Finished & Tested New Generator Installation

[tmajor]

Was wondering where you buy the plate for the breaker box?

They are available on different sites, however they are available at Lowe's and I believe, Home Depot. They may not be available in store, but they can be special ordered. The Square D plates/kits are available in two configurations, for the QO panels ... one for the M1 main breaker (QOCRBGK1) and one for the M2 main breaker (QOCGK2). The M1 main (70 to 125 amps) is about the size of the D/P branch breakers, while the M2 is a much larger main (150 to 225 amps). Both about $55.00, made by Square D. Also, there are different plates or part numbers for the HomeLine series load centers. They all are probably available through most electrical supply stores, as well.

There are some unapproved knock-offs.

 

[LarryD]

Quick question. ( And I know it's not the safe way pictured abouve ) If I have a 230v outlet on my basement wall hooked to a 40 amp breaker, Can I manually shut down the " Main " and all the breakers and plug my generator into the 230v outlet and then just turn on the breakers that i need? I know about pushing power upstream if I don't shut down the main but I'm just curious if it would work and if it would be safe. Thanks

Is that a 4-wire plug? 2 hots, 1 nuetral, 1 ground.
Is that going to be a male/male plug, ie. could be exposed voltage.
For just a few bucks you could be a whole lot safer.

 

[chopped]

THANK you Sir..

 

[yomax4]

Work? Yes

Safe? No

With the one posted above, The switchover slides to the left to turn off main and turns on 30 amp breaker. Wouldn't doing it manually be the same? Not that that is what I will do. I will get the one in the photo. I guess my real question is, Is the above system nothing more than a plate that turns off the main and turns on the 30 amp breaker so power can be back fed into the panel to run certain need items.

 

[grsthegreat]

With the one posted above, The switchover slides to the left to turn off main and turns on 30 amp breaker. Wouldn't doing it manually be the same? Not that that is what I will do. I will get the one in the photo. I guess my real question is, Is the above system nothing more than a plate that turns off the main and turns on the 30 amp breaker so power can be back fed into the panel to run certain need items.

yes, its a mechanical interlock that prevents the generator breaker AND the house breaker from running at the same time, thus preventing a backfeed.

 

[yomax4]

yes, its a mechanical interlock that prevents the generator breaker AND the house breaker from running at the same time, thus preventing a backfeed.

Thanks everyone for the clarification. I wonder why people in my area add the extra panel and wire into the most needed breakers during an outage? The generator panels I was looking at were $350.00. I will definately go with the type in this post. Thanks again.

 

[Travelover]

....... Wouldn't doing it manually be the same? ..........

The difference is one is nearly foolproof. Doing it manually with no interlock can cause all kinds of nasty problems if a mistake is made, as has been discussed here ad infinitum.

 

[tmajor]

yes, its a mechanical interlock that prevents the generator breaker AND the house breaker from running at the same time, thus preventing a backfeed.

That is true, but also over simplified.

If the interlock kit wasn't in place, there are many options for an unsafe condition. As an example:

If the main doesn't get shut off: The gen power could feed out the utility lines, making it unsafe for any linemen working on the lines. This same 220 volts fed back to the transformer would be jacked up by the transformer to the original line high voltage. 35K volts or whatever.

If the utility power was to come back on, all of the male connectors from the panel to the generator could become "hot" unless the gen breaker was thrown off.

Let's say the gen ran out of fuel, you go to get a can of gas, wife/son sees that the house next door has gotten power, they flip on the main, you come home, they announce power is back on, you pull the male plug from gen, you are now holding a 220 volt source with male connector in your hand. Or, worst yet, wife or son pull plug from gen, not knowing it's HOT!

 

[grsthegreat]

Thanks everyone for the clarification. I wonder why people in my area add the extra panel and wire into the most needed breakers during an outage? The generator panels I was looking at were $350.00. I will definately go with the type in this post. Thanks again.

Also to do it to code here in Idaho, a panel has to be rated to the generator, in other words if the homeowner has a 30 amp generator the panel it feeds HAS to calculate out to handle 30 amp input without a drag on the generator and without manually throwing breakers. Thats why we use a smaller generator panel. A homeowner can get by with alot of stuff that us contractors cannot. Too bad cause the manual switch overrides shown here is a nice cheap option..... and it used to be legal here in Idaho till about 3 years ago.

 

[tmajor]

... a panel has to be rated to the generator, in other words if the homeowner has a 30 amp generator the panel it feeds HAS to calculate out to handle 30 amp input without a drag on the generator and without manually throwing breakers. Thats why we use a smaller generator panel. ...

I was thinking about the above. While I don't disagree and I do follow the state's thinking, in my mind, it seems that between the generator's own 30 amp breaker and the Load Center's "30 amp generator breaker", "overload" should be impossible.

The 6.5kw gen, at full load, would be capable of 29.54 amps. A load, much beyond that, should trip "a breaker". The gen's surge capability is 8kw, which would provide 36.36 amps, which should trip a breaker.

Bottom line: It seems as if, it would be very hard to overload the generator.