Wow, you crushed it! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and doing so with great accuracy and clarity. Super impressed and we thank you for using our products in your demonstration.
In my humble opinion, 50 amp inlet box & interlock switch are the way to go, regardless of the current size of generator(as long as gen has a 50amp receptacle).
If the generator has a less than 50A output breaker then you can still use a 50A inlet to your house panel. The generator breaker will trip instead of the 50A and still protect your generator and wiring. 30A plug for the generator and 50A connection for the house is OK.
Great video. Explained very clearly. People also need to understand that most portable generators are neutral bonded. Important to remove that bond for feeding a home this way all ground and neutrals are only bonded at the first means of disconnect. I found and removed the bond on mine. I keep a make plug zip tied to the generator with a neutral to ground jumper in case I want to use the generator out in the field for powering lighting, tools, etc. i just plug in the jumper in that situation.
Great advice. I did the same on my generator. Finding the bond can be tricky. On some it is at the power head others in the outlet area. I have a HF 7,000W genie, the bond was at one of the 120V receptacles. The generator is pretty heavy so I don't intend to move it around but figured I'd make the jumper plug just in case the need every arose.
Exemplary. I'm much the wiser about matters I had practically no knowledge of and can now discuss intelligently with an electrician. Thank you very much from the U.K.
THANK YOU! I take delivery of a DuroMax 9000ih this week, get my MicroAir soft start tomorrow, have an interlock kit installed and each time I open UA-cam I see a very helpful video from you that answers questions that arise in getting this set up to run my 3 ton A/C. Thanks very much. Really well done without all the useless blabber on SO many sites.
Thanks for the good info. You have a gift for explaining things. You don't trip all over your sentences looking for the right word to explain something. Keep up the good videos!
Hi Brother, You are so kindhearted human being, You explain very nicely to understand any person. May god bless you with all abundance and very good health. Thank you
Carefully consider future needs when deciding this. A couple of years back, I had a tiny, cheap little generator but still got a 50 amp transfer switch and cord, because I knew I might eventually want more power. Sure enough, I just bought a bigger generator this week, because now I want to be able to run my new heat pump when the power goes out. The most expensive way to do this is to buy too little the first time, then have to rip it all out and