Electric connection

[Mark]

Kind of hard to describe what I'm looking for here. I think on RVs and 5th wheels, and I know on the 'beer wagon' get from the distributor for our church festival, there is a 'reverse' receptacle where you connect an extension cord to power the lights and such. This device looks similar to a single receptacle with a flip-up cover, but under the cover is actually a plug (male) rather than a receptacle (female) connector. You plug the female 'outlet' end of an extension cord into this, and the other end into a power source. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

What I want to do, if I can find such a thing that would fit on a standard exterior electric box, is mount one on the back of my house with the wiring running to a standard outlet mounted in my basement. I'd then be able to plug a cord from my generator into this, and then supply my freezer, refrig, lights, etc. from the outlet in the basement. This would keep me from having to run the extension cord from the generator thru an open window in cold weather. Also when it wasn't in use it wouldn't be too obtrusive such as a plain old wire running thru the side of the house.

Any thoughts on this? Or other ideas for something along these lines?

Mark

[RBM]

It is called a flanged inlet, or motor plug. Nothing wrong with your idea at all.

[RBM]

[KC]

That's what I did. Works great.

KC

[Tony Hwang]

Hi, Easiest thing to do will be to go to your local RV shop and get an pid tail adapter or whatever you need. I used to own a fair size 5th wheel. I made an adapter with receptacles and proper gauge cable to get power to the unit in any camp ground. It worked fine and was very convenient.

[Eric in North TX]

The suggestion of the RV shop is on the mark. A couple of considerations, if you are energizing the house wiring, you will only hit half of it unless you are putting in 220v, and it would be required that you throw the main breaker or somehow disconnect from the grid, so you don't fry linemen trying to repair the outage.

[Mark]

Thanks everyone, and RBM for the link to exactly what I'm looking for! I hacked around on the web and hadn't come across anything like that. I'll check the local electric supply shops (now that I know what to ask for!) and see if I can get one for the weekend! It's been 1 yr since Hurricane Ike went thru Ohio and we were without power for a week. Wasn't all that much of an issue then because the weather was warm, but I'm sure the next time it will be 20 below and I certainly don't want to have a window cracked to run the wire thru!

Thanks again....

[Larry The Snake Guy]

Since it's not completely clear from your post, if that outlet is normally powered from the house wiring, make sure you have a way to disconnect the "inlet" from it when not in use, so you don't have powered prongs outside that someone could touch...

[Mark]

I'm only going to bring a line in from this device to a duplex outlet mounted on the basement wall. From there I'll bring my extension cords up to the Refrig and living area. My generator isn't big enough to use a transfer switch and try and power the entire house. (if our power was less reliable I'd be going that route for sure).

The suggestion of the RV shop is on the mark. A couple of considerations, if you are energizing the house wiring, you will only hit half of it unless you are putting in 220v, and it would be required that you throw the main breaker or somehow disconnect from the grid, so you don't fry linemen trying to repair the outage.

[stan]

- [e-mail]...

ted text -

I think Mark is exactly 'on the mark'. The 220 volt comment is really unnecessary and not what he is mentioning or requires. His solution means that if/when the commercial power fails, he will manually unplug his fridge etc. from their regular outlet/s and plug them in to this special outlet which will be powered only from his generator outside. There would appear to be no chance whatsoever of having his generator output be connected in any way with the 'normal' AC distribution of the house. Hence no chance of electrocuting a linesman! A neat way as Mark says of not having to run an extension cord through a window during winter.

[Mark]

Sorry for the confusion Larry. This will be a 'closed circuit so to speak. The flanged inlet mounted on the outside of the house with about 6 ft of wire between it and the duplex outlet inside on the basement wall. It will only be energized when a cord is attached to the flanged inlet from the generator. I'll label the outlet appropriately so people will know why it is dead most of the time, as well as put a sheet with instructions for it's use near by. I.E. "Power from Generator only. Connect Generator to flanged inlet on side of house to energize."

[Stormin Mormon]

Which suggests that a proper transfer switch is a better idea. He did suggest wiring the inlet to a socket in the cellar, and then running cords from that. So, the OP didn't sound like he was going to power up the wires in the walls of his house.

[Stormin Mormon]

I hear you, about power cuts. I'm in NY, not far from Ohio. We do power cuts in the winter, which are miserable. The cold soaks into homes in a hurry, when the furnace is out. I live in a mobile home. For me, the front door is loose enough to run a cord under. I run the furnace off the generator for about an hour and then let the generator cool, and bring it indoors.

[Stormin Mormon]

He did write that he wants to wire the reverse socket into a regular socket in the cellar. Run power cords from the regular socket in the cellar.

One more thing to prepare in advance. Harvest an electrical cord off an old appliance, such as dehumidifier, or AC. Store that near the furnace. When the power is out, you can open the connection box on the side of the furnace. Using wire nuts, connect the old electric cord to the furnace wires, and then you can plug your furnace into extension cord. Please reconnect the hard wired power, later.

[Stormin Mormon]

The plan needs a couple things. First, the power cord to the furnace. Second, generators are a very high theft item during power cuts. While running, they should be chained to a tree, and preferably watched at all times.

[Larry The Snake Guy]

I assumed that was what you meant, but thought it was worth making sure.

[HeyBub]

Once you find the outlet, wire it to a new breaker in the box. This breaker will normally be left in the OFF position.

When the power fails:

1. Flip the main switch to OFF
2. Flip this new breaker to ON
3. Start the generator

You now have power to half your house (or all your house if your generator puts out 220 and you used a dual breaker).

You can modulate the load on your generator by keeping things in your house (lights, microwave, etc.) powered off so as to not exceed the capacity of your generator.

When the power returns:

1. Power down the generator
2. Unplug the cable
3. Turn OFF the new circuit breaker(s)
4. Turn the mains back ON

[Tom Horne]

[e-mail]...

A better remedy is to install a flanged inlet of the proper size in a Jbox at the furnace and to place a double pole double throw switch such as this offering from Hubbel.

Tom Horne

[Tom Horne]

e such

Eric Please don't take this as a personal attack when I point out that many homes do not have a single main breaker. There are literally millions of homes in the US that have split buss panels for their service equipment. I run into cross connected circuits all the time when I'm doing trouble shooting and such a cross connection can provide a sneak current path that can bypass one open breaker and back feed via another one. Considering the variability of electrical service installations it really is necessary to use only listed transfer switches or interlock assemblies to supply a homes wiring from an alternate source of power. To do anything else is to gamble with lineman's lives.

-- Tom Horne

[Van Chocstraw]

I use an outside 220 volt dryer outlet to plug in my generator. I made a cord with the standard 4 prong drier and put an L14-30 connector on the other end to plug in my generator ( being sure to power off the MAIN BREAKER before) That will power the entire house. Of course you want to manage your loads and not run everything at the same time. You might also want to shut off the (electric)water heater and (electric)oven during generator time unless you have a really big one.