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Arlen G. Holder Arlen G. Holder is offline
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Default How the heck does a typical home transfer switch work?

On Wed, 17 Jul 2019 20:36:50 -0400, wrote:

I had no problem finding the Generac wiring diagram for one switch but
nothing for two. That is why I am asking if there are 2 emergency
panels.
The switch itself is a garden variety DPDT "non SDS" transfer switch.


Thanks for offering suggestions and asking questions.

I didn't wire it, but I'm pretty sure this is standard stuff.

It's just typical stuff I don't know - but I'm sure it's to typical code,
which means everyone wires them similarly I would think since there's no
rocket science going on.

I "think" the reason for the two panels is that each panel supplies half
the house, which seems to be how it works when I pull the Buss fuses.

But that's exactly why I asked if anyone knew how the TYPICAL setup works,
since this has to be as typical as typical gets for such things, given it
has to be to code which means everyone does it similarly.

Back to your question, I don't know what an "emergency panel" is, as
there's nothing "emergency" about this. PG&E power goes out once a month
out here, for about a day on average, for about 10 to 12 times a year,
where this setup isn't flipping those two fist-sized solenoids
automatically.

I can manually flip them, and the setup works - but not automatically - but
I'm NOT asking about that - as the problem will literally scream out where
it is if I only knew how these things are typically wired.

Googling for what you mean by 'emergency panel", it "seems" that what you
mean by "emergency panel" is the same as what I mean by "transfer switch",
where I get the name of "transfer switch" right off the boxes themselves.

In short, I "think" this is set up as typical as typical can be, which
means anyone who knows how these things are set up would be able to explain
it, where I get Jeff's point that I can follow the wires, but that still
doesn't tell me WHAT each thing does - just where the wires go (and there
are a zillion of them).

I "think" the two panels are for two sides of the house, where I "assume"
one panel has one hot and one neutral, while the other panel, I assume, has
another hot and another neutral.

Otherwise, why would the two panels be so exactly symmetric?