I had an electrician install a receptacle outside my house to connect a generator to the main panel, and an interlock so the main lines power and the generator breaker can’t both be turned on simultaneously.
But the interlock does not look correct to me. Mechanically, I think I could turn both these switches on simultaneously, which is what it’s supposed to prevent.
He will be there Friday to finish some work and I want him to look at it, however, I won’t be there, Ms. Napier will let him in. Since I don’t get to look at it with him, I want to see for myself whether the interlock actually works properly before he comes and then leaves. I don’t want some vague message afterwards like “he didn’t see any problems”.
So, I want to try turning both breakers on simultaneously to see if it’s possible. I think this is safe to do as long as nothing is plugged into the generator receptacle. Am I right? Or is there any weird electrical thing that makes this dangerous for some reason I’m not getting?
If it is the kind with two breakers (main and gen) there is a sliding bar that prevents the gen from being closed until the main is opened. Others just use one handle that does everything.
In general it should be safe, but you will be energizing some prongs that stick out. That should be contained in the generator panel. If in doubt ask the electrician to show you how the interlock would prevent what you are worried about.
But also I have one of those interlocks, and yes it didn’t look correct either. There seemed too much play that could allow me to turn on the main breaker. But I tried it, actually both ways, and no way, not even close, could I get them both to turn on together. But it did look like it was perhaps possible. I think you might find the same.
It doesn’t look correct, and one of the mounting screws is loose and flopping around, but I couldn’t turn both breakers on at the same time, so I guess it does function.
However you raise another worrisome point. You mention the prongs sticking out, inside the generator box, that would be energized if I could enable both breakers simultaneously. The trouble is, their generator box has holes, and the generator is supposed to have a cord with energized prongs sticking out of the house end – at least, so the electricians say. I told them I expected the receptacle to have prongs and the house end of the generator cord to have holes, so there is no way to energize exposed metal, and they say there is no such thing. Now, I know damn well there are female plugs for the ends of cords, and male receptacles for panel or box mounting, as I use them frequently in industrial devices. But the electricians insist they don’t exist, and I’m supposed to have hot exposed prongs on one end of the generator cord if I plug it into the running generator. And I don’t know how to make them install something they insist doesn’t exist.
Why is it so hard to get electricians that seem to know what they’re doing? The previous electrician installed an outdoor lighting circuit with the hot side connected to one side of my 240 V well pump wiring and the neutral side connected to the pump circuit ground, which did work but kept tripping the breaker for both, which is why I called the new electrician in the first place. The electrician before that one would install stuff and announce it was finished without even trying it, and told me “if it doesn’t trip the breaker everything is fine”. Even the original breaker panel, when I bought the house, had a big sticker inside with a red stamp saying “INSPECTION FAILED”. I’m running out of electricians to try hiring, and I’m not comfortable wiring big things inside the main panel by myself.
They are most definitely supposed to have male prongs on the transfer panel. The cord from the generator is just a normal cord and you have the female socket to plug into the panel. Like this:
I agree, seems like it should have a female end going into the house. It shouldn’t be an issue during normal and correct operation of the generator, but it could be a safety hazard if someone uninformed did a few things backwards.
If the incorrect receptacle is in a different box from the main panel, and the breaker to it is off, you could safely swap it. Just make sure the power really is off (I would turn off the main as well in case this guy miswired it) and swap the receptacle.
There is no chance that a licensed electrician did this. I would be vary wary about accepting the advice of whatever cut-rate weekend-warrior handyman actually provided this installation.
The cord he wants you to use is a suicide cord. and it is called that for a reason. No licensed electrician would recommend that. Time to find another. Ask to see their license before they work.
Also if you are connected to a utility and putting in an emergency generator with a transfer switch you will want to get the job inspected by the proper government agency and the utility. No line man wants to be working on power lines in a power outage and hear an unregistered generator running in the area. If they check and find you have one they may cut the lines coming from your house back to utility lines, Or they may check it out to make sure they are safe. But they will note the unregistered generator running and hooked up. And you will get a nasty visit with someone handing you a little paper and asking you to sign it.
Wrong, bucko. This guy is DEFINITELY a licensed electrician. He holds licenses for this state, and the next state over, and this county, and the next county over. He has a big web site and big vans with his advertising painted all over them. Just to verify it wasn’t all a big scam, I looked up his license number at my state’s government website and his license is for the category “STATEWIDE MASTER ELECTRICIAN” and expires next February 24, and it says he is insured.
Yeah, but is that the guy that showed up? If not then call the shop and express your concerns about the devices being installed. Hopefully you get somewhere. Local inspector would be the next line to ring.
As to your previous question. It’s as hard for contractors to find good electricians as it for you, and if they don’t have a solid QC program the bad ones can keep on rolling calls for a little while before it’s figured out.
Well this is a happy surprise! I got home late last night, long after they had left, and found that they had pulled the entire offending box off the exterior wall, and replaced it with a Generac branded box that has a downward-facing receptacle with pins! Guess they discovered it exists after all!