Safety Switch

The new Quick-Connect Double-Throw safety switch from Eaton Corporation’s Cutler-Hammer brand is designed to offer a safe and efficient connection between mobile generators or portable equipment rated from 30 to 800 amps to a facility’s electrical system.

The manufacturer sees the safety switch as part of an alternative to connection methods that can result in unsafe installations and damaged equipment — installations that occur under emergency conditions caused by blackouts or power interruptions.

The product is a manual device consisting of two interlocked switches, vertically aligned, and wired such that a generator is plugged into the switch through a receptacle, which can be a pin and sleeve device from various manufacturers or an individual receptacle one that connects each wire separately.

Eaton also offers the generator quick connect switchboard, which provides a high voltage connection point in ratings from 400 to 4000 amps for large truck-mounted mobile generators at critical facilities like hospitals.