Generator hook-up on power pole

[Ramper]

We live on a "farm" meaning the power that comes down out drive ONLY services our property. It splits off sending 100 to the house, 200 to the house and 100(or maybe 200) to the machine shed. We just got a 7000W generator that we would like to hook up to be sure our well pump runs and some other things

Is it possible to hook-up AT THE POLE? That seems like the easiest place. We would need a male hook-up box and a transfer switch. Would the transfer switch have to be rated for 200 amps? We are thinking (could be wrong) that adding wiring to our home would cost more than dealing with the transfer before entering the house.

We had out home built in 2009 and should've had an inlet installed then

 

[mike93lx]

Do you have two meters or one? If two, i think you are SOL.

Pictures?

 

[Ramper]

One meter. Pics when I get home (at work)

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

Yes it is possible I did it just that way. Bought meter / manual transfer switch from my electrical supplier - says property of Consumers Energy right in the box cover. (however I had to purchase it and have it installed)





NWOHIOCHEVYGUY

Still dreaming

 

[Eric29]

Generlink makes automatic switches that install behind a meter. When you energize them with a generator, they disconnect from the utility line and feed the generator power to your main panel.

 

[Ole Slewfoot]

Often the POCO owns the pole, and may not want you putting stuff there.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

Yes it is possible I did it just that way. Bought meter / manual transfer switch from my electrical supplier - says property of Consumers Energy right in the box cover. (however I had to purchase it and have it installed)





NWOHIOCHEVYGUY

Still dreaming

Does that meter panel have breakers/main disconnects in it?

Generlink makes automatic switches that install behind a meter. When you energize them with a generator, they disconnect from the utility line and feed the generator power to your main panel.

NEC code requires generators with ATS to be sized for the entire load or have load shedding capabilities...

That gets expensive QUICK...

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

My panel shown above has a 200 amp breaker that is off the meter and 100 amp from the generator I believe.


NWOHIOCHEVYGUY

Still dreaming

 

[theoldwizard1]

We live on a "farm" meaning the power that comes down our drive ONLY services our property. It splits off sending 100 to the house, 200 to the house and 100(or maybe 200) to the machine shed. We just got a 7000W generator that we would like to hook up to be sure our well pump runs and some other things. Is it possible to hook-up AT THE POLE?

It could be not too expensive or it could be difficult.

When you say it "splits off", I am assuming there is load center (like owned by the OP) on the pole with at a main and at least 3 breakers. You need a 4th 2-pole breaker and an interlock kit.

Even if you have to change the load center, using an interlock kit is probably cheaper than using DPDT "transfer" safety switch in front of the existing load.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Yes it is possible I did it just that way. Bought meter / manual transfer switch from my electrical supplier - says property of Consumers Energy right in the box cover. (however I had to purchase it and have it installed)

Where is the auxiliary feed ? That is basically a generator interlock on steroids with a built in meter socket. Simple and straight forward.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

My panel shown above has a 200 amp breaker that is off the meter and 100 amp from the generator I believe.


NWOHIOCHEVYGUY

Still dreaming

Whoops.

I mistakened you for the OP...

One meter. Pics when I get home (at work)

Does your meter panel have main disconnects?

 

[Ramper]

I have my electrician and the Electric CO electrician looking into it. If they come back with a huge price tag, we will explore other options. We got the generator fora good price, so we want to do it right, but don't want to spend too much money.

The generator is a Reddy 7000Watt with a 13 hp Honda engine. We picked it up at an auction ($190) and when we got it home it fired right up (electric start). We want to avoid extension cords (not sure how that would hook up to the well.

I was not able to take pics last night. There is a "breaker box" at the well as well. We could run the well before the house was built (the old house burnt down). Maybe we could hook the generator to the well and then run extension cords to the house for other needs.

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

Where is the auxiliary feed ? That is basically a generator interlock on steroids with a built in meter socket. Simple and straight forward.

View attachment 1

This panel feeds both my garage & house, feed to house exits backside of box left side and garage feed exits left side.

This picture is before I had the generator leads ran but they now come in the bottom of the box (smaller conduit) to the breaker on right locked out in the picture.



NWOHIOCHEVYGUY

Still dreaming

 

[Norcal]

Is the model number of that Milbank panel visible? Noticed there are two Zinsco knockoff breakers and what looks like a interlock on them

 

[larry_g]

The generator is a Reddy 7000Watt with a 13 hp Honda engine. We picked it up at an auction ($190) and when we got it home it fired right up (electric start). We want to avoid extension cords (not sure how that would hook up to the well.

I was not able to take pics last night. There is a "breaker box" at the well as well. We could run the well before the house was built (the old house burnt down). Maybe we could hook the generator to the well and then run extension cords to the house for other needs.

I would suggest that you do some close checking. That generator may not be able to start your well pump. Motors have large inrush current and some generators cannot handle that. I know my old 3/4 hp well pump would not run off of a 5000 watt generator. My new well pump with the VFD on it will run just fine because it does not have the inrush like a direct connected motor will.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

Is the model number of that Milbank panel visible? Noticed there are two Zinsco knockoff breakers and what looks like a interlock on them

Here are the two labels on the panel. If I recall it cost me around $300

Yes simple interlock with main breaker is 200A aux is 100A


NWOHIOCHEVYGUY

Still dreaming

 

[Bert_]

A lot of farm or acreage services use pole top or grade level disconnects that already have generator lugs from the factory. In recent years the meter/main setup has become more popular, they do not have this provision. Some can be set up with an interlock like nwohiochevyguy.

