After the storm

[MJIG]

I finally got electrical power back today after Wednesday evening's storm. One day into the outage, I dug the generator out of storage and turned it on for the first time ever. It managed to keep my fridge, freezer, sump pump, and my teenager's cell phone charger going for the past several days (priority order would vary depending on who you asked ).

 

It would have been really nice to have been able to get my submersed well pump going, for toilet flushes, hand-washing, etc. The problem is that it is hard-wired in so I couldn't easily hook it up to the generator. Any idea how much they draw? Is it worth getting a receptacle and plug added for the next time? Does anyone else run their well pump off their generator in situations like this?

 

 

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[Terry]

An easy way to do it is get a 220 breaker in put it in an empty slot in your homes elec panel

now wire it to the 220 out on the gen

 

when the power goes out turn the main breaker off

then turn the 220 breaker on

you now have the gen running your whole house

 

just turn off things or trip the breakers on things you don't need

 

makes it very easy to turn on something you need even if it's just for a short time

you have to know your gens limit and keep within it

[vance]

if it was just that easy -not-my buddy the electrician says you need an isolator panel to keep from powering the grid. I put in a generator panel to do just what you want and it works great.

 

vance

[Banger68]

You are isolated from the grid if the main breaker is off. But there is nothing stopping somebody from closing both breakers at the same time. That MUST be avoided. That is what the isolation panel does.

Edited June 11, 2011 by Banger68

[irishfield]

You are not isolated from the grid and that is the fear of every linesman someone backfeeding the lines... 120/220 out.. thru transformer and the lines are energized/stepped up to 2400 or 3600 what ever your local is using on the mainlines. Most generators make "dirty power" and are prone to feed power out on the neutral line that DOES NOT get disconnected when you throw the main breaker. If you are going to power stuff like the well... pop the wires off the 220 breaker in the panel and join them to a heavy duty extension cord with marrets to the generator.

Edited June 12, 2011 by irishfield

[dok]

Make sure if the pump is 115v or 230v when wiring. A 1/2hp 115v draws about 10.5 amps a 1/2 hp 230v draws around 5.5 amps per side. A honda 3500 generator will run up to a 1hp 230v pump. I have wired pump up to pressure switch or to out going side of diconect box. First shut off disconect or breaker to pump in case power comes back on while running generator if you don't its a quick way to smoke things if your not sure get a electrician. hope this helps