Things I personally think you should not do. 

I feel this page is necessary because of some of the questions I have been asked more than once.  I figure if I am being asked at least twice about something that I feel may not last too long even if it works at first then there may be more thinking of the same idea.

Please note that most of the things I will mention on this page I feel are from individuals trying to cut costs rather than a lack of common sense, or just being plain goofy.
Some of these people that have ask some of these questions may end up among some of the greatest inventers of all time
I mean how smart is flying a kite in an electrical storm with a key hanging off the string that you plan to reach out and touch to see what will happen?
Yep, good old Benjamin Franklin, clearly he was no dummy, but that stunt makes me wonder about "common sense".
Anyway, on to the list of scary (to me) ideas.

Some ideas I have heard about that I do not feel are safe:

  • Do not use Bailing Wire to secure your generator to the Yaw Mount.

  • Do not use Duct Tape to hold your generator to your mount.  I do not care if you use the whole roll or not.

  • Do not use reinforced or "stringy" boxing tape.  Whole roll or not.

  • Do not use dryer vent hose clamps, 1, 5, 20, or even 40 of them.

  • Do not use any form of glue or epoxy to mount the generator to the mount.

  • Do not use Nylon Zip Ties to hold you generator down.

  • Do not use steel shipping strap.  It may squeeze and hold heavy boxes on a pallet for shipping but it will not last.

  • Do not use Bungee Cords for mounting the generator OR for your guy wire mounting points.  Yes they will insulate the wires from drawing lighting but think about it. ;)

  • Do not use 1" pipe as your top piece of your tower.  I only recommend using 1 1/2" and only for the last 10 feet unsecured.  My test truck has a 10 foot piece anchored at 3 feet and the remaining 7 foot bows back almost 3 inches at 80 mph.  What do you think 1" or 1 1/4" would do?

  • Do not use Clothes Line for your guy wires.

  • Do not use Bailing Wire for your guy wires.

  • Do not use any form of nylon rope for permanent guys.  Works great for testing though.

  • Do not plug an automotive or RV DC to AC inverters output into a wall socket.  They are NOT Grid Tie inverter.  

These are the ones that I remember off of the top of my head, I will probably add more as I go through my email notes again.
Keep in mind that I feel some of these questions and ideas came about with valid reason and some may actually work at first but I strongly fear they may fail in time and then we get back to the ordinance thing again.
I also think that some of them were asked just to see what I would say.
Some of my customers are pranksters too. ;)

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