 

[Ramper]

A lot of farm or acreage services use pole top or grade level disconnects that already have generator lugs from the factory. In recent years the meter/main setup has become more popular, they do not have this provision. Some can be set up with an interlock like nwohiochevyguy.

I have an email in to the Electric Coop and they are going to check for me. There is a large box below the meter, but it has a wire tag on it. I assume that I can not open it up and look inside.

 

[yeldogt]

Around me the EL CO will not allow you to place items on their pole. No problem on a residential pole owned by you.

The rules when using a manual transfer differ greatly vs an automatic setup. They seem to be designed for grid safety/ best practices -- there is an assumption that you will eliminate any overload condition that would fry your generator.

Auto transfer situation needs to insure generator capacity for any and all load when it switches over.

You would need to make sure of the load prior to switching over

 

[Bert_]

I have an email in to the Electric Coop and they are going to check for me. There is a large box below the meter, but it has a wire tag on it. I assume that I can not open it up and look inside.

If it has a handle of the side and says auxiliary then it already is a transfer switch.

No doubt your co-op will let you know what you have but for conversations sake a couple pics would help, you did promise them after all...

 

[Eric29]

I didn’t know that. When my son was young, he had a medical condition and we needed to make sure that we had some power to the house if the power went out for a reasonably long period of time. The electric company installed a generlink behind the meter, even though I just had a 4000 watt generator.

Does that meter panel have breakers/main disconnects in it?



NEC code requires generators with ATS to be sized for the entire load or have load shedding capabilities...

That gets expensive QUICK...

 

[Bretny]

It looks like you alreaty have a interlock and unused breaker behind it. Notice the two unused lugs under the interlock. Look up the specs on that model electrical box.

 

[wyliesdiesels]

It looks like you alreaty have a interlock and unused breaker behind it. Notice the two unused lugs under the interlock. Look up the specs on that model electrical box.

Youre confusing someone else's pictures for the OP's.

OP hasnt provided any pictures.

 

[Ramper]

Just got the quote back from the electrician. $325 installed (including permit) for a 30 amp inlet. Would it make sense to install a larger inlet (say 50 amp) NOW to allow for future upgrades?

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

On my system I have the largest "portable" Generac they make at 17500 and it does have a 50amp outlet.

That is what I feed the house with when using our set up shown above.

 

[NWOhioChevyGuy]

It looks like you alreaty have a interlock and unused breaker behind it. Notice the two unused lugs under the interlock. Look up the specs on that model electrical box.

That is my panel during installation

Pictures posted to show OP what can be done on the service pole

 

[slow]

how large do you ever see having on a portable generator? Personally, I am doing a 50 amp inlet on my house, but I've got a 15Kw Generac portable generator (way overkill for my needs, but should run the whole house with AC)

 

[Ramper]

My thoughts are that we built this house 8 years ago and plan to live the REST of lives here. If the cost is not too much more, we should put in the MAXIMUM that we might ever need. This is to be hooked up to a portable generator. Right now we have a 7000W unit and might never upgrade, but if we did we might want the ability to without rewiring. I assume the wire length will be minimal (as the inlet will be on the power pole BEFORE entering the house), so the upgraded wire and inlet should not cost TOO MUCH more.

 

[Ramper]

The bid says:
Install 30 Amp 125/250 volt generator inlet at pole site disconnect/transfer switch
Note: Your pole site disconnect/transfer switch will allow you to operate as a generator transfer.

 

[mike93lx]

The bid says:
Install 30 Amp 125/250 volt generator inlet at pole site disconnect/transfer switch
Note: Your pole site disconnect/transfer switch will allow you to operate as a generator transfer.

30 amp is what most portable generators plug into. Unless you need more in an outage, I'd stick with 30 as the cords are cheaper and it is what is on most generators

 

[slow]

Ask for the price difference, it should not be much to upgrade, but 50 amp inlet and cords are about double the 30 amp versions.

 

[Ramper]

We would be able to set the generator within feet of the inlet (short cord). The electrician said we could do that but would have to make an adapter cord for the generator.

The generator uses a L14-20P or L14-30P. I would just need to make a cord that was L-14-30P on one side a L14-50R on the other end

 

[mike93lx]

Just got the quote back from the electrician. $325 installed (including permit) for a 30 amp inlet. Would it make sense to install a larger inlet (say 50 amp) NOW to allow for future upgrades?

I don't even think i could get an electician to open my panel for that little around here.

 

[slow]

I don't even think i could get an electician to open my panel for that little around here.

I agree, I have been looking for one to do my install just so it is legal and even having the parts, most want a day labor to come out. I need to find the small guy hungry for business.

 

[Ramper]

I don't even think i could get an electician to open my panel for that little around here.

He did my whole house. Goes to my church, great guy. SMALL TOWN