Generator and Well Pump

[Dusty Road]

RonMar,

I deleted my post about the 'professional' because it seemed kind of snippy on my part. In my original post I mentioned that the ground was present. In my understanding, the number of wires describing a pump (among other things) do not count the ground. But, you bring up the question that I have been trying to get an answer to the whole time-

I have a generator with a four prong outlet- hot, hot, neutral, and ground.
I have a two-wire 240v pump- hot, hot, ground

Can I directly wire my pump to my generator? In other words, do I need to concern myself with the fact that the neutral on the generator will not be hooked up to anything? I have a 4 prong 30amp male plug to connect to the generator and 30 feet of 10/3 outdoor wire. The pump is curently wired to the house using 10/3 wire connected to a 30 amp breaker and works fine.

I appreciate all the input on this issue. I would imagine that some of the problems associated with answering my questions are due to me not using the proper terminology and, with some peoples reluctance to offer advice on something that is not really an ideal solution to the problem. I am aware of the problems with backfeeding a house and aware of the dangers associated with generator usage. But, I'm not the kind of guy to go running to the phone book so I can pay someone to do something that I can do myself.

 

[aczlan]

Can I directly wire my pump to my generator?

Yes

In other words, do I need to concern myself with the fact that the neutral on the generator will not be hooked up to anything?

No, as long as you keep it that way.

I have a 4 prong 30amp male plug to connect to the generator and 30 feet of 10/3 outdoor wire. The pump is curently wired to the house using 10/3 wire connected to a 30 amp breaker and works fine.

ok, what I would do (note, I am NOT a licensed electrician, I did however work for one for ~1 year doing everything from adding a outlet to replacing fuse panels with breaker boxes) I would check the pinout of the plug on my generator and wire the 10/3 wire to the Hot, Hot and Ground terminals on the 4 pin plug. IF the 10/3 is 10/3 with ground, I would hook to all 4 of the terminals and go from there. I would NOT connect the Ground to the Neutral from the generator, that is asking for trouble in this case, I would also have a ground stake with 10 gauge or larger wire to hook the generator to (or if this is a drilled well, I would weld a bolt to the casing and use a wingnut to hold the ground to the casing)

I would also make certain that I had a foolproof way to disconnect the wire the generator is powering from anything that should not be powered (like the lines outside), one way to do this would be to put in a outlet that the utility power goes to and one that the generator goes to, and then plug the pump into one or the other.

YMMV, I am NOT a electrician, and these directions are advice only and I suggest consulting with a licensed electrician if you are unsure of how to wire this up.
Aaron Z

 

[RonMar]

Aczlan has a good thought. Wire your pump supply line to the the two hots and ground pins on the 4 prong plug. As he mentioned, a good idea to make this a usefull setup would be to put a 4 prong outlet, like the one on your generator, on your pump power switch box. Then that 4 prong plug on the supply line to the pump controller could either be plugged into the generator receptacle for emergency power, or into the pump power outlet when commercial power is available. You may of course need to make a longer pump power cable to reach a suitable location to run the generator safely without exhaust gas hazards.

I am assuming your generator also has some 120V outlets on it to power the other loads you mentioned. If not, you will need an outlet box or pigtail that has both the 120/240 outlets on it to allow you to power both.

 

[Dusty Road]

It works, of course. The generator is fine. I did connect the neutral wire of the the 10/3 to the neutral connection on the switch. The ground is attached to the house ground. 5500/8200 generator barely changed tone when the pump kicked on. I may be able to keep the gen plugged into the well along with the fridge. Now that emergency water supply is taken care of, I'm going to search for the parts for a more elegant installation. Sounds like I need a three way shut-off and a water tight recepticle for the outside of the well shed.

I really appreciate the input. I had a small generator for Gustav, but no running water. Now I should be good to go if Ike comes this way. Good luck to anyone else on the Gulf Coast. I hope it goes nowhere...

 

[Travelover]

You might want to check out the threads here on transfer switches. I put in a GenTran transfer switch myself, cheaply and very quickly.

Gentran Corporation: Generator Transfer switches for home & business

 

[dmccarty]

Our electrician added a 30amp connection to one of our panels on the house. There is a switch that allows us to be tied to the grid or the generator. I just use the circuit breakers in the house to power what needs to be powered. Pretty danged simple. The cost including his time and parts was $200ish. When it comes to power I don't play. It gets done right by someone who knows what they are doing.

A while back, a year or so ago, I priced out the parts for building the generator cord. The plugs were $20-30. EACH! With the copper prices I would hate to see what it would cost today. Ended up buying a 25 foot cord for $150 including tax and shipping. A lot of money but the parts were going to be near $100. Might as well pay a few extra and have it done right.

Hopefully its all a moot point anyway. Figure we have $1,000 in the generator, it runs on the DR Mower engine, power cord, and physical installation. AND I HOPE TO NEVER EVER USE IT. It will be money well spent if its never used!!

Later,
Dan

 

[jinjimbob]

You can get a 30 Amp , 6 circuit transfer switch kit for less than $400, you can install it in a few hours. Or pay someone to install it, much much safer.

Reliance Controls Transfer Switch Kit — 6 Circuit, Model# 31406CRK | Transfer Switches | Northern Tool + Equipment

 

[Travelover]

You can get a 30 Amp , 6 circuit transfer switch kit for less than $400, you can install it in a few hours. Or pay someone to install it, much much safer.

Reliance Controls Transfer Switch Kit 6 Circuit, Model# 31406CRK | Transfer Switches | Northern Tool + Equipment

These are the same as the GenTrans but more expensive. Compare the pictures.

 

[jinjimbob]

These are the same as the GenTrans but more expensive. Compare the pictures.

Similar, I posted a link to a 'kit', has the cable and the external inlet box. These small ietms really add up.

Go with a minimum of a 30A switch, I'm replacing a Gen-Tran 20A switch at my house.

 

[Soundguy]

I've been toting my pto get out to my property.. I have hot, hot, N, G on my genny 4-way plug.

G goes to a ground rod I have driven intot he ground.. N goes tot he n-buss in the box.. which is bonded anyway.. and hots to hots... been running my pump onmy farm like that for a few weeks now with no issues. From my genny paperwork, i believe it's n and g are bonded as well..

soundguy

RonMar,

I deleted my post about the 'professional' because it seemed kind of snippy on my part. In my original post I mentioned that the ground was present. In my understanding, the number of wires describing a pump (among other things) do not count the ground. But, you bring up the question that I have been trying to get an answer to the whole time-

I have a generator with a four prong outlet- hot, hot, neutral, and ground.
I have a two-wire 240v pump- hot, hot, ground

Can I directly wire my pump to my generator? In other words, do I need to concern myself with the fact that the neutral on the generator will not be hooked up to anything? I have a 4 prong 30amp male plug to connect to the generator and 30 feet of 10/3 outdoor wire. The pump is curently wired to the house using 10/3 wire connected to a 30 amp breaker and works fine.

I appreciate all the input on this issue. I would imagine that some of the problems associated with answering my questions are due to me not using the proper terminology and, with some peoples reluctance to offer advice on something that is not really an ideal solution to the problem. I am aware of the problems with backfeeding a house and aware of the dangers associated with generator usage. But, I'm not the kind of guy to go running to the phone book so I can pay someone to do something that I can do myself.