Electrical Cord for 7000 W Generator - Would This Do?

[tooljunkie4]

I've an idea that I'll be purchasing a Honda EU7000iS generator to power the house in the case of an outage. Everything here - including the water flow - is driven by electricity. Will have to get an electrician out to modify the breaker box, and will need to come up with the materials needed to transmit power from the generator to the house across a safe minimum distance.

Among a whole bunch of things I obtained from an estate sale is this electrical cord. It's huge, but I'm not sure if it is right for this task.

On the outer jacket is the following information:

CORNISH COROPRENE 6 THREE CONDUCTOR P117-MESA TYPE SO

It contains three stranded conductors, each of which is independently insulated. Overall length is maybe 50'.

Is there enough information here to be able to say whether or not it fits the bill?

 

[AntonLargiader]

Probably not, if you're looking for one cord to power the house. Three insulated conductors, you mean black/white/green? That would be good for 120V, not 240V. And SO (without a W) is technically not an outdoor cable because it's not wet-location rated, although it would probably be OK as a judiciously used extension cord depending on the circumstances.

The eu7000iS has two 20A 120V duplex receps, a 30A 120V recep, and a 30A 240V recep. So you'll just be using extension cords, right?

The ampacity is fine but it's only good for 120V unless it's 3+ground.

 

[The Cobbler]

3 conductor SO cord will give you either 120 or 240 , but you can't do both at the same time
you need 4 conductor for a 120/240 cord

 

[tooljunkie4]

I should take a step back in the way I'm framing all of this.

I have an all-electric household. Will need a sizeable generator to run all of it. I know very little about electrical. It is not my field.

Perhaps a better question would be "Would this length of 6/3 SO cord be of any use in powering the entire house the right way?" Everything all at once. Well pump, water heater, kitchen appliances, lighting, and laundry. I just have material and am trying to see if it fits my current, vague plans.

 

[The Cobbler]

you can power some of your house. but you'll have to pick 120 or 240. you won't be able to mix the voltages

 

[sparky 1971]

I should take a step back in the way I'm framing all of this.

I have an all-electric household. Will need a sizeable generator to run all of it. I know very little about electrical. It is not my field.

Perhaps a better question would be "Would this length of 6/3 SO cord be of any use in powering the entire house the right way?" Everything all at once. Well pump, water heater, kitchen appliances, lighting, and laundry. I just have material and am trying to see if it fits my current, vague plans.

No. You will need a four conductor cord, and even then, you won't be able to run the entire house at once. You can run all of the lights, TV's, the well pump and maybe the water heater or the dryer or a couple of burners on the range or the oven. It won't run an electric furnace. In the summer it would run the air handler, but probably won't start the AC.

With what you have, you could rig it up to run all of the 120 volt things or in a limited capacity, the 240 volt appliances, but not both.

 

[tooljunkie4]

Probably not, if you're looking for one cord to power the house. Three insulated conductors, you mean black/white/green? That would be good for 120V, not 240V. And SO (without a W) is technically not an outdoor cable because it's not wet-location rated, although it would probably be OK as a judiciously used extension cord depending on the circumstances.

The eu7000iS has two 20A 120V duplex receps, a 30A 120V recep, and a 30A 240V recep. So you'll just be using extension cords, right?

The ampacity is fine but it's only good for 120V unless it's 3+ground.

3 conductor SO cord will give you either 120 or 240 , but you can't do both at the same time
you need 4 conductor for a 120/240 cord

you can power some of your house. but you'll have to pick 120 or 240. you won't be able to mix the voltages

No. You will need a four conductor cord, and even then, you won't be able to run the entire house at once. You can run all of the lights, TV's, the well pump and maybe the water heater or the dryer or a couple of burners on the range or the oven. It won't run an electric furnace. In the summer it would run the air handler, but probably won't start the AC.

With what you have, you could rig it up to run all of the 120 volt things or in a limited capacity, the 240 volt appliances, but not both.

Rats. Thank all of you for sharing your insight. No one likes to talk to an idiot - and, in this case, I am the idiot.

What task or application would this 6/3 cord be well-suited to? If it won't work for me, it may as well work for someone else. Seems too nice to scrap without at least trying to put it to work.

 

[The Cobbler]

a welder or plasma cutter extension cord

 

[BukitCase]

Agree with Cobbler; Got a friend that has a welder and needs a 240 volt extension cord? I made one up that's exactly that size, I put a dual receptacle box with two 6-50's on the female end and can (one at a time) run my mm211 mig and Hypertherm PM45, (without having to unplug one)up to 75' away from main welder plug. Both machines can be on standby... Steve

 

[wyliesdiesels]

6/3 cordage is only good for 240v 50a or smaller equipment such as welders mentioned above...

Wont work for your generator application

 

[AntonLargiader]

You should have a long think about what you want to power and how. While your average power consumption is likely under 30A, your generator needs to deal with the peaks which will be far higher. You don't want to buy a generator that supplies your maximum possible load, so you will want to be able to control the loads to keep them within your future generator's capacity like Sparky said. Make a list of your loads (use nameplate info where possible) including starting loads if possible. Figure out what you can do without or manually control, for instance not running your upstairs and downstairs HVAC at the same time, or turning all AC off if you need the oven.

Our outages, for instance, are never long enough that we need to do laundry during them, so those loads are easy to eliminate... just don't use those appliances.

 

[mogandave]

I am the idiot.

No, idiots think they know, or at least will not admit they don't.

Admitting ignorance is a sign of intelligence.

 

[rdoty]

Look at RV power cables. They are designed for this sort of application and you should be able to find information on connecting them. A RV power cable will have the correct connector for the EU7000 generator and you can get power inlets for the house.

In my case it ended up being cheaper to by a 75' RV power cable (from Amazon, not from a RV center) with molded connectors than to build one myself. You need the NEMA L14-30 connector - this is a four wire locking connector that supports 240/120 volts at 30 amps.

You will need a transfer switch or an interlock for your house electrical panel to connect the generator.

 

[dcg9381]

6/3 cordage is only good for 240v 50a or smaller equipment such as welders mentioned above...

Wont work for your generator application

6/4 SOOJ is what I'd build it out of. Good for 45 amps apparently.

240V * 45A = 10.8KW (good enough for a 7KW generator).

OP, you can usually buy these in 30A (120V) or 50A (240V) as "RV cords". But none of this matters until we know what type of outlet is on your generator. You can also buy pre-built generator cords. You'll need an interlock and a generator inlet.. As others are saying 7KW is probably "too little" for most houses, but I'll admit that our house normally pulls is 2.5-4KW per hour, but that's not start up loads - we've got a 20KW generator... You'll be fine as long as the generator has overload protection, but probably aren't going to run big items.. Some areas REQUIRE that the generator match a load calculation for you home...