On Thu, 4 Jan 2018 22:48:47 -0500, "Mr. Luddite"
wrote:

I didn't know it was illegal - at least not here.Â* If you are
effectively, and correctly, taking yourself "off the grid" you should be
able to do whatever you want.


It's illegal everywhere I know of ... meaning "not to code". As someone
mentioned there's a risk to line workers who are restoring power if you
stupidly leave the main on while using your generator. I suspect they
are careful to check for "hot" lines that are supposed to be dead though.


Since the codes are usually adopted as law, that makes it illegal.
I agree the power crews should be using safety procedures that prevent
them from getting killed but people screw up. You are more likely to
get your neighbor who is screwing around trying to get his gen set
going with a suicide cord or worse. I was amazed at the things people
were doing around here. One guy was so far out of whack, I told him to
stop trying to feed his panel and just use cords. He is a
fireman/paramedic who should know better too.
In retrospect I think he had a generator that did not have the neutral
bonded, using an existing cable that assumed they were (only
connecting to the generator ground). His neutral to the panel was
floating. He had already blown some stuff up by the time I got there.