Good idea on posting to alt.home.repair also.

So that outdoor inlet that I linked to is $53. I saw some L14-30
flanged inlets on ebay for $12 plus $4 s&h
(http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=110079121868). The
trouble I am having is finding a outdoor 3R or better rated box that
would accept a flanged inlet. Does anyone have any suggestions here.
If I can find such a box for even $20, it would still be a savings over
the $53 Gen-Tran.

Also, are my wiring assumptions correct? Common neutral and each
positive leg to each duplex outlet?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

Speedy Jim wrote:
wrote:

satellite_chris wrote:

I am planning to install a power inlet box on the side of my house to
accept an L14-30 connection from my generator's twist lock receptacle
L14-30R. Here is the particular outdoor enclosure that I plan to use:
http://www.gen-tran.com/eshop/10Expa...ductCode=14302

From there I would run a small piece of conduit from that input box to
a new electrical box on the opposite side of the wall in the house. I
plan to wire a separate duplex outlet to each leg of the 220 with all
the neutrals connected to the common neutral. This set of outlets
would obviously be in no way connected to the rest of the house's
wiring system and I would use a different color of outlets. Would this
be up to code?

The whole concept here is to have a convenient way of bringing the
generator power in to the house without having to leave any doors or
windows open to allow an extension cord in. These 4 outlets would be
in a convenient location in the house where I can plug in my critical
electrical items.

Thanks in advance.

Chris


I'm not an electrician and don't know whether you idea would be up to
code or not. One question I would have is what you are going to do with
the ground wire.

What you are planning sounds like a heck of a lot of work and it won't
be all that useful when you get done. I wonder if there's some way that
you could (legally) connect your generator directly to your service
entrance box via some sort of inexpensive, manual transfer switch?



The gennie absolutely must be grounded (to earth) and the
Neutral bonded to Ground. Rather than sticking a pipe in the
gound, consider running an equipment ground to the grounding
point used by the house service entrance.

But your idea to run a conduit into the house for dedicated
receptacles sounds good, since it won't in any way be connected
to the incoming power line.

"inexpensive, manual transfer switch?" They are neither
inexpensive nor simple. Done properly means a lot of
tricky work.

For more opinions on this setup, post over to: alt.home.repair

Jim

satellite_chris wrote:
Good idea on posting to alt.home.repair also.

So that outdoor inlet that I linked to is $53. I saw some L14-30
flanged inlets on ebay for $12 plus $4 s&h
(http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=110079121868). The
trouble I am having is finding a outdoor 3R or better rated box that
would accept a flanged inlet. Does anyone have any suggestions here.
If I can find such a box for even $20, it would still be a savings over
the $53 Gen-Tran.

Also, are my wiring assumptions correct? Common neutral and each
positive leg to each duplex outlet?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

Speedy Jim wrote:
wrote:

satellite_chris wrote:

I am planning to install a power inlet box on the side of my house to
accept an L14-30 connection from my generator's twist lock receptacle
L14-30R. Here is the particular outdoor enclosure that I plan to use:
http://www.gen-tran.com/eshop/10Expa...ductCode=14302

From there I would run a small piece of conduit from that input box to
a new electrical box on the opposite side of the wall in the house. I
plan to wire a separate duplex outlet to each leg of the 220 with all
the neutrals connected to the common neutral. This set of outlets
would obviously be in no way connected to the rest of the house's
wiring system and I would use a different color of outlets. Would this
be up to code?

The whole concept here is to have a convenient way of bringing the
generator power in to the house without having to leave any doors or
windows open to allow an extension cord in. These 4 outlets would be
in a convenient location in the house where I can plug in my critical
electrical items.

Thanks in advance.

Chris

I'm not an electrician and don't know whether you idea would be up to
code or not. One question I would have is what you are going to do with
the ground wire.

What you are planning sounds like a heck of a lot of work and it won't
be all that useful when you get done. I wonder if there's some way that
you could (legally) connect your generator directly to your service
entrance box via some sort of inexpensive, manual transfer switch?


The gennie absolutely must be grounded (to earth) and the
Neutral bonded to Ground. Rather than sticking a pipe in the
gound, consider running an equipment ground to the grounding
point used by the house service entrance.

But your idea to run a conduit into the house for dedicated
receptacles sounds good, since it won't in any way be connected
to the incoming power line.

"inexpensive, manual transfer switch?" They are neither
inexpensive nor simple. Done properly means a lot of
tricky work.

