Very nice Ray. That is a great investment. Those switches are not cheap. I spent the extra dough several years ago and had my brother wire one in for me. Now all I do is flip the switch from line to gen., plug the gen. in and start it up. I have a 5000 watt gen. and can run well pump, furnace, fridge, and a few other things. We usually rotate between the large demand stuff though. It is a nice feeling knowing I can go for weeks without power if need be. I do need to top off the gas supply over the next few weeks for winter back up.
Yea my gen runs the full house, furnace and all so no problems there. I was speaking to a lineman the other day about backfeeding he said its one of his biggest fears when hes working on downed lines.
Jeremy you're doing just fine and giving good information! Indeed an interlock is cheaper and like you I run a small generator so I decided to keep it simple this was a fool proof way to use the generator by my family members with one upside and that is you will know when power comes back on when a light etc. turns on that isn't run by the generator. I also run my generator once a month with a load by plugging into the outside inlet box and just turning the transfer switch from line to generator. I just run the well pump and furnace while someone takes a shower then flip back to line when done.. You don't need to touch the service panel to use the generator which is a plus in my opinion.. Ray
I run my gen once every month or two but not under load.... any reason to run it on a load? It would be nice to know when power is back on and I can kill the gen, anyway to safely rig a device or light to the mains?
Load is recommended and I have a feeling it will help keep the slip rings clean by adding some load plus you will know the generator still works with load plus adding some load would add some heat to keep the electrical system drier.. Just guesses on my part.. Ray
Load also puts residual magnetism back into the armature windings. Generators that sit totally idle for long periods of time can lose that and have a hard time exciting the field and generating power once they are running again. Easy fix however.
Good point MM you might have something there.. Adding load would also add heat and keep the windings dry which could lead to problems. Now I need to find out lol.. If I find something I will post it here.. Ray
Thanks for all of the info, I was unaware of the interlock option. I am FAR from an electrician and would NEVER backfeed my box. During Sandy, we had 2 guys on the pole up the street knocked clear out of their buck trucks because someone had their gene rigged to the pole. They were 2 guys from Chicago, here to help us and someone almost killed them. Yes, I was told that my 7500 would run the whole house, we do have an electric hot water heater but that is in a completly different panel in the laundry room (with the furnace, washer and dryer) that was built long after the rest of the house. I can always heat water on the grill or on the stove, I just need the well pump and holding tank pump to GET water. We would only need a few lights, water, the fridge and the freezer, well below the load for my gene, or so I have been told. Trying to get a contractor here is the issue now as everyone finally got their Sandy insurance checks so these guys are hard to find right now.
My 7000W runs my full house and I have a big house (furnace, well pump, fridge, big screen and lights) so you should be good! Pics? Im intrigued....
Sure... Why not? If there are bad things lurking in these panels, I'd like to know about it. Just remember, I didn't do it.
It is connected to the mains so when the power goes out he flips the switch to the gong and turns off his main and runs the generator. When the power comes back the bell goes off telling him powers on until he flips the switch to stop it. It very smart setup and I will be doing something similar with mine
BTW: this is a 1260sq ft single story ranch. 3 tiny bedrooms. There is enough wiring in this place to run a house three times this size.
Does it do anymore than leaving a light or the tv on? The switch usually does not get wired to everything in the house. So when power comes back on if you leave something on that is not wired to the breakers the generator is wired to......... Does it cost more dough?
Costs more than a light bulb but it was all here when I bought the shack. The advantage is if you were to shut off the mains during an outage to protect from a surge when power is restored. You would not have power anywhere inside the house if your mains are open. The genny is brawny enough to power the whole damm place and then some as long as you keep it fed. I would rather have it feed the whole panel but it is what it is. It will run two 12k, and one 6k window AC with enough nut left over to start the deep well pump.
I know with my setup I have a Interlock so once the power goes out I flip off the main breaker, move the interlock and flip on the generator breaker(When it is setup this way there is no way to know if the main has power to it). With the setup he has the wire is before the breaker on the main line in (he also mentioned that the line is protected by Edison base fuse) and goes to the gong.
It will work however the wire from the main is unprotected to the fuse which could pose a major fire hazard in the event of a short before the fuse and the main lug is rated for only one wire.. Just saying it is a code violation.. Ray
