I can't remember if you plug in the generator to the electric panel first (with power turned to the generator and off of the main line feed) and then start the generator, or start the generator and then plug into the electric panel (wired for the generator with panel switched over to generator.) Thanks, John

Depends on power requirement. My whole house uses approx 4 kW to run air con and rest of the house power. 19 x 350 solar panels generates 1 kw to 6.5 kw per hour through a 6 kw inverter.
The variance comes from the sun is not always out, or behind clouds and the panels don't face east and west to capture the morning and evening sun.
They are mono crystal which generate about 1 to 1.6 Kw in cloudy conditions.

As I am on the power grid the excess power is feed back to the power company who pay me 6c per k/w that I feed in during sunny days and then charge me 26c per k/w in peak times when it is dark !
Today I got 40 kw/h generated for the day which with feed in tariff is $2.60 as it was sunny. . I could run the air con on 10 kw/h from the power company in the dark , if the a/c used 2 kw I could run it for 5 hours for free.
Where you run into problem is that on a cloudy day you might get 1 k/w per hour . This is not a problem if you use mains power from a power line supplier as it suppliments any short fall. If you are on a no grid connected system you may need to consider Battery Storage as well to charge up when the sun is out and then it supplements the power to your house when it is cloudy or dark.
The solar panels would need to generate enough power to run the house and to charge up the battery system if used.
Batteries have a limited life of 10 years and usually use lithium Phosphate batteries . You tube has many videos on battery systems and off grid solar setups. However batteries are a changing technology with Electric Vehicles becoming more common.

I would be checking the main breakers on the panel to insure one didnt trip when you added generator electric. is there a breaker on the outside line at the box you may be missing? Also keep in mind, although uncommon, breakers do BREAK and need replacing. are you competent enough to use a volt meter to check the hot leads on the box and at your unit breaker box to insure you are getting power into the unit? In some older units the switch between land power and generator power was to manually throw breaker switches but automatic processors have replace them now... I would say start at the residential plug in and verify power is where it should be along the route of the supply cord...from the meter forward... if you have a converter plug, say from the 220V 30 amp that you are probably drawing down to 110V household, stick that on the meter and plug in your toaster to insure there is power coming in....IF YOU DONT HAVE A METER AVAILABLE... otherwise...test test test... your generator probably broke a circuit somewhere... now just to find it..

When there is only one ammeter in the three-phase circuit and the three-phase current needs to be monitored, a start switch is needed to achieve this function. For example, three-phase switch, at least three knobs move position, switch panel marked which line name, if you want to monitor which line, you can dial the knob to the corresponding name, the ammeter will show the corresponding line current.

Insulation is not the only reason for wire shorted cut.

1. First turn off all the electrical appliances in the house. It is better to use the plugs of the electrical appliances to pull the plugs.
2. The fire line and the protection line are short-circuited. Disconnect the main gate, disconnect the household protection line, and use the 10,000 meter R*100 file to measure whether the fire line and the protection line of each socket are unreachable. If it is connected, prove that the fire line is short-circuited with the protection line, open each socket one by one.
3, then open your main switch to see if it trips, (look first see if your insurance is burning,)
4, if you jump, then it is the short circuit on the main line, then you look at the main line of the joint or some corners there is no short circuit, there is the home plug, it is also easy to short circuit.
5, if you do not jump, then you will open the electrical appliances at home one by one, first turn the lights one by one, then plug in the electrical appliances. When you open which trip, that is the problem on which line, then you look at that line.
6, you can also turn on the power, and then use the electric pen to check each socket, the normal situation should be that the fire line will make the electric pen shine, the zero line does not emit light, if you find two light, it means that the zero line here is broken If it is said that neither of them is shining, it means that the fire line here is broken.

Please be careful, you need a neutral bond for the GFI outlets to work when you are using the generator as a mobile unit and grounding the generator with a ground rod or building. When you are merging with a building with a grounded system, simply remove the two neutral wires (White) at the generators internal terminals from the generator frame but keep them connected together and terminate connection.

Bonding on a generator questions

Q. If I was to keep the tie between ground and neutral in the generator during standby use, would I have to break the neutral tie coming into home from grid?



A. Never disconnect the neutral line as it enters your house. It is held very well at ground potential. Each transformer is grounded, and every home supplies ground as well. The neutral coming in is the reference to both live lines, and without it, anything connected to either live line could see up to 240VAC depending on what is across the other side. Install a proper transfer panel, and the neutral issue will be taken care of.

Q. Where would I ground the generator at this time in this situation?



A. The generator will be grounded through the extension cord plugging into the transfer panel. Your home should have one ground connection only, adding a ground rod at the generator could create other unwanted safety issues.

Q. At this time is it safe to run an extension cord off generator direct to power a drill for example?



A. Yes. The transfer panel will take care of any neutral and ground bonding issues, provided things are wired correctly.

Q. If I was to lift the neutral to ground in generator and tag generator as floating neutral, then would I leave neutral unbroken in service panel?



