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hogone View Drop Down
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Posts: 1060 		Direct Link To This Post Topic: generator cords
    Posted: 15 Jan 2017 at 7:42am
im going to hook up my generator(8-10000 watts-generac) today just for grins!!  I bought it 3 years ago and have never needed it for emergency backup.  i do start it 3 or so times a year; put a light load on it and run for about an hour.  i had it out and ready to go this weekend as we were expecting a pretty good ice storm which never materialized as expected.  i want to run the cords in the house and hook various things up and put a full load on it for a practice run.  does anyone have any other suggestions other than running cords thru an entrance door(my wife said i couldn't put the genset in the middle of the living roomDisapprove).  GO PACKApprove
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Tars Tarkas View Drop Down
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Posts: 1452 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jan 2017 at 8:48am
Of course the ideal way would be to have a transfer switch wired in and a receptacle outside.  That would cost more than your generator, so a lot of people don't do that.  Otherwise though, you're right, you have to run the cords in somehow.  A hole the wall, nicely finished, that you could stuff with insulation even when in use, and cover up neatly when not in use would be nice.  After that, I guess there's not much choice but a door or window -- which have obvious problems during ice storm weather.

The nice thing about a transfer switch is that you can hard-wire circuits for things that don't have plugs, like a 220v water heater or water pump, etc.  And of course it's a lot less hassle when the power goes off and comes back on.

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hogone View Drop Down
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Posts: 1060 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jan 2017 at 8:57am
ya, im not gonna hook up direct to the box quite yet.   i have thought about a hole in a wall, actually in a cabinet which abuts to the garage wall!!for today i will just run in door, but i think a hole is forth coming.  hogone
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mjlrpod View Drop Down
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Posts: 1221 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jan 2017 at 9:20am
ok, heres how i did it before when we had an ice storm and we needed to use a generator for 5 days. I ran the power cords thru my dryer vent exhaust vent, into the house, then ran cords to each place i needed power. It worked out great. I stuffed a couple small hand towels around the powercord  to block the cold air from coming in thru the opening since the cord wouldnt allow the cover to fully close. Its cheaper than some other options.
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Craneman View Drop Down
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Posts: 387 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jan 2017 at 9:34am
You might want to rethink just running a cord in the house, I jerry rigged our house for year as our power goes out often. During a power outage years ago someone ran a line to a outlet and forgot to flip the main to off,which from what I heard resulted in a near miss for the power co workers. I went to home depo and for about $400 I installed a transfer switch. We can run everything in the house.  Good luck
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hogone View Drop Down
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Posts: 1060 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jan 2017 at 9:42am
unfortunately my dryer is downstairs, i would want to power the upstairs which would mean alot of cords; excellent thought though.  time to punch a hole in the wall.  GO PACK.  hogone
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Tars Tarkas View Drop Down
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Posts: 1452 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jan 2017 at 11:24am
Originally posted by Craneman

You might want to rethink just running a cord in the house, I jerry rigged our house for year as our power goes out often. During a power outage years ago someone ran a line to a outlet and forgot to flip the main to off,which from what I heard resulted in a near miss for the power co workers. I went to home depo and for about $400 I installed a transfer switch. We can run everything in the house.  Good luck


Yeah, people do that, but that is not the way to go!  Even if you're careful enough there are other electrical issues that are over my head, but one mistake can lead to dead linemen.  A transfer switch is the first choice, but then going with cords from the generator directly to the appliances is next.

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mjlrpod View Drop Down
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Posts: 1221 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 15 Jan 2017 at 11:41am
Originally posted by hogone

unfortunately my dryer is downstairs, i would want to power the upstairs which would mean alot of cords; excellent thought though.  time to punch a hole in the wall.  GO PACK.  hogone

Well, i ran power upstairs too. I had no ready made hole up there. I ran the cord to the window, and using the same idea, i stuffed the crack of the window with towels or insulation so the cold couldnt get thru the open bottom section of window.  My window was on the second floor. I will do the same thing again if an emergency comes up. I hear they make some type of adapter that goes on your electric meter. I guess you plug your generator right into the adapter and it powers the house. Thats what i heard, no idea of anything else.
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hogone View Drop Down
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Posts: 1060 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jan 2017 at 5:36am
my neighbor gave me another genset, wheelhouse 5500.  runs excellent except the left side plugs ins arent producing juice.  its not the breaker.  ant easy troubleshooting fixes?  hogone
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hogone View Drop Down
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Posts: 1060 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: 23 Jan 2017 at 5:36am
correction; right side plugins!!  hogone
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