Home Generators

[PAGUY]

Could you tell me why on this scenario:

A consrtuction electrician was running below ground wiring into the cabin from a generator shelter (made of corrugated steel) next to the wood shed. Two separate wire that would plug into the generator at the duplex outlet. When he had the wires inside at an octogon box he wired one black to the kitchen lights and appliances in there and the other wire 9again only the blackwire) to the cabin lights. He connected the white wires from both feeds with the white wires from the different designated areas. The kitchen lights would not light. I separated the white wires and connected them to their respective feeds and everything has worked perfect since then.

Why would they not work with all neutral/common wires together?

 

[Pirate]

FWIW, if you want to feed your house with a portable generator, this seems like the easiest way to go. Replaces the meter yet allows you to feed the whole house with no chance of backfeeding. I thought about it, but wanted auto start etc...

Generlink Automatic Transfer Switch 50 Amp, Model# MA24-N | Transfer Switches | Northern Tool + Equipment

Without a doubt, generlink is the only way for me to go. How does one get those installed? I can't break the elec. company seal. Should I call them and ask them to install? Hire electrician? Can an electrician break their seal? Thanks.

 

[gerard]

Without a doubt, generlink is the only way for me to go. How does one get those installed? I can't break the elec. company seal. Should I call them and ask them to install? Hire electrician? Can an electrician break their seal? Thanks.

Kind of pricey. What does this do that a transfer switch doesn't for about 1/2 the price? (Also a transfer switch can be placed where it's convenient to put your portable generator. That may NOT be where the meter is.

 

[Pirate]

Well, it does keep me from having to rip the kitchen wall apart again, and since I just finished redoing the entire kitchen, I don't feel like fixing yet another wall. The guy that built the place had the panel put in the upstairs kitchen instead of the giant basement, or garage. Ease of operation is the biggest thing going for this gizmo.

 

[hr3]

Our local utility puts them in for free,, They are the only ones in our area that are allowed to break the seals..Now in the northern part of the state a Master electrician can do it... Sooo Check with your local utility first,,they might not even allow it,,ya never know,,

 

[whistlepig]

Honda makes a control system also called HP2S. I would love to have one but it costs $1,400 installed. I'm going to get one though. It's just so much nicer than running the extension cords through the windows. It senses load. If too many appliances kick on at the same time it will delay the starting of the appliance (of your choice) so as not to overload the generator. Also one can hook the generator up and not worry about back feed. When it senses the power is back on it isolates the generator and lets the house run off line power. It' a sweet system.

 

[BobRip]

Does this have a way of running off the generator while the power company power is still available. This enables you to test the system periodically. I am not talking about back feeding to the Power Company, just a manual activation.

 

[whistlepig]

Does this have a way of running off the generator while the power company power is still available. This enables you to test the system periodically. I am not talking about back feeding to the Power Company, just a manual activation.

On the Honda HPS2 system you can run the the generator plugged in to your electric while the power is still on. It's computer controlled. If it senses load from the power company it will isolate the generator. You don't have to test the system. If your power goes out you can plug the generator in and go to work. If the power comes back on the HPS2 will isolate the generator. The generator will still run but won't back feed the house.

 

[BobRip]

On the Honda HPS2 system you can run the the generator plugged in to your electric while the power is still on. It's computer controlled. If it senses load from the power company it will isolate the generator. You don't have to test the system. If your power goes out you can plug the generator in and go to work. If the power comes back on the HPS2 will isolate the generator. The generator will still run but won't back feed the house.

Part of testing is actually powering the house. I try to do this at least once a year. Just running the gasoline engine is only part of the test. Actually powering the house with a generator is the complete test. How do you know that the contacts in side the transfer breaker actually close, or know that the generator can put out power. Twice a month I load my generator with two electric heaters for 20 minutes to make sure power will come out. This to is a partial test, but it does build some confidence. Sorry if I sound paranoid, but I have seen to many things that sat for a long time fail when needed. Some of them failed years before, but no testing was done to notice that.

 

[IXLR8]

I just ordered this one with a 200 amp auto tranfer switch : Yanmar Powered 6,875 Watt Diesel Generator

Hi,
I am looking at the same generator, have you used it enough ( at all ) to provide some feedback on it. I find little information about it on the web... but Yanmar is known to make a good engine.

Thanks,

 

[Pirate]

Kind of pricey. What does this do that a transfer switch doesn't for about 1/2 the price? (Also a transfer switch can be placed where it's convenient to put your portable generator. That may NOT be where the meter is.

