Generator wiring

[strykerAKAmack]

Legalities aside ,
on the mains , add a light bulb pigtail that shows that you have power on the mains (it is wired before the breaker so you can see incoming power from street)
So when power goes out you turn off your main disconnect
{light bulb is off , it's on when you have street power}
generator on ....
power comes back on {light bulb comes back on} turn off generator then turn mains back on .
As long as you never have generator running and pigtail light is on with the mains turned off
you will never backfeed to the street
So light off main off run generator
light on main on generator off

 

[Fuddyduddy1952]

I forgot to mention that I have had peoples power shut off for having setups like good ole Fuddy has .
animal

There are psychiatrists available who will provide better assistance with concerns such as this than electricians. Believe me you'll be so much happier getting such things out of your mind!
Or...carry on driving yourself over the edge.

 

[SonomaCountyGentleman]

This is a little off topic, but I bet some of you know the answer. I just bought a house built in 1979. It has a generator hook-up, but the realtor said it has never been used--not part of the issue. It was installed and wired by a reputable local electrician. Attached to the generator cable connection box is a 12-circuit load panel with a double 60 being incoming power from the main load center and a double 20 being incoming from the generator connection. The remaining 12 breakers (some are tandems) are wired to individual circuits in the main panel.

What this amounts to is circuit A being a black and white wire leaving the main panel, (but still long enough to go around the perimeter of the panel as originally wired) , but powered by a yellow (or any other color) wire from a breaker in the gen panel to the black wire, and a white wire from the gen panel to the white wire in the circuit A. With 12 out-going breakers in the gen panel there are 24 additional wires entering the main panel and wire-nutted to the existing black and white out-going wires PLUS there are circuits in the main panel that are not connected to the gen panel. The congestion of wires in the main panel is beyond anything I have ever seen.

Despite having power outages a few times per year, I have never felt it necessary to buy a generator, and I have no experience with them. I would think that a generator would just push juice into the main panel replacing what normally comes from the grid. Clearly the gen won't put out the everyday amperage, so the homeowner needs to determine what he wants to run--the water pump, freezer, refrig and furnace , but not every light and appliance in the house.

I would love to disconnect (and ultimately remove) all connections to individual circuits from the gen panel to the main panel. I am not an electrician, but I feel perfectly comfortable inside a 30 circuit 150 amp panel. Is there some good reason why I must retain this multi-colored bowl of spaghetti in my load center?

If you are going to wire a generator to the main power supply you need to do it through a transfer switch. So that the grid connection does not become energized by the generator. Any licensed electrician will know how to do this.

 

[tree grower]

I wonder what that smaller box is in the shadows to the upper right of the bigger panel?

That is the disconnect from a separate meter for off-peak power to the hot water heater.

 

[tree grower]

I am the OP, but have been away from this page for a while. Thanks for all the feedback, both targeted and helpful as well as a few digressions. Let me offer a few responses:
First, I don't plan to do anything significant with this set-up because I have no experience with it.

Second, both panels are open, and I have to visit each one every day. None of the circuits are correctly labelled, so I have notebooks at each panel in which I draw schematics and make notes. A major frustration is that several of the circuit runs leave the main panel, rise through the gable end of the house into the attic, run to JBs on pedestals attached to ceiling joists, then branch into sub-circuits (??) which descend through the partitions to receptacles, switches, and fixtures. Complicating this arrangement is the fact that four circuits are fed into two four-wire Romex cables, and at the JB in the attic one sub-circuit is from black and white and one circuit is from red and white. If you are as annoyed as me at this point, be aware that 12" of cellulose insulation has been blown in over the original 6" of pink stuff and all the visible (now invisible) NM cables.

As I renovate and up-grade the house, all new wiring is attached to the cellar ceiling joists, and UP through partitions, not down. When all is said and done, there will be several boxes which just contain wires with wire nuts on them so a subsequent owner will know they non-functioning. At this point I will call an electrician who is experienced with back-up generators to explain what I have , and correct it.

 

[etpm]

I am the OP, but have been away from this page for a while. Thanks for all the feedback, both targeted and helpful as well as a few digressions. Let me offer a few responses:
First, I don't plan to do anything significant with this set-up because I have no experience with it.

Second, both panels are open, and I have to visit each one every day. None of the circuits are correctly labelled, so I have notebooks at each panel in which I draw schematics and make notes. A major frustration is that several of the circuit runs leave the main panel, rise through the gable end of the house into the attic, run to JBs on pedestals attached to ceiling joists, then branch into sub-circuits (??) which descend through the partitions to receptacles, switches, and fixtures. Complicating this arrangement is the fact that four circuits are fed into two four-wire Romex cables, and at the JB in the attic one sub-circuit is from black and white and one circuit is from red and white. If you are as annoyed as me at this point, be aware that 12" of cellulose insulation has been blown in over the original 6" of pink stuff and all the visible (now invisible) NM cables.

As I renovate and up-grade the house, all new wiring is attached to the cellar ceiling joists, and UP through partitions, not down. When all is said and done, there will be several boxes which just contain wires with wire nuts on them so a subsequent owner will know they non-functioning. At this point I will call an electrician who is experienced with back-up generators to explain what I have , and correct it.

It sounds like you are doing what you can to correct previous questionable wiring. I have had to take wires out of service and I did what you plan to do, cut any bare wire off if the wire will never be needed again and screw on a wire nut over the insulation. I also then wrap in high quality electrical tape, just so the termination is obvious. And always make sure, like you are going to do, that the terminated wire is in a junction box. Way too often this is not done. Good for you trying to make sure all your wiring is safe.
Eric

 

[RjCorazza]

Thoroughly and correctly labeling breakers is a chore even on a properly installed electrical system. We bought our house new in '98 and I laboriously labeled each breaker with exactly what it controls, down to the outlet.
I also transferred the wiring info to a cad drawing I made years ago of the house, utilities, and landscape details.

 

[MossRoad]

It also helps to write which breaker # controls a switch or outlet on the inside of the cover with a sharpie marker.

 

[tree grower]

Thoroughly and correctly labeling breakers is a chore even on a properly installed electrical system. We bought our house new in '98 and I laboriously labeled each breaker with exactly what it controls, down to the outlet.
I also transferred the wiring info to a cad drawing I made years ago of the house, utilities, and landscape details.

When I wired the house we just left I drew a diagram of every circuit which showed every box and every door and window, and labelled every breaker. No boxes were served from others nearby just because they were close--logic and troubleshoot-ability were paramount. I am also a big fan of sub-panels. When given a choice, I do not run entrance cable into a big panel with a main breaker. I run the entrance cable to a main disconnect with subpanels branching off as necessary. I may very well do that sometime in the current house.

 

[grsthegreat]

im a fan of sub panels also. have one subpanel in basement, main panel in garage, another sub panel in laundry room (old generator panel) and a subpanel on other side of main level of house.