Hooking up large generator for house power

[weld1]

I have a large generator/welder that i want to set up for house power incase of a outage, as the power has already flickered off once tonight and its not even really storming out yet!! does anyone know of a good switch so theres no way possaible to back feed the utility? i know northern has a switch but there only for certain circuits, i want everything on the same circuit even though i will not be running everything at once, i want the option of running anything in the house, anyone have any ideas of how/what to use? thanks for all the help!!

[sparcebag]

It get a bit complicated,So you may want to contact a electrician if you have to ask how.I dont believe I've even seen a do it yourself instruction manual anywhere.

It can be dangerous If hooked wrong!

[Tom7227]

I bought an emergency panel at Menards a few years ago. It has several 110 circuits and also a way to hook up 220 for the well. It was complicated and required a whole lot of time sorting things out and setting things up. I won't say it's impossible for a homeowner but it takes a pretty decent amount of knowledge. I have an older house and so that didn't help much either as nothing was labeled. I would be hesitant to recommend it except to the really careful and patient. I managed to hook one circuit up wrong and when I cranked the rig up and tried to set the breaker the sparks/flames shot out about 5 inches and scorched my finger a bit. It's funny now but not so much back then.

[Sandmannd]

 Originally Posted By: Tom7227

I bought an emergency panel at Menards a few years ago. It has several 110 circuits and also a way to hook up 220 for the well. It was comlicated and required a whole lot of time sorting things out and setting things up. I won't say it's impossible for a homeowner but it takes a pretty decent amount of knowledge. I have an older house and so that didn't help much either as nothing was labeled. I would be hesitant to recommend it except to the really careful and patient. I managed to hook one circuit up wrong and when I cranked the rig up and tried to set the breaker the sparks/flames shot out about 5 inches and scorched my finger a bit. It's funny now but not so much back then.

Been there done that, that is some scary stuff Tom. If you want it hooked up right, I would call an electrician out. You really don't want to start an electrical fire.

[theoilman]

It can be complicated. If your are not electrically inclined have a licensed electrician do the job and have a proper automatic cross-over installed.

That said, I have done mine myself. I have a 5kva generator that will run my well plus lights, tv and other light items.

First of all, I installed a 30 amp (female) connector in a box on the outside of the house with a cut-off 30 amp breaker in the box that is piggy backed to the outside cutoff for my heat-pump.

I have to turn several things off first: breaker box main (so I don't backfeed the power line), electric hot water heater breaker, heat pump thermostat to off, don't use the electric stove. Then I plug in my "dead-man" 30 amp 220 cord between the generator and outside connector box, start the generator, then turn on the connector breaker.

[CAJ]

By law, a double throw switch needs to be installed under your meter serving the house. You hook your power plant into that, and when you throw the switch to start the power coming in from the generator, you shut the power off coming from the power company. If it is installed properly, you will not feed back into the power line. Lineman have been killed from power feeding back. The transformer will build the voltage from 120 to 7200 volts. There is a very big fine for not having the right hookup for a generator. I know of 2 lineman killed from backfeed from Genrrators

[Da Beak]

 Originally Posted By: CAJ

By law, a double throw switch needs to be installed under your meter serving the house. You hook your power plant into that, and when you throw the switch to start the power coming in from the generator, you shut the power off coming from the power company. If it is installed properly, you will not feed back into the power line. Lineman have been killed from power feeding back. The transformer will build the voltage from 120 to 7200 volts. There is a very big fine for not having the right hookup for a generator. I know of 2 lineman killed from backfeed from Genrrators

Ditto.