installation. Thanks!
Haoleb
Member
- 197
- 7
- 18
- Location
- Raymond, Maine
Thanks for the link on the power alarm. I thought about wiring in some type of buzzer alarm to know when utility returns but this is much easier being that I would not need to tap the utility voltage. I do have a smart meter and I can go out and look at the meter to see if it is back on or not but that is also a hassle.
- 1,175
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- Guymon, OK
We wired our yard light only on the grid power side, that way when the yard light is on, grid power is back on. And it helps our local electric coop guys to know if we have power, or are running on jenny power.
LOL the utility coop automated call came at 6 am this morning. On top of that it had a long delay before automaman started to speak so I hung up the first time and my phone cut the call the second time. Third call back I realized it wasn't going to stop until I responded. Glad didn't rely on that system to return to grid.
I'm not sure that alarm will work for me after reading some of the reviews. My panel is flush in a sheet rock wall and the grid wires are in close proximity to other breakers and wires. If I try one I will order through HD or another local store so it can easily be returned.
Never crossed my mind the smart meter display would be blank in an outage. That would be easier to monitor than the neighbors lights.
A switched light on the grid side would be nice but not something I want to connect or pay to have installed. Yard lights are usually off in daylight so that would have limited usefulness.
I might try a no contact voltage tester to see if it will read on the main breaker.
I'm not sure that alarm will work for me after reading some of the reviews. My panel is flush in a sheet rock wall and the grid wires are in close proximity to other breakers and wires. If I try one I will order through HD or another local store so it can easily be returned.
Never crossed my mind the smart meter display would be blank in an outage. That would be easier to monitor than the neighbors lights.
A switched light on the grid side would be nice but not something I want to connect or pay to have installed. Yard lights are usually off in daylight so that would have limited usefulness.
I might try a no contact voltage tester to see if it will read on the main breaker.
- 737
- 14
- 18
- Location
- Bothell, WA
The alarm was pretty sensitive about having exactly all the white section of the wire wrapped around the feed. I suspect this is to be accurate in the presence of generator circuits. I missed a turn and it didn't detect the power the first time I wrapped it.
Triple Jim
Well-known member
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- North Carolina
The one I have has a sensitivity adjustment on its circuit board. I had to play with mine a little after I extended the sense wire with some shielded wire, but it works great now.