Earlier this year I made a “suicide cable” for plugging our Honda gas generator into our home.
I first installed a 240V/40A receptacle in the basement near an outside door. I then made a 20’ cable that plugs between the generator and the receptacle. This cable has a male plug on each end. Definitely not to code.
When the power goes out, I simply turn off the main breaker in the panel, plug in the generator, and then close the circuit breaker for the 40 A receptacle.
It works great.
I addition, I built a box that monitors the current and voltage of each 120 V leg of the generator. It also monitors the voltage coming into the house, and a buzzer will sound to let us know when the power is once again available.
