generator extension cord

[terry]

=2E The 'downed' line was used more as figure of speech! And, while some truth in that, hard working lines people working extra long hours under storm or other conditions, dealing with broken off wires etc.; maybe staff brought in from other assisting power companies, to restore power, deserve better consideration. Ever since the 1950s while I worked for a telecomm. company that shared poles with power lines there have been some accidents and FATALITIES. Usually involving power company linemen! Since the availaibility of emergency generators at prices affordable to many home owners the risk of back feeding tfrom a house service by an improperly connected generator through distribution transformer back to primary 13 or 22 kilovolts has existed. It behoves us to 'do it right'!

[metspitzer]

It looks like the original owner had the generator cord "hard wired" into the box. He also failed to use a weatherproof connector. It should be one of these.

You could also hard wire a cord, or you could mount an inlet box. can't use the existing box for an inlet box because the plug is too big to fit in a single gang box.

The cord you need is 10/3 SO cord. Because of the possibility of fire, you should not put the generator too close to the house, but you also don't want the cord any longer than necessary. I would go with

10 feet.

It needs a NEMA 10-30R on the generator end and either hard wire it into the box or use a NEMA 10-30P for the inlet end.

You have to ground the frame of the generator to either the house ground rod or a separate ground rod.

[metspitzer]

Actually you are correct. You have to use an "inlet"

[Don Young]

. The 'downed' line was used more as figure of speech! And, while some truth in that, hard working lines people working extra long hours under storm or other conditions, dealing with broken off wires etc.; maybe staff brought in from other assisting power companies, to restore power, deserve better consideration. Ever since the 1950s while I worked for a telecomm. company that shared poles with power lines there have been some accidents and FATALITIES. Usually involving power company linemen! Since the availaibility of emergency generators at prices affordable to many home owners the risk of back feeding tfrom a house service by an improperly connected generator through distribution transformer back to primary 13 or 22 kilovolts has existed. It behoves us to 'do it right'! Every time this discussion comes up, it seems the discussion is only of possible hazards to trained and well equipped linemen working on a distribution system. Linemen are not the only persons who may accidently or otherwise come in contact with a broken or otherwise downed power line. It is possible for a service drop line to break loose during a storm and then be backfed from the house it is still connected to. I would not want the possibility of being responsible for any power being present on presumably dead lines, whether on poles or on the ground.

Don Young

[Pete C.]

Unfortunate, but they failed to follow procedures and ground any conductor they were going to work on without using appropriate gear for live conductors.

[EXT]

The first thing that tells me the installation was NOT professional is the collection of individual wires that leave the bottom of the "transfer switch", the center bunch have a short length of flexible plastic conduit that doesn't go all the way to the breaker box and it is attached to the box with the wrong type of connector. They ALL should be enclosed in conduit or other approved sheath.

The second thing, is that all the Romex cables are strung loose and not attached to the studs as they are required.

The third thing, is the homemade "transfer box" with the Dymo type labels that is made out of an electrical junction box. Toggle switches do not usually have the capacity for a 5kw generator, provide no separation between generator and utility power and don't provide forced disconnect of one source before connecting to another power source. Plus each hot leg of the circuit is switched separately instead of being tied together. In some areas the neutral needs to be switched as well.

Install a proper legal transfer switch according to the NEC code and be safe.

I think that the best thing to do at this point is to provide a link to pictures of the configuration. I will work on this today. I believe the installation was done professionally and the solution is simple but I just do not have the resources beyond asking for help here. Thanks for everyones input.

[Stormin Mormon]

In most cases, I reccomend people use exclaimation points very sparingly. However, when talking about frying linemen, bangs are often very appropriate. Lets not fry the linemen, shall we!!!!!!!!

[Stormin Mormon]

It is no surprise that linemen listen careful for generators. Also, I've heard of ground straps they may use. To ground a cable, before working on it. Your descripton does sound like a clear case of home owner being unsafe.