DIYbanter - View Single Post - Electrical (gen-set) question

Pete C.

wrote:

On Sep 17, 11:38 am, "Bill Marrs" wrote:
If a person had two small 110VAC generators. Ganged the commons and fed one
generator into each leg of a 220VAC single phase circuit, would it work?
I'm
thinking 220v well pump, small transformer type welder, clothes dryer etc.

If it would work, would the two gen-sets need to be the same size?

There is probably some simple reason why this is a really bad idea, but I
don't have
enough electrical background to see it.

Thanks,

Bill

Bill.
What the others have written is true. However, if you are buying new
generators, look at the ones for RV type use that are actually
generators that run solid state inverters that allow two to be
connected together. One as master, the other as slave. The electronics
are connected by cable to allow both to sync together and provide
combined power. And yes, they are the same size.

Paul

The Honda EU series and also Yamaha equivalents. Actually the only
connection between them is paralleling the outputs. There is a
perception that because you are supposed to use a special paralleling
cable set, there are some control signals on it, but that is not the
case.

If you look at the schematics, the parallel cable connections directly
connect to the inverter output. The reason for the special cable set is
simply safety - the shrouded banana plugs prevent you from potentially
contacting the live output connections if you plug / unplug them.

A "suicide" cable with two regular 5-15 plugs will work properly, but
presents the safety hazard potential to have a live male plug. Many
people operate them this way to save a buck over buying the parallel
cable kit. Many smarter people order shrouded banana plugs and make
their own safety parallel cable set to save a buck.

Of course you still have the issue of 240V, since these are 120V
generators. You'd need a step-up transformer if you really needed 240V.

Pete C.