A proper suicide cable.

[TimSR2]

Hypothetically speaking of course.....There is a right way and a wrong way.  Let's say you have a residential house and you have built this big dinosaur generator into your detached garage with some kind of contraband chinese generator head that may or may not have UL or CSA approval. You find yourself in a major power outage and you really would like to power up your house but you haven't got around to having a proper generator priority panel installed and your generator may not pass code. I guess you could just sit in the cold and dark and have all your food spoil. Or maybe there is another way that an educated person could overcome this problem?  Come on, let's open up the big taboo subject!  I'll stick my neck out a little here, it involves a set of large twist lock connectors and a Dryer cord.

Tim SR2

[Capt Fred]

I'd also reckon most have already planned for, and already have what they need on hand to get the job done! 

[rl71459]

My electrician friend called mine a "Double Jesus Cord"

Rob

[veggie]

I guess there is no danger provided there is a 100% certainty that the Mains power is disconnected.
Any problems at that point would be localized to the residence.
Those poor buggers working on power line repairs after a long outage must be wondering when some guy will unexpectedly fire up his 10kw genny and plug it into an outlet, forgetting to shut off the mains, and back feed the dead wires he's working on.

I'm sure everyone is aware of Transfer Switches.
Just install a cheap transfer switch so there's no need to turn off the mains power.
Peace of mind!

Example:
http://www.reliancecontrols.com/ProductDetail.aspx?31410C

You can get a 7.5k rated box with 8 breakers and a watt meter for each leg for around $285.00

Veggie

[XYZER]

Hypothetically of course.........To be common sense legal....maybe not UL or Insurance approved......I have a main disconnect under the meter that I can kill the grid to the farm for sure. I throw a lock on it and now the grid it is locked out! Some main panels have a lock and to me locking out the grid leaves it your business. I won't hurt someone on a pole just me! I then go out to the machine shed where my "oid" is and pull the cover off a sub main and have a cord wired up with a 20amp(15's are hard to find) 220 breaker. I snap in the breaker and connect the neutral and ground leave off the cover and turn off the breaker. Before all of this I have gone into the house and the shop and turned off all the breakers (my 6/1 won't run all of it!). Start my generator then go turn on what it can handle. I have to load share for sure but I can flush the toilet watch TV have lights pellet stove for heat refer for a cold one just not all at once! I'm sure it is not code but that is my way.......   

[TimSR2]

Hypothetically this is how I would do it.

For 5 kw generator.  Install small breaker panel to  gen set, wall mount it with a section of 12/4 cabtire cable. 2/20 amp breakers in the panel. From this panel a short section of 12/4 to a female NEMA 30 amp twist lock.  Near the genset in the shop, install dryer outlet in the wall, very handy for running welders and portable heaters.  Hang up on the wall when not in use, a dryer cord from Home depot (what I call the suicide cable) , with a male 30A twistlock on one end.

The main breaker on the  house panel would have to be in the OFF position. Then one would reduce load by flipping off any un needed breakers, connect suicide cable, start generator. Finally, flip generator panel breakers to ON position. Genset now powers house, protected by it's own breakers, backfeeding through the garage breakers. This assumes you have 120/240 in your garage of course.

Of course this is not a legal or recommended procedure. But it would work well  and has the advantage that the dryer type cord is very sturdy and unlikely to fall out by itself from vibration or being tripped on.

Tim

[rl71459]

To set the record straight... Per Jens definition mine is a "Jesus cord" not a double jesus as stated earlier.

Sorry for any misunderstanding this may have caused. 

[XYZER]

That makes mine a suicide setup and I think I will convert to the Jesus way. Dryer plugs are cheap and then it is ready to go.

[TimSR2]

Ok Jens,

For safety and clarity, lets use your definitions. I like your definitions.  I thought I was suicidal but I have been saved!

My variation would then be a  "Jesus Dryer Cord" .  It's a much safer variation of the Double Jesus Cord.

Tim

[veggie]

TimSR2,

If one does not have a garage with 120/240, would it work to run the following setup....

TURN OFF HOUSE BREAKER...then.....

Generator --> Generator mounted panel with 2/20amp breakers ---> Jesus cord (one end to the Gen Panel) ----> Other end of the cord to the dryer outlet in the house.

Turn off all unnecessary loads, plug in the cable, Start the generator. ?

Veggie

[TimSR2]

Use the same technique as mine. Your cable from your generator breaker box to the Twist lock 30a female connector will be a lot longer probably. You may wish to make up a detachable extension cord with twist lock 120/240/30a on both ends. Male to female like any extension cord. This should be of 12/4 cabtire rubber armored cable. It's pretty expensive, as are the twist lock connectors. The dryer cords only come in 4 foot lengths so your (male to male) 'Jesus Dryer Cable' will be about 4 feet long regardless. 

House dryer wiring is 10 or 12 ga in my area. They are breakered at 30a. Hypothetically one should be able to backfeed 7.5 kw peak into one. Nobody drys clothes during a power outage anyway, and very few produce enough power to power one, so it is an ideal inlet point.

It would be advisable to label your main breaker ( Mine says( UP TO OFF GRID!!) and get a lockout bar for it. It is extremely important that both sources are not on at the same time. It probably won't hurt your ST head but there are some pretty major safety and liability concerns here.

[veggie]

Of course this assumes that the 2 20 amp breakers form a 220V system rather than a 2* 120V system.
I don't know if it is safe to assume that a generator head is 220V on a consumer duty generator. Easy to check out though if the manual doesn't specifically say.  Point is, you need to bring neutral, ground and two hot lines which are 180 degrees out of phase to the house.

Jens

Perhaps you can help me determine if my Voltmaster unit is a 2* 120v system or can I pull a proper 240V from it.
It has the 20A, 240 Plug, but it would be nice to know that it can make true 240 power for the home if needed.
From what I can see, the 240vac connection should be acceptable for use with a jesus dryer cord.

Below are two graphics showing the electrics....
Any help would be appreciated.

Veggie

[lowspeedlife]

I've been an electrician in service & the construction industries for 11 years & worked on gensets in the rental industry for another 8 years & i don't think i've ever seen a 2*120 volt generator. unless you are refering to a 120 volt gen set mounted with two seperate 120 volt recepticals. It appears you have a 240 volt genset from your drawings & the fact that it has a 240 volt receptical.


   Scott R.

[veggie]

Scott,

Have you ever seen anything like this on the 240v side of a generator?
My older 4Kw head has two strange plugs. I am wondering if it can be converted to a single standard 20A, L14-20R receptacle like my newer model of the same brand?

Veggie

[veggie]

Oh and yes, you are good to go .... but of course you know it's illegal, dangerous and could possibly cause a black hole that sucks the entire universe into itself ..... right ?

Jens

I heard that the universe on the other side of the black hole has women who think Changfa owners are the sexiest men alive and Listeroid 6/1's go for $45 usd. ! 

veggie