Generator and electricity flow

[BeezFun]

Good chance he could burn his house down with the 110v feed as the breaker is on the wrong end to protect the wire.

There is no "wrong end", the breaker will trip if current exceeds it's rated capacity so there's no danger to the wire.

 

[sdkubota]

There is no "wrong end", the breaker will trip if current exceeds it's rated capacity so there's no danger to the wire.

It would still carry current from the generator to the breaker. Whether or not it trips is irrelevant and would only protect the house side.

 

[BeezFun]

Whether or not it trips is irrelevant and would only protect the house side.

That's backwards. The generator is connected to a house receptacle, the receptacle is wired to the breaker via conduit running through the house. So if the breaker trips, that entire circuit run from that receptacle through the house to the breaker is still hot because it's connected to the generator. The only thing that is protected is the service panel bus, because the breaker is tripped.

 

[hr3]

It would still carry current from the generator to the breaker. Whether or not it trips is irrelevant and would only protect the house side.

Don't most generators have breakers ????

 

[crbr]

Thans for the picture

 

[aczlan]

That's backwards. The generator is connected to a house receptacle, the receptacle is wired to the breaker via conduit running through the house. So if the breaker trips, that entire circuit run from that receptacle through the house to the breaker is still hot because it's connected to the generator. The only thing that is protected is the service panel bus, because the breaker is tripped.

You size the run to the genset so that the breaker at the house trips before you huer the wire going to the genset. As for it being hot, that is why generators have a breaker on the genset itself.

Aaron Z

 

[BeezFun]

You size the run to the genset so that the breaker at the house trips before you huer the wire going to the genset. As for it being hot, that is why generators have a breaker on the genset itself.

Yes, completely agree. The question was what role the house breaker played in protecting the wiring. The house breaker protects the wiring on that circuit once it opens, even though the generator continues to run. But the circuit is still hot and someone could get hurt or short out the wires. In that case, as you correctly point out, the breaker on the generator should trip if there's an overload condition, and if it's a GFI, hopefully protect someone who touches the wrong thing.

 

[hosspuller]

Don't most generators have breakers ????

The genset breaker will protect the genset. The house wiring is unprotected. example: 30 amp genset breaker & recept. backfeeding a 20 amp outlet. 10 amps of overload to heat the wire nice & hot inside the walls. The overload is easy to have since you're plugging everything into every receptacle on that circuit.

 

[aczlan]

The genset breaker will protect the genset. The house wiring is unprotected. example: 30 amp genset breaker & recept. backfeeding a 20 amp outlet. 10 amps of overload to heat the wire nice & hot inside the walls. The overload is easy to have since you're plugging everything into every receptacle on that circuit.

And that is why the breaker connecting the generator to the panel should be sized for the wire going to the genset...


Aaron Z

 

[joshuabardwell]

And that is why the breaker connecting the generator to the panel should be sized for the wire going to the genset...

The issue is the wire in the wall, which is sized for the service breaker, but which is being driven by the generator over its capacity, by appliances on the same circuit. Because the appliances are on the same circuit as the genny, there is no current flow through the breaker, and the wire is unprotected, except by the genny's breaker which is too large.