What kind of cord and outlets for generator to house?

[Acecardician]

Our whole house was down to the studs and rewired. The electrician put in a transfer switch. It is in the electrical box. You flip off the main breaker and turn on the generator switch. He put in a female plug coming out of the house to plug the generator into. That would involve me getting a suicide cord( 2 male ends). My friend said it would kill me.
Do I need the electrician to change that into a male outlet coming out my house? I texted him and he did not seem to know what I was talking about. (He said he would have to look into it). If I can get the correct plugs and outlets I can have him just do it for me. The general contractor said he has 3 setups like that (male to male) and he is not dead. I don't know what to do. Any help is appreciated.

 

[pcgeek11]

You need a new electrician. What he did is not to code and should be corrected.

The fix is easy, but I'm not sure I would trust the rest of the job either.

Here is how it should be done.

How to Wire a Transfer Switch to Your Home (Step by Step) - Generator Grid

In this article, Iwill walk you through the process of wiring a transfer switch to your home and guide you to my top picks on the part you will need.

generatorgrid.com

Here is an example of a proper 30 amp inlet box Notice the Male Terminals inside.

It should also be interlocked so that the generator breaker and the mains breaker cannot be on at the same time. See the link above for details of a simple system. There are various methods that are all correct and there lots of hacks that do what your electrician did.

For a 30 amp load:

Amazon.com: Conntek 80601-GYBX 30 Amps 125/250 Volts Power Inlet Box, For Generators Up to 7,500 Watts, Grey Cap: Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com: Conntek 80601-GYBX 30 Amps 125/250 Volts Power Inlet Box, For Generators Up to 7,500 Watts, Grey Cap: Garden & Outdoor

www.amazon.com

Or a 50 amp load:

Amazon.com : Conntek 80SS2-BKBX 50 Amps 125/250 Volts Power Inlet Box, for Generators Up to 12, 500 Watts, Black Cap : Garden & Outdoor

Amazon.com : Conntek 80SS2-BKBX 50 Amps 125/250 Volts Power Inlet Box, for Generators Up to 12, 500 Watts, Black Cap : Garden & Outdoor

www.amazon.com

 

[Red Squirrel]

Yeah that should have been a male plug. You could use a "suicide cord" but that is not exactly safe.

I would swap it out for a male twist lock, then just buy the appropriate end for your generator extension cord. If your generator does not do 120/240 you can probably just feed 120 to both hots. 240v appliances won't work with the generator but rest of house will.

Also given this electrician messed up I would review the rest of his wiring to make sure it's going through a proper transfer switch, and not going to backfeed the grid.

I would test that generator plug for power, if there is power coming out of it, it's very very wrong.

 

[Greenman]

Our whole house was down to the studs and rewired. The electrician put in a transfer switch. It is in the electrical box. You flip off the main breaker and turn on the generator switch. He put in a female plug coming out of the house to plug the generator into. That would involve me getting a suicide cord( 2 male ends). My friend said it would kill me.
Do I need the electrician to change that into a male outlet coming out my house? I texted him and he did not seem to know what I was talking about. (He said he would have to look into it). If I can get the correct plugs and outlets I can have him just do it for me. The general contractor said he has 3 setups like that (male to male) and he is not dead. I don't know what to do. Any help is appreciated.

Yup that's a suicide plug. Have it changed.

 

[Sgt. York]

It's amazing that you can buy them online. One would think the liability would be too high.

 

[Greenman]

It's amazing that you can buy them online. One would think the liability would be too high.

I wasn't aware that they were even made. A brief search and all I found was information stating that they're illegal.

 

[Red Squirrel]

Most people just make their own it's not really that hard. I don't like the idea though as there is a risk of shock or shorting out if the live end touches you or something. You should plug it in an order where that's not a risk mind you. ex: you would plug the house side first then the generator. Then you start the generator (with inside panel turned off) and then go in to transfer power, and then turn on main. Ex: don't try to start generator under load or transfer power under load. I prefer real transfer switches vs interlock setups as well. Interlocks can be defeated and you risk backfeeding the grid. With a transfer switch you are completely isolating the grid side from the panel.

