Distance between generator and point of use

[veggie]

Anyone here have a generator located 250 ft. or more from the house (or the point of power use)?
One possible site for me is a Barn which is approx 250 ft from the dwelling.
I would like to know if there are any issues in locating my Lister SR2 - 5kw generator in the barn and running a L--o--n--g power line to the transfer switch plug at the dwelling.
The line would be a combination of above ground (along a fence) and trenched from the fence to the dwelling.
The generator can easily put out the full 5kw at 240VAC (all day long).

anyone else with a run this long ?

veggie

[BruceM]

4 gauge aluminum would do you job with a 3.4 volt drop at the full 5KW load.  So 4 gauge or better.  No worries about distance if you size the wire properly for your load. 

http://www.calculator.net/voltage-drop-calculator.html

My run is about 360 feet, for 10 amp max on 240V.  I then step it down to 120V via toroidal transformer at my shop.  I used 6 gauge copper, before copper became so dear, as it was run inside conduit with some other cables for my 120VDC distribution and some control signal wires.

[Horsepoor]

My run is 300 feet from the generator shed to the transfer switch, then into the house and the distribution panel. I was concerned about voltage drop at maximum power usage (50A - 240VAC). I used AWG #1 gage for the conductors and less for the neutral and ground (IIRC AWG #4). I do not regret spending the extra money.

Part of the #1 AWG justification was the permitting process for the tool shed with 100 amp service. I ran a line 50 feet from the genereator shed to hit the 250 foot line running from the tool shed to the house service panel. Thus, 250 + 50 = 300 feet run.

My suggestion is spend as much as you can on wire, over build if you can, do it right, and you'll never have to worry about voltage drops, poor performance, insulation fire, etc.

[buickanddeere]

#6 ground is lots. It's connected to a ground rod at both and and is isolated from the neutral. The ground system is not supposed to carry neutral current.
Over at listerengine.com I suggested running remote voltage monitoring 250ft  back to the generator's regulator from the breaker panel.