For more opinions on this setup, post over to: alt.home.repair

Jim


Jim
You may be behind the curve here. There is an interlock kit available
from at least two major service equipment manufacturers that interlocks
the main breaker with a two pole breaker that controls power from the
generator. The kit cost around fifty dollars.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison

Tom Horne, Electrician wrote:

SNIP

Jim
You may be behind the curve here. There is an interlock kit available
from at least two major service equipment manufacturers that interlocks
the main breaker with a two pole breaker that controls power from the
generator. The kit cost around fifty dollars.


No, I'm well aware of them. The "kit" may be $50,
which gets you some mechanical parts, but that doesn't
address the complexity of the wiring that needs to be done
and it presumes that OP has the "correct" Main breaker in place.

They are a neat idea though and a good solution to the
whole house transfer switch problem if one were building
from scratch.

Jim

Speedy Jim wrote:
Tom Horne, Electrician wrote:

SNIP

Jim
You may be behind the curve here. There is an interlock kit available
from at least two major service equipment manufacturers that
interlocks the main breaker with a two pole breaker that controls
power from the generator. The kit cost around fifty dollars.


No, I'm well aware of them. The "kit" may be $50,
which gets you some mechanical parts, but that doesn't
address the complexity of the wiring that needs to be done
and it presumes that OP has the "correct" Main breaker in place.

They are a neat idea though and a good solution to the
whole house transfer switch problem if one were building
from scratch.

Jim

Jim
The wiring isn't at all complex. A four wire cable is run to a flanged
inlet that is cut into the bottom of any surface mount 4" X 4" X 4"
Weather proof box. The black and the red go to the interlocked two pole
breaker. The white and the green go to there respective buss bars.
About a third of the homes built in the last fifteen years have
compatible main breaker panels.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison

On Jan 20, 1:52 pm, "Tom Horne, Electrician"
wrote:
satellite_chris wrote:
Good idea on posting to alt.home.repair also.

So that outdoor inlet that I linked to is $53. I saw some L14-30
flanged inlets on ebay for $12 plus $4 s&h
(http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...=110079121868). The
trouble I am having is finding a outdoor 3R or better rated box that
would accept a flanged inlet. Does anyone have any suggestions here.
If I can find such a box for even $20, it would still be a savings over
the $53 Gen-Tran.

Also, are my wiring assumptions correct? Common neutral and each
positive leg to each duplex outlet?

Thanks in advance,
Chris

Speedy Jim wrote:
wrote:

satellite_chris wrote:

I am planning to install a power inlet box on the side of my house to
accept an L14-30 connection from my generator's twist lock receptacle
L14-30R. Here is the particular outdoor enclosure that I plan to use:
http://www.gen-tran.com/eshop/10Expa...ductCode=14302

From there I would run a small piece of conduit from that input box to
a new electrical box on the opposite side of the wall in the house. I
plan to wire a separate duplex outlet to each leg of the 220 with all
the neutrals connected to the common neutral. This set of outlets
would obviously be in no way connected to the rest of the house's
wiring system and I would use a different color of outlets. Would this
be up to code?

The whole concept here is to have a convenient way of bringing the
generator power in to the house without having to leave any doors or
windows open to allow an extension cord in. These 4 outlets would be
in a convenient location in the house where I can plug in my critical
electrical items.

Thanks in advance.

Chris

I'm not an electrician and don't know whether you idea would be up to
code or not. One question I would have is what you are going to do with
the ground wire.

What you are planning sounds like a heck of a lot of work and it won't
be all that useful when you get done. I wonder if there's some way that
you could (legally) connect your generator directly to your service
entrance box via some sort of inexpensive, manual transfer switch?

The gennie absolutely must be grounded (to earth) and the
Neutral bonded to Ground. Rather than sticking a pipe in the
gound, consider running an equipment ground to the grounding
point used by the house service entrance.

But your idea to run a conduit into the house for dedicated
receptacles sounds good, since it won't in any way be connected
to the incoming power line.

"inexpensive, manual transfer switch?" They are neither
inexpensive nor simple. Done properly means a lot of
tricky work.

For more opinions on this setup, post over to: alt.home.repair

Jim

Jim
You may be behind the curve here. There is an interlock kit available
from at least two major service equipment manufacturers that interlocks
the main breaker with a two pole breaker that controls power from the
generator. The kit cost around fifty dollars.
--
Tom Horne

"This alternating current stuff is just a fad. It is much too dangerous
for general use." Thomas Alva Edison- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

If you have a Square D panel, you may be able to use a Q0CGK2
Generator interlock kit. This safely enables you to choose commercial
power or generator power (but not both at the same time) for *all* you
breaker panel circuits. You have to balance the load manually across
the 2 poles, but for a safe, cost effective generator connection
through a separate generator power inlet connector, it works well.
For more info, see http://ecatalog.squared.com/fulldeta...tnumber=QOCGK2

HTH.
KenA