We're going on hour 6 of a power outage and it sounds like it may be a while.
I have two generators, a 5000W generator on wheels plus a 6000W Onan unit in our RV. In the past I have run messes of cords through the house. This is a real pain, plus I have to leave the door to the garage cracked open..
A friend told me about back-feeding the service through a plug, so I thought I would give it a try.
Before starting I shut off the service disconnect.
I made up a male-male adapter. I attached this to a 100' 12 gauge extension cord. I plugged the male end of the extension cord into an outlet and the female into my adapter (a plug off a power tool with a male adapter on it). It is very important to plug into the generator last, a live male end is a dangerous thing!
I tried going through an outdoor plug first. That only energized the circuit I plugged it into. The culprit turned out to be a GFCI that would pop as soon as I tried back-feeding.
Next I plugged it into a dedicated freezer plug (freezer not in use). This worked, but only with half of the circuits...
My thinking is that I only energized half the circuit board because of the 120V breakers.
The generator has a 240V outlet, but it is a twist-lock connection, which I do not have. When the hardware store opens I'm going to get the parts, then I can hook it up 240V. This will also get me twice the wattage out of my 12G cord.
Does anyone know if this will solve the problem?
If other people have different methods of hooking up their home service to a generator, please reply, as I think others may be encountering similar problems.
Please, no "Call a licensed electrician" replies, this is the DIY section.
I have two generators, a 5000W generator on wheels plus a 6000W Onan unit in our RV. In the past I have run messes of cords through the house. This is a real pain, plus I have to leave the door to the garage cracked open..
A friend told me about back-feeding the service through a plug, so I thought I would give it a try.
Before starting I shut off the service disconnect.
I made up a male-male adapter. I attached this to a 100' 12 gauge extension cord. I plugged the male end of the extension cord into an outlet and the female into my adapter (a plug off a power tool with a male adapter on it). It is very important to plug into the generator last, a live male end is a dangerous thing!
I tried going through an outdoor plug first. That only energized the circuit I plugged it into. The culprit turned out to be a GFCI that would pop as soon as I tried back-feeding.
Next I plugged it into a dedicated freezer plug (freezer not in use). This worked, but only with half of the circuits...
My thinking is that I only energized half the circuit board because of the 120V breakers.
The generator has a 240V outlet, but it is a twist-lock connection, which I do not have. When the hardware store opens I'm going to get the parts, then I can hook it up 240V. This will also get me twice the wattage out of my 12G cord.
Does anyone know if this will solve the problem?
If other people have different methods of hooking up their home service to a generator, please reply, as I think others may be encountering similar problems.
Please, no "Call a licensed electrician" replies, this is the DIY section.