Timeline for Add electrical generator breaker to service box
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
38 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jun 24, 2018 at 15:22 | vote | accept | Rick | ||
| Jun 2, 2018 at 9:09 | comment | added | Rick | My generator is a Champion dual fuel 7000 Watt / 9000 Watt Peak Generator. I installed a solar water heater on the roof, so currently not using the breaker ATM. | |
| Jun 2, 2018 at 3:32 | comment | added | ThreePhaseEel | @Rick -- p.s. is your hot water heater gas-fired, a conventional electric tank, or a heat pump water heater? | |
| Jun 2, 2018 at 3:31 | answer | added | ThreePhaseEel | timeline score: 1 | |
| May 31, 2018 at 21:55 | comment | added | ThreePhaseEel | @Rick -- the generator needs to have a neutral wire connecting it to the house; however, there's a neutral-ground bond wire in the generator that would need to be pulled or else your transfer device options become much more limited | |
| May 31, 2018 at 19:09 | comment | added | Rick | Would disconnecting the generator's neutral be enough? I have about 4 feet below the panel. I plan on using the generator mostly for power outages connecting directly to the house. | |
| May 31, 2018 at 18:47 | comment | added | ThreePhaseEel | Better question to ask re: your generator: are you planning to use it just to power your house, or do you want to use it for portable power as well? | |
| May 31, 2018 at 0:47 | comment | added | ThreePhaseEel | Also, how much space do you have below the existing panel? | |
| May 31, 2018 at 0:46 | comment | added | ThreePhaseEel | @Rick -- portable generators have the neutral connection connected to the generator frame (ground) by default -- this is required by OSHA rules for a generator used standalone at a worksite. However, if a generator configured that way is connected to a house's wiring via a transfer switch, then said transfer switch needs to switch the neutral over as well as the hots, or else you'll have two neutral-ground bonds in your system, which is no good because then you get neutral current following equipment grounding paths with the attendant potential for getting bit by something you think is safe. | |
| May 31, 2018 at 0:04 | comment | added | Rick | Not sure what you mean. | |
| May 30, 2018 at 23:51 | comment | added | ThreePhaseEel | Are you planning to pull the neutral bonding strap on your generator, or have you done so already? | |
| May 29, 2018 at 16:28 | comment | added | Rick | Added pics of the main breaker and AC breaker box on the roof. The hurricane broke the AC breaker box a bit and had to put it back together, hence the tape to identify the connections. | |
| May 29, 2018 at 16:27 | history | edited | Rick | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Added photos
|
| May 28, 2018 at 2:26 | comment | added | Rick | On either side there is about 8 inches. 20 inches from the top. | |
| May 26, 2018 at 13:13 | comment | added | ThreePhaseEel | How much space is there around the existing breaker panel to mount a new one? Is there like 15" off to either side? | |
| May 26, 2018 at 9:31 | comment | added | Rick | @ThreePhaseEel If I had to surface mount a subpanel then I guess I really have no choice. Not much room for a full panel surface room. It is common practice here to mount electrical panels in concrete walls. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 22:38 | comment | added | ThreePhaseEel | Is surface mounting the replacement panel (or a subpanel) an option in this situation? -1 to whoever decided to flush-mount a panel into a cast-in-place concrete wall... | |
| May 22, 2018 at 20:04 | history | edited | Rick | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 2 characters in body
|
| May 22, 2018 at 18:33 | comment | added | Harper - Reinstate Monica | I really wish we were in Siemens. They make a superb side by side interlock, it's factory, it's UL listed and it's cheap. If this ends up a subpanel, go Siemens. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 18:11 | comment | added | Harper - Reinstate Monica | @Rick that's one thing I'm looking at, yeah. One company makes replacement panel innards to allow in-place retrofit of FPE and other bad dangerous panels, or really, any panel. . Guess which company, Eaton aka Cutler Hammer in both CH and BR variants, so you could keep your breakers. What makes it a longshot is the question of whether enough additional spaces would fit. AND whether a panel interlock can be had for the retrofit. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 14:57 | comment | added | Rick | Would it be possible to change the innards of the panel to add more breakers? That way I can keep the circuits and correct the mess that the AC guys did. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 14:28 | comment | added | Harper - Reinstate Monica | How would you feel about adding a subpanel next to this panel? | |
| May 22, 2018 at 14:26 | comment | added | Harper - Reinstate Monica | Well you can't turn off the breakers for the roof A/C because someone jacked that straight off the main, which is dangerous and illegal. That's part of why you need to liberate 5 circuits (half spaces), 2 are to fix that fiasco. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 14:20 | comment | added | Rick | @Harper I understand that my generator and cabling setup is insufficient to power the whole house.Obviously, I wouldn't dare use any high amperage/ wattage appliances. I would probably turn off the breakers for those appliances, like I did before with our 4 month power outage. Just want to be able to feed the generator to the house so I can run some small appliances (fan, tv, LED lights), without having the bunch of extension cords I had before. Thanks. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 14:15 | comment | added | Rick | @Harper I have the main breaker from the electrical meter outside the house, that connects to this main panel. The white and black panel that come out of the the main power connectors is for two ACs on the roof. They have their own sub panel on the roof, which is just two double breakers. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 14:10 | comment | added | Rick | @Harper Each room has a single NEMA 5-20R receptacle for an AC, I believe, but none are being used at all.The "Spare" breaker does not seem to be connected to anything. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 13:48 | comment | added | Tyson | Reading this again, just how many sub-panels do you have? If it’s more than just this one, as I suspect, you can’t back-feed the whole house with a generator interlock here, the only circuits you can feed with the generator would be these. Additionally I doubt seriously those main lugs are rated for two wires as shown. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 13:14 | comment | added | Harper - Reinstate Monica | Much better. You do have 2 spare spaces. Why are there 5 breakers dedicated to A/C? Is there any chance of combining down some of these circuits to save some space? We need to liberate 5 circuits. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 13:04 | comment | added | Rick | @Harper the main breaker is outside and I wanted to work on the one shown here. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 12:56 | comment | added | Harper - Reinstate Monica | Who is the manufacturer of the panel, ideally model number? Since part of your goal is to retain these breakers, we'll need to know. Breakers are not physically compatible across brands, they may seem to snap in, but won't make good contact and will burn the bus. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 8:55 | history | edited | Rick | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 133 characters in body
|
| May 22, 2018 at 8:45 | history | edited | Rick | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 212 characters in body
|
| May 22, 2018 at 8:31 | comment | added | Rick | The main circuit breaker is outside right next to the electric meter. I think it's a 200 amp breaker. I know it would be a whole lot easier to tap from here but it's all the way in front of the house. The main fuse box shown is closer to the back off the house where I'd like to put the L14-30 power inlet box to connect the generator with a 40 foot cable connector and have it as far back as possible from the house. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 5:10 | answer | added | Michael Karas♦ | timeline score: 2 | |
| May 22, 2018 at 5:00 | comment | added | Harper - Reinstate Monica | This is a main-lug panel. Where is the main breaker? Really tiny panel too, crazy small. What manufacturer is it? It matters. | |
| May 22, 2018 at 4:44 | history | edited | Michael Karas♦ | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Inlined the pictures.
|
| May 22, 2018 at 3:41 | history | edited | Rick | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 202 characters in body; edited tags
|
| May 22, 2018 at 3:34 | history | asked | Rick | CC BY-SA 4.0 |