 

[Sgt. York]

I wasn't aware that they were even made. A brief search and all I found was information stating that they're illegal.

Amazon
Amazon2

 

[highland145]

Amazon comment:
This is great to have a factory certified suicide plug. These are hard to find.

lol

 

[BoomerD]

Why not have the cord hardwired with only a male end for the generator? Just keep it coiled up and hung where you need it.

 

[WilliamM2]

Since the whole house is being re-wired, isn't it being inspected? Make the electrician come back and fix it.

 

[Raizinman]

All things electrical have their risks. We don't have power outages very often, perhaps once every 4 or 5 years for a day or two. Often if it appears to be a short outage, we don't even worry about getting out the generator and suicide cord. If it appears to be a long outage, yes we have used the generator and cord a few times. We know the risks and are extra careful with this cord as should anyone who uses this type of cord. I suppose it falls under how comfortable are you with electricity.

 

[highland145]

I suppose it falls under how comfortable are you with electricity.

Many are too stupid to know the risks. Some years back, we had an outage and a customer said he just plugged his genny into his dryer outlet with a home made cord. I'd hate to be a lineman after a storm.

 

[Red Squirrel]

I actually wonder, would a typical small generator even run if the grid is still connected? In theory it would try to power the entire part of the grid that is out, and immediately trip it's own breaker. Either way it's a very dangerous thing to do and you don't want to do it. I suppose if it's say, your block that's down, like 10 houses or so, and it's a big enough generator it perhaps actually would run.

 

[highland145]

I actually wonder, would a typical small generator even run if the grid is still connected? In theory it would try to power the entire part of the grid that is out, and immediately trip it's own breaker. Either way it's a very dangerous thing to do and you don't want to do it. I suppose if it's say, your block that's down, like 10 houses or so, and it's a big enough generator it perhaps actually would run.

No idea but I'm not redneck enough to try it. The guy said that he flips off his main breaker but what if he forgets or some else in the family messes with it. Screw that.

 

[NutBucket]

Yeah that should have been a male plug. You could use a "suicide cord" but that is not exactly safe.

I would swap it out for a male twist lock, then just buy the appropriate end for your generator extension cord. If your generator does not do 120/240 you can probably just feed 120 to both hots. 240v appliances won't work with the generator but rest of house will.

Agreed, but I would flip the breakers on the 240V circuits just so you don't damage anything.

 

[NutBucket]

No idea but I'm not redneck enough to try it. The guy said that he flips off his main breaker but what if he forgets or some else in the family messes with it. Screw that.

Its feeding power into the grid to its output limit. The meter will likely spin backwards....like for those folks that have solar.

 

[NutBucket]

I came across this product a few days ago. Its definitely a "what took them so long" type of thing. So simple yet so brilliant. It's in the $700 range.

Transfer Switch | Global Power Products

 

[Micrornd]

No idea but I'm not redneck enough to try it. The guy said that he flips off his main breaker but what if he forgets or some else in the family messes with it. Screw that.

Hopefully they are interlocked.

 

[Micrornd]

I came across this product a few days ago. Its definitely a "what took them so long" type of thing. So simple yet so brilliant. It's in the $700 range.

Transfer Switch | Global Power Products

It looks nice, but each individual utility has to approve it's installation locally.
Good luck with that in some areas.

 

[highland145]

Hopefully they are interlocked.

I did mention redneck, right?

 

[Micrornd]

I did mention redneck, right?

Yeah, I know, but unless the OP described it wrong, the electrician convinced him that adding a generator feed breaker to the main panel constitutes a transfer switch
So hopefully the electrician, at the very least, interlocked them.

 

[Spacehead]

Since the whole house is being re-wired, isn't it being inspected? Make the electrician come back and fix it.

I was thinking the same thing.
If for some reason it's not being inspected, i'd at least have another electrician take a look at it while it's uncovered.

I came across this product a few days ago. Its definitely a "what took them so long" type of thing. So simple yet so brilliant. It's in the $700 range.

Transfer Switch | Global Power Products

It looks nice, but each individual utility has to approve it's installation locally.
Good luck with that in some areas.

That is what our electric company uses. Has to be installed by them though