Generator Selection?

[grsthegreat]

As a dealer, can you match Lowes prices?

They show 3127 for the 13K and 3787 for the 16K. I'm just curious how much room this local dealer has.

. My prices are nearly the same, but you quoted the generator only. You want to get price on package deal. Generator plus transfer switch. Either way both I and you buying thru lowes have to pay sales tax. Lowes has free shipping, but i have to pay shipping UNLESS i order 4 units. When i was installing, id order 4-8 units at a time. Where i made some money is thru generac promotions like buy 5 generators get an 11kw for free. Things like that. Our prices are the same as box stores. They order $1,000,000 worth of generators so get a price break so get their units for less than i pay. Their margin is pretty small.

 

[Diggin It]

I'm yanking their system on the transfer switch. They have a 20% off promo for your first purchase on a new CC account with them. That knocks $100 off the $499 price for the RXSW100A3, so $399 and no interest if paid off in 6 months, which it will be.

I'll be doing that now and holding off on the genset for a few months to see if demand changes. Lowes shows them in stock and ready to ship, but this local dealer said the same thing you did upthread, 13 weeks + if ordered today. I can install the switch now and use it Manual with a portable generator on a cord, then get the bigger unit after the first of the year.

 

[grsthegreat]

I'm yanking their system on the transfer switch. They have a 20% off promo for your first purchase on a new CC account with them. That knocks $100 off the $499 price for the RXSW100A3, so $399 and no interest if paid off in 6 months, which it will be.

I'll be doing that now and holding off on the genset for a few months to see if demand changes. Lowes shows them in stock and ready to ship, but this local dealer said the same thing you did upthread, 13 weeks + if ordered today. I can install the switch now and use it Manual with a portable generator on a cord, then get the bigger unit after the first of the year.

so do you only have a 100 amp main breaker?

 

[Diggin It]

Yep. 100A main and meter. 200A would have been an extra upgrade 20 years ago when I did this initially.

 

[grsthegreat]

Weird.... i have not personally seen a 100 amp service for over 20 years. Heck, before i stopped wiring houses i was installing 600 and 800 amp residential service....single family homes. I had one house that had 800 ampsto the house and a separate 200 to handle ponds, waterfalls and miles of landscape lighting.

 

[Diggin It]

Hey, when I moved in, it was a 60A service with the old cloth service drop clamped to the house, no conduit or weatherhead. Ten space fuse panel and all cloth sheathed wire without ground.

I put a couple of boxes of Romex in over that first few months. New 20 space 100A panel, all new outlets, light fixture bases and switches. When I pulled the cloth stuff out, the insulation was so brittle, it all crumbled and I had mostly bare wires.

 

[grsthegreat]

Hey, when I moved in, it was a 60A service with the old cloth service drop clamped to the house, no conduit or weatherhead. Ten space fuse panel and all cloth sheathed wire without ground.

I put a couple of boxes of Romex in over that first few months. New 20 space 100A panel, all new outlets, light fixture bases and switches. When I pulled the cloth stuff out, the insulation was so brittle, it all crumbled and I had mostly bare wires.

over 30 years ago i rewired my sisters house in calif. had a 50 amp service with 6 screw in fuses... those were the days.

 

[coobie]

Let me check into it. I can see if theres a work around. Pm me the model and serial number And ill do some research.

Model #0055040 serial #5505049.Thanks,Frank..

 

[grsthegreat]

Model #0055040 serial #5505049.Thanks,Frank..

yours has a charger module actually inside the transfer switch. Generac does offer an upgraded charger, its 2.5 amp. However i will have to call them monday and see if its a true trickle charger. Your older style charger is long known to overcharge a battery.

 

[coobie]

yours has a charger module actually inside the transfer switch. Generac does offer an upgraded charger, its 2.5 amp. However i will have to call them monday and see if its a true trickle charger. Your older style charger is long known to overcharge a battery.

Thanks appreciate it.

 

[BrokenTrack]

over 30 years ago i rewired my sisters house in calif. had a 50 amp service with 6 screw in fuses... those were the days.

I have a house that was built in 1930 before electricity came through here. When it did finally arrive it had 60 amp service and only 6 outlet boxes. (4) were downstairs and (2) were upstairs.

The rest of the power went to the 50,000 bird chicken barn.

It has been upgraded now, but it still is a house that does not really work. I think I am going to gut it and build a kit home.

Edited to say: I have several houses, so this is not my primary home. Maybe one day one of my daughters will make a new home at the same site).

 

[TMGT]

yours has a charger module actually inside the transfer switch. Generac does offer an upgraded charger, its 2.5 amp. However i will have to call them monday and see if its a true trickle charger. Your older style charger is long known to overcharge a battery.

Would you be able to check mine also? It's already killed 1 battery in what seemed like a short time, guessing I have the same charger in the transfer switch.
Model: 0060531 Serial: 7324451

Thanks

 

[grsthegreat]

Would you be able to check mine also? It's already killed 1 battery in what seemed like a short time, guessing I have the same charger in the transfer switch.
Model: 0060531 Serial: 7324451

Thanks

you have a different generator system. Yours has the nexus controller, and charger is part of the controller. The only thing you could do is install a new controller which is not cheap. I have seen very few of the nexus units overcharge batteries. Do you have a battery warmer attached?

 

[TMGT]

you have a different generator system. Yours has the nexus controller, and charger is part of the controller. The only thing you could do is install a new controller which is not cheap. I have seen very few of the nexus units overcharge batteries. Do you have a battery warmer attached?

Nope, no warmer, the first battery might have just been bad. Good to know, I won't worry about it unless I have another early batt death.

I bought the gen used from a Generac dealer, it was installed but never used/activated.
Someone had started the install and when the dealer was called in to hook it up they saw that it was way undersized so it was taken out. Got it for a pretty good price with full warranty. But I wasn't sure how old it is since it was "used".

My dad did not have a great experience with his older 12kw Generac, catastrophic engine failure from an internal baffle coming lose and getting caught between the crank and cam gears. Now he just has a large propane portable he hooks up to the transfer switch.

 

[grsthegreat]

Weird. Its an older generator, probibly from around 2012, but not shown to be installed intil 2016.

 

[TMGT]

Weird. Its an older generator, probibly from around 2012, but not shown to be installed intil 2016.

Yup, I bought it in early 2014 and didn't get around until installing it fully until 2016. I figured it was a year or 2 old when I bought it from the installer.

 

[Diggin It]

Does the whip with the sensor and control wires to the transfer switch come with the genset or is that all field supplied? If field supplied, what do I need, Sealtight and THHN?

 

[grsthegreat]

Does the whip with the sensor and control wires to the transfer switch come with the genset or is that all field supplied? If field supplied, what do I need, Sealtight and THHN?

Some switches used to come with a 30 foot whip, but im pretty sure thats all a thing of the past. They sell a 10 conductor composite wire by the foot, 4 power transmission wires and 6 control wires. It all depends on the size of generator and distance between generator and transfer switch. Can also just use thhn individual wires in conduit.

 

[Diggin It]

They sell a 10 conductor composite wire by the foot, 4 power transmission wires and 6 control wires.

2AWG for the power? Control wires color coded the way they call out? And what, 12AWG or 14? I probably won't need more than 15', maybe 20', so curious how that prices out.

 

[Diggin It]

$6/ft or more from places that ship it. Hopefully I can find it for less at the local dealer. Schnazzy orange color must cost. Just like tractors.