My meter is on the outside wall of my kitchen. The panel is in the kitchen, finished wall. I have the panel hidden behind a large picture. Stupid design, it's not mine. I really don't have a wall, without massive amounts of construction, to reroute the panel input. Since I have a few extra bucks, I thought I would go with this gizmo.

 

[atgreene]

Sorry I haven't done an update, life took over and haven't been here in a while.

Gen was installed in late Sept? Electricians etc... went at it and installed it in about 6 hours. They did some other wiring around the house as well, but it would take one electrician all day + to get the panel and all wiring done.

They left at about three in the afternoon, at 4:30 we lost power. Generator kicked on as it should and ran fine.

A few issues: The fuel shut-off solenoid was leaking and allowing air into the injector. It is an add-on for this application to shut-down the motor. Called Central Maine Diesel, had a new one in a couple days. They offered to send someone out, but it was a simple fix and I did it my self.

The gen would not run my well pump. Ran some tests, found that my well was drawing 30 amps at start-up each time the pump clicked on. Called my well buddy. We opted to pull the pump and check it. Turns out I had a 1 hp well pump, way overkill for my application. We downsized to a 1/2 hp, now the gen runs it fine and I'm using less electricity for water.

The unit did not have a built-in battery charger. Within a couple days the battery was dead, as it powers the timers and auto start system. Bought a trickle/auto charger and took care of the problem. When it runs it is charging, but the house power does not automatically charge the battery to keep it up. Kind of odd.

All in all it has been good. We only lost power that once, shortly after that the power company did a MAJOR tree trim-back operation for all the lines around. Spent weeks working through town cutting anything anywhere's near the lines all the way up through to the sub station where our power comes from. What was a weekly occurance, now hasn't happened in months.

The generator starts two times per week, Sunday and Thurs. afternoon, swaps the house over and runs for 20 minutes on load. The coldest start thus far has been 6 degrees with no issues. Runs a little rough for 30 seconds or so then smooths right out.

I installed a 50 gallon saddle tank from an old truck I had in the basement for fuel. Also hooked in a spin-on water seperator filter and ran copper lines out to the generator. Fuel stays warm and should help cut back on gelling.

Eventually I will put two group 31 batteries in the basement and run cable out to the gen. That should help it turn over in any weather and keep the batteries fresh and at optimum output.

I put a small shelter over it with some metal roofing to help keep it dry. I have flex-pipe for the exhaust that I have yet to install. It isn't loud in the house, but out behind the house it can be annoying, so I may build an exhaust stack for it to lower the sound levels and get the fumes even further away.

Hope this helps, let me know if anyone has any questions.

Here's some pics:

 

[BobRip]

Why do you have it start twice a week? I would think once would be plenty. Also don't your clocks get messed up at every start. I thought most systems like this just ran the generator and not transferred the load during test. I do think a load test is important, but twice a week.

 

[atgreene]

Why do you have it start twice a week? I would think once would be plenty. Also don't your clocks get messed up at every start. I thought most systems like this just ran the generator and not transferred the load during test. I do think a load test is important, but twice a week.

The digital timer can be set to do it as often as you want. I went with twice per week only because of the cold temps and to try to get it broken in. Thus far I still only have 12 hours on it. When warm weather comes I will probably knock it back to 1 time per week. I can set it to transfer the load or run it w/o a load. For now we want to see what it will do.

As for the clocks, no, as long as we have power it swaps so fast it doesn't affect anything. Going onto gen there is a quick blink, hardly noticeable, when it goes off gen it snaps back so fast there is no visible flicker at all.

 

[BobRip]

The digital timer can be set to do it as often as you want. I went with twice per week only because of the cold temps and to try to get it broken in. Thus far I still only have 12 hours on it. When warm weather comes I will probably knock it back to 1 time per week. I can set it to transfer the load or run it w/o a load. For now we want to see what it will do.

As for the clocks, no, as long as we have power it swaps so fast it doesn't affect anything. Going onto gen there is a quick blink, hardly noticeable, when it goes off gen it snaps back so fast there is no visible flicker at all.

Good reasoning. I had a friend who never tested his generator until the power was out. Then he found that he had the wrong connector. Testing is good.

I added a charger to each of my generators. I felt that 20 minutes of charging twice a month was not really adequate to keep the battery life up.

 

[robb01]

Good reasoning. I had a friend who never tested his generator until the power was out. Then he found that he had the wrong connector. Testing is good.

I added a charger to each of my generators. I felt that 20 minutes of charging twice a month was not really adequate to keep the battery life up.

The charger is a rally good idea.

 

[radioman]

That is really odd for a engine not to charge a battery. perhaps you could call your generator manufacter about that ?