A. Yes. The common point for neutral and ground will be provided in the main electrical panel.

Q. Could I use the 15 amp outlets on generator safely in this position to run a drill outside? I see generators with floating neutral have a 15 amp duplex outlet on cabinet also. In this situation would I install a ground at the generator?



A. If you were connected to the house with the four conductor extension cord nothing else will be needed.

Q. If you have a floating neutral generator and use it in a stand alone mode, nothing to do with a home, do you place a ground rod down? What happens with the neutral and ground connections? What about a generator on a truck or trailer?



A. In stand alone use, you should connect to a ground rod. Neutral and ground should also be bonded in the generator. The easiest way to take care of this is with a dummy plug inserted into one of the duplex outlets or the twistlock outlet. Jumper ground and neutral in the plug. A generator on a truck or trailer will follow the same rules for neutral and ground bonding, ground rods, etc.

Q. If the generator is a grounded neutral type and you only run the two live lines to the house in an illegal back feed situation where main disconnect is off but neutral still connected will I have 120 volts available in house between each hot leg and the utility grid system neutral? Would someone get shocked if standing next to generator at that time and touched it creating a path from ground to the generator?



A. The only time I would consider backfeeding a house is if the main lines were torn down and laying on the ground. I did this once after Hurricane Juan caused a tree to tear the lines off a neighbors house. The lines were still connected at the pole and were live once commercial power was restored, but there was no possibility of the generator backfeeding to the street. It took almost two weeks before the power company could get them reconnected. We still turned off the main breaker and installed a padlock to prevent it from being turned back on. The house was totally isolated from the grid so I felt it safe to connect in this manner. The generator connected via a 20 amp two pole breaker in the main panel, and there was power available for everything in the house - well pump, electric stove, all lights, etc. Generator neutral was floating as described above. Power supply was limited, they were careful not to overload and trip the generator breaker.

Q. At the same time I went to a friends home and after killing the main breaker and all 240 breakers ran a 3 wire cord from the generator 240 volt outlet direct to his pump, now isolated from the house panel using both 120 volt lines and ground. I then ran a 12 gauge 20 amp extension cord from the generator duplex outlet to a double male pig tail and back fed a kitchen outlet so he could have lights in the house. 1/2 the house to be exact. This was also a grounded neutral generator but we didn't have a problem. I did however drive a ground rod at the generator.



A. I think you were lucky this time. Electricity can be potentially dangerous and can kill and burn if not used correctly. Double male plugs should never be used as invariably there is exposed 120V on one end. If you miswire one end you can send 120V onto the neutral. At best this will trip a circuit breaker, but not knowing what else is done, could easily create a lethal voltage on the chassis of certain equipment. It gets back to doing something properly or not doing it at all. Why run the risk of personal injury or death?

DO NOT DO THIS! If I understand you correctly you want to have three ways to have 110 power in your motor home--- (1)Vehicle 12V to inverter to main panel. (2)Generator to main panel. (3)plug the main panel into 110V. If any two of these are connected at the same time and they are both live, somethings going to blow. That's because with AC, the two sources must be synchronized in their cycles very precisely. The utility company connects their power plants together on the grid only with the aid of precise controls. But the really serious problem is the same reason they invented transfers switches for home generators -- if you were connected to (3) and the power went out, and you connected (1) or (2) without disconnecting the dead (3), you will backfeed power to the line outside and you just might kill the lineman who is trying to fix the power outage.

This sounds VERY bad. As in your transfer switch is not removing main line power from the generator vs just monitoring mainline power. You more than likely have main power feeding into the stator driving the armature and motor. Or you don;t have a transfer switch and are leaving the generator breaker at the house main CB panel tie point on vs turning it off.

UNLESS you actually hear the starter cranking then there is another problem. Feed back please.

Kelly

You must find the reason the main breaker is popping ...

I'd start by unplugging everything and remove all breakers. Turn the main on ... does it pop? If it pops here look between the breaker panel and the end of your cord. Turn the power off - reinstall the first breaker - turn power back on. What happens ... keep doing this until the main or individual breaker pops - investigate that circuit to find your short.

If you get all breakers back in with out popping anything ... start plugging stuff back in. Something is shorting somewhere.

Let me know what you find please.

thanks

a

DO U HAV POWER FROM GEN ?

Most people don't buy a transfer switch because they cost almost as much as the generator. Lowe's sells a very inexpensive one that will work for most people. It is made by GE and costs $92. Lowe's Item #: 42210 Model: TM860S. Good for 60 amps and 8 circuits. It takes standard GE half size breakers but includes the 60 amp main breakers (which are also standard but make use of a novel device that ensures you can't send power back up the pole). It's a great little design and if a breaker ever fails, you can get a replacement at Lowe's or Home Depot.

Joe