Calling all Electrictians - Broken Generator, HELP!!!

[Craig pc]

All is well this is a forum for help and when people chime in on things they need to have at least an educated guess or just not post hope all that are in the storm stay safe and if needed have 2 gens I can ship if a fellow reefer will be down for extended times

 

[staindsoul]

Keep telling yourself that. Most houses are running on a 120/240 single phase system. You already disprove your knowledge base, if you run a wye configuration you don't end up with a high leg. A high leg comes from a delta grounded system.

Bs my a$$ more power companies are switching to 120 208 due to the fact of guarantees I deal with them everyday the power commissions have cracked down on building new power plants and the drop in economy has slowed upgrading of existing lines and transformers therefore more are switching to 120 208 and most all motors will run 120 208 that's why most a/c units have nameplates listing amperage at 208/230 so before you open your mouth and sound retarded know what your talking about. Also the old 120/240 is pretty well out dated most anymore is either 120/208 or 120/230 both can and are 1 phase and three phase and most places have gone totally away from the delta wye configure because you always ended up with a high leg

Your absolutely right about the dryer having a breaker, but if you feed a dryer circuit to the load side of a 40 amp breaker with a 50 amp breaker on the wiring from the generator side, you will be running a 50 amp circuit on #8 wiring rated for only 40 amps. The dryer breaker will not interrupt the circuit to generator only to the panel. It is still dangerous.

And dude you just showed how much you know your dryer has a breaker on it it doesn't matter what power you have trying to feed it it will only handle what the breaker you are hooking to can handle

 

[WillM]

Thanks for all the feedback folks It's really invaluable to be able to post up a random question on this forum and get experienced folks from all the over the continent willing to lend their knowledge to a fellow reefer.

If anyone ever has a welding question or a banking question I'm your go to guy. 8 years as a welder and 10 years at a major bank. Hahah....

Thanks again!

 

[staindsoul]

Good luck.

https://www.google.com/search?q=del...hl=en&client=safari#biv=i|6;d|dyiuxyT93EIgUM:

Delta

Wye

 

[jimmy frag]

if the main is tripped, there are no lights on in the house, power is off. to make your task legal. the dryer wire has to be protected at both end by a breaker rated for 30 amps. there will be the question about bonding as well that i cannot answer for you as im not up on gens to give you the correct info and dont want to upset Tex

 

[jimmy frag]

oh, a banker eh !. lol

 

[Craig pc]

If you have it plugged into dryer on 40 amp breaker all your power has to pass thru that 40 amp breaker there for wether your gen can produce 50 or 90 amps you are limited to 40 the wire will get hot causing the breaker to get hot and then trip. The same thing occurs when you have an issue with your dryer. Wire and breakers if sized right will only carry there designed loads or less. You can plug your gen into 2 20 amp breakers all you can get is 20 amps or will trip the breaker. The 50 amp breaker on your gen is to protect the gens stator as it main purpose

 

[staindsoul]

Hey, two more questions about the above comments:

* Can I verify the main breaker is truly open now by turning it off and looking around the house to make sure everything is off and thereby deduce if power can't get through it from the line side it won't go back through it from the generator if it's open?

* Do you mean it's not legal for an electrician to wire it this way (eg it should be run through a transfer switch if I was paying someone professionally to do this and be within code)? Or do you mean it's not legal for me to backfeed into my own breaker box through the dryer outlet to supply my house?

1-yes

2-it's not a way an electrician can do it legally by nec. There has to be a interlock. By transfer switch or other interlocking means.

 

[WillM]

oh, a banker eh !. lol

Haha... The helpful answers stop now, right. haha....

Most days I wish I was still welding. At least then I had a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day when I could see I had built something tangible. Now I just plow through a bunch of legal docs making sure that the attorney's did what they were supposed to do to secure the collateral on corporate deals.

 

[sparky45]

You should be fine.

 

[staindsoul]

If you have it plugged into dryer on 40 amp breaker all your power has to pass thru that 40 amp breaker there for wether your gen can produce 50 or 90 amps you are limited to 40 the wire will get hot causing the breaker to get hot and then trip. The same thing occurs when you have an issue with your dryer. Wire and breakers if sized right will only carry there designed loads or less. You can plug your gen into 2 20 amp breakers all you can get is 20 amps or will trip the breaker. The 50 amp breaker on your gen is to protect the gens stator as it main purpose

You cannot legally run a amperage higher than the current rating of the wire by means of a breaker. Period. You would be running a circuit with a 50 amp breaker that is utilizing wire rated for only 40 amps. Even if that 40 trips before the wire being fed heats to the point of damage. It's still wrong and dangerous, what if their is a fault between the generator and 40 amp breaker that it won't interrupt. Because it is not going to interrupt between the generator to the dryer plug, up to that 40 amp breaker.

You don't want to discuss the delta wye issue anymore?

 

[jimmy frag]

Haha... The helpful answers stop now, right. haha....

Most days I wish I was still welding. At least then I had a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day when I could see I had built something tangible. Now I just plow through a bunch of legal docs making sure that the attorney's did what they were supposed to do to secure the collateral on corporate deals.

come on now WillM, im sure you have helped out many good people just like me and Tex with a mortgage. :thumbsup:

 

[WillM]

1-yes

2-it's not a way an electrician can do it legally by nec. There has to be a interlock. By transfer switch or other interlocking means.

OK, going to flip it now. If it's off then I feel OK with doing this as a backfeed. I don't have enough money left over after buying the generator to get a bunch of extension cords, haha....

 

[WillM]

come on now WillM, im sure you have helped out many good people just like me and Tex with a mortgage. :thumbsup:

Nah, man I service the machines that do all the robo-signing.




(too soon?)

 

[Craig pc]

Your not upsetting me and thanks like the name tex. and have built and wired numerous schools and high rise buildings all over the state and have hooked up everything from 24 v to 4160 v and have hooked up gens from 1.5 kw to 1500 kw never had problems have never had any failures. Next time y'all are in houston drop a line and I will show you some of my work to the OP good luck man.

 

[jimmy frag]

cheers (Craig pc) TEX

 

[staindsoul]

^i am more than willing to concede to you if you bring proof, you insult my education and than when I bring proof. You throw accolades out and decide to "step out". You are wrong, sir. Plain and simple.

I wire Plc, instrumentation, high voltage, and motor control centers for a industrial firm. It's pretty simple, you ran your foot into your mouth and can't take it now.

 

[Craig pc]

Ok dude you brought google anyone can do that and not stepping out. You describe to me a journeyman electrician. I have apprentices that can wire Plc and Mcc all day when you have pe or carry a masters license then you can argue I carry jobs on a daily basis they have bonds higher then most houses value that falls on my shoulders and I'm not going to eat a 500000 dollar bond over a screw up so stick to wiring plcs and I will keep engineering building and building buildings

 

[staindsoul]

Show me a 120/208 single phase wiring diagram that you describe? No lineman wires that.

Ps. Since we are comparing male anatomy, I'm a superintendent. Just finished running a 4.5 million wwtp at the age of 26. 500000 bond, please.

 

[Craig pc]

Ok dude your so right I've never had a 120/208 single phase hook up! Ya right the majority of services down here that used to be a center grounded wye aka high leg which is where a or c to ground is 120 and b to ground is 208 have all been changed over to a straight 120 208 single phase service where they have deleted the high leg and both hots are fed off of a zig zag ground transformer that is where you delete the center grounded leg and replace a old school 3 phase panel to a single phase panel no more high leg these are real common in areas where you have housing close to older industrial areas. I do these all the time when people buy older industrial shops remodel and repurpose the spaces