Generator and electricity flow

[daybreak1998]

I have a friend who told me his nephew was advised that because he has a 220 plug on his generator it was possible for him to power up his house through the dryer plug. He was told to make sure to turn off the main in the circuit panel before hooking up a wire with a male plug on each end and he would be able to power his house.

Now my friend figures he can do a similar hook up using the outdoor plug (110 volt) by turning off the main and most of the circuit breakers in the panel except the refrigerators (2) and the lighting. He has propane fireplace for supplemental heat.

Am I wrong to think he would overload the 12/2 wire to that outside outlet. He was going to make up a wire with two male plugs to transfer power into the house from the generator on his covered deck?

Howdy,
As you can see from the answers given... NO! don't do it.

Anything can be done...
It does not cost a lot to do it correctly.
Your method will defualt any insurance claim.
Power company can shut you off.
Someone not knowing what you did can kill themselves or others.
Illegal.
Can someone else do it if your not around?

If you have a mainline panel (common find it everywhere type (Like Square D or GE)) there probably is a interlock kit for it. It actually accomplishes what you want to do, but safely. It locks out the main breaker while the generator breaker is on. The generator breaker has to be off for the main breaker to then be on. And, it's safe Interlock Kit installed

generator-transfer-switch-connection-choices

 

[Gale Hawkins]

5) Your insurance company will deny your claim if you burn your house down doing this.

Are you interested in waging on that BROAD statement or did you burn your house down this way.

 

[Ken]

Are you interested in waging on that BROAD statement or did you burn your house down this way.

We just had a death in this state and several ill due to son put a generator at parents house and told them not to shut garage doors. while running generator.
They were ill or dead next morning .
All the telling or pre planning some just know more than the warnings.

A small sized generator feeding back into the power lines increases the voltage to line voltage and repair crew getting shocked is not worth the trying to use all the different ways posible to connect.
Either have the proper installed breakers or have a power cord with outlets that can be brought into the house and used without disturbing the house power.
There is a reason the breakers are placed in metal box with door.
ken

 

[joshuabardwell]

Are you interested in waging on that BROAD statement or did you burn your house down this way.

I did not personally burn my house down on this, but I'll take that bet. You burn your house down and then I'll call them and tell them you did it specifically because you violated the NEC, and we'll see if they deny the claim. It's a sucker's bet!

 

[Gale Hawkins]

I did not personally burn my house down on this, but I'll take that bet. You burn your house down and then I'll call them and tell them you did it specifically because you violated the NEC, and we'll see if they deny the claim. It's a sucker's bet!

Just like if a person creates an accident and gets a DWI at the scene the insurance carrier ain't going to pay nobody nut'in.

 

[joshuabardwell]

Just like if a person creates an accident and gets a DWI at the scene the insurance carrier ain't going to pay nobody nut'in.

SHH! I'm about to make a lot of money off this rube.

 

[SlowPocono]

CurleyDave and daybreak1998, thank you very much.
That's exactly the sort of information I was hoping to get.
I suspected that was the solution but having you guys look at my situation and come to the same conclusion is a valuable confirmation for me.
Would you help me count on my fingers and let me know if I'm wrong when I figure that I'll need to remove the four (20, 15, 20, 15amp) single breakers on the top right.
Install one 2-pole 30amp breaker to take up the top two slots and wire that to the generator recepticle.
In the third and fourth slots, I'll put two, half width breakers to make up for the two 15 and the two 20ampers that I took out.

I recognize, of course, that I'll also need to buy one of those interlock gizmos. I found several that are supposed to work with that particular Square D configuration.
I don't expect that you have any recommendation for a particular lock, but if you do, kindly voice that as well.

Again, thanks for your help. Slap me if I'm stupid.

This looks like it will fit my budget very well.

 

[aczlan]

CurleyDave and daybreak1998, thank you very much.
That's exactly the sort of information I was hoping to get.
I suspected that was the solution but having you guys look at my situation and come to the same conclusion is a valuable confirmation for me.
Would you help me count on my fingers and let me know if I'm wrong when I figure that I'll need to remove the four (20, 15, 20, 15amp) single breakers on the top right.
Install one 2-pole 30amp breaker to take up the top two slots and wire that to the generator recepticle.
In the third and fourth slots, I'll put two, half width breakers to make up for the two 15 and the two 20ampers that I took out.
I recognize, of course, that I'll also need to buy one of those interlock gizmos. I found several that are supposed to work with that particular Square D configuration.
I don't expect that you have any recommendation for a particular lock, but if you do, kindly voice that as well.
Again, thanks for your help. Slap me if I'm stupid.
This looks like it will fit my budget very well.

Sounds like you have it under control. Make sure that the interlock you get lists your beaker box model number.

Aaron Z

 

[sdkubota]

Good chance he could burn his house down with the 110v feed as the breaker is on the wrong end to protect the wire. To power an entire house takes a 25kw generator and a cord the size of your wrist.

 

[Chooglin]

I bought mine from this company.
http://natramelec.com/

Here is another place, but a bit pricey.
Generator InterLock Kit

 

[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.