Portable Generator wiring help.....

disneyjoe7

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amulford

Hook it up to common ground. Are you sure you have the right plug? Something doesn't sound right...

disneyjoe7

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unc2701

technically you should hook it to the frame of the dryer... but if that isn't practical you can just leave it detached. the ground is there as a safety precaution if the neutral fails- however the maker of your dryer obviously felt that a seperate ground wasn't needed.

nadams

Neutral and ground go to the same place, so you should be okay to leave it unhooked. Just be careful when using it this way, because y ou lose some protection in the case of a ground fault incident.

What are you trying to do, just run your dryer? or some other 220v appliance....

disneyjoe7

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disneyjoe7

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disneyjoe7

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hoosier21

Steve

Look on the outlet at the generator, there should be a NEMA XXXX number. Give me that.

Then I need to know if you have the new or old style AC panel. If you have the new style panel it has a separate buss for the Neutral.

Give me those two things and I can send you some good information.

BTW, I would not use the dryer outlet as your connection point. I would Highly recommend you wire a new rec. at your AC panel just for this project.

Using the KISS logic. Buy two plugs and new rec for the panel that all match what rec. you have at your generator.

disneyjoe7

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hoosier21

Steve forget most of what I was asking, forgot my own KISS rule.

Buy a standard 3 conductor dryer cord, strip the lugs off, conect this wire to a NEMA L14-20 plug, be sure to wire the middle conductor to the neutral, the 2 hots the the hot legs, and you will leave the ground leg unused.

Note this project is COMPLETELY in violation of code, but, let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.

up2youjoe

I will repost a post from another forum. I usually stay out of other peoples business but I have seen a child electrocuted and I would not wish it on the victim or the person who caused it.....

"The reason it is illegal to wire a generator into your home without a transfer switch is because it is the ONLY way to guarantee the safety of others. You won't be turnining the generator on when times are good. You will be turning it on when the power is out. It might be dark, freezing rain, torrential downpour, Snowing, Lightning, etc. Maybe the lights went out at 3am and your wife kicked you out of bed to get the generator running. That's when you forget to pull the main breaker. You won't even know you screwed up until you hear sirens coming towards your house and you find a lineman or a civilian who stepped on a wire dead near your house. If someone can screw up, someone will. It's not worth it.

And by the way, if you posted here that you backfeed or did not install a transfer switch and somewhere down the road you hurt someone or burn your house down, rest assured a lawyer WILL find out you are a member here and search for ALL your posts and find out you knew it was illegal yet you did it anyway. Your insurance company might leave you high and dry at that point.
It's just not worth it. Life is fun. Enjoy it... GET A TRANSFER SWITCH"

hoosier21

very good points up2youjoe, like I said, this project doesn't meet code, and yes, without a transfer switch the home owner is taking a big risk.

disneyjoe7

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up2youjoe

Maybe you should change your name to idiotjoe. I guess you feel that if you only kill 1 lineman then its your loss. Brilliant. And since you had to ask a basic electrical question here, it's obvious that you do not know what you are doing.

As was quoted before..."And by the way, if you posted here that you backfeed or did not install a transfer switch and somewhere down the road you hurt someone or burn your house down, rest assured a lawyer WILL find out you are a member here and search for ALL your posts and find out you knew it was illegal yet you did it anyway. Your insurance company might leave you high and dry at that point.
"

Consider yourself permanantly on record that you don't know what you are doing AND you don't care who you kill.

disneyjoe7

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disneyjoe7

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up2youjoe

"I had a dry run so to speak and I didn't kill myself or anyone else."

Well you were able to turn off the main breaker for your test run....Big deal!!!!

"You won't be turning the generator on when times are good. You will be turning it on when the power is out. It might be dark, freezing rain, torrential downpour, Snowing, Lightning, etc. Maybe the lights went out at 3am and your wife kicked you out of bed to get the generator running. That's when you forget to pull the main breaker. You won't even know you screwed up until you hear sirens coming towards your house and you find a lineman or a civilian who stepped on a wire dead near your house. If someone can screw up, someone will. It's not worth it."

Once again, you are now on record that your house is not up to the electrical code and that you are aware of it. Imagine the guilt and irony if the person you end up killing is a member of your own family. I guess that was worth the few hundred dollars you saved by not doing it legally.

Instead of cursing at us, you should look in the mirror and ask yourself if the few hundred you saved is worth it. If your answer is yes, perhaps you would like to speak with a fellow backeeder who "swore" he pulled the breaker. He can tell you about the guilt of killing someones child.

P.S. Remember to remove all of the wiring if you make any claim with your insurance company. They will look for it and if they find it you won't get paid.

P.P.S. Can I have your address in Florida as I have 3 friends who are linemen here in my area and they always end up down in Florida to do repairs after major storms. They advised me they would like to skip your area since they have dealt with "backfeeders" who swore they pulled the main breaker.

disneyjoe7

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madmax

Didn't I see a transfer switch at Home Depot for around $300?

Do it right or do it portable. What I mean is that if you don't hook into the main AC line properly with a transfer switch why don't you just make plans to use the generator in a portable manor (staying away from the main power and wiring all together) where you have the necessary extention cords and a plan of action on how you will utilize the power? This could be a plus if for whatever reason you have to take it on the lamb. (maybe a tree falls through your house or whatever). A quick word about insurance companies. If your house burns down because of an out of control candle they will still find these sort of violations. Whether right or wrong they can refuse to pay and it is up to your wallet as to how much you want to spend to make them pay.
Insurance companies hire people for this specific job to save them money. These people do this all the time when they find home-owner wired basements or whatever. A person I used to work with knew one of these people. Needless to say, he always made sure everything was permitted after hearing the stories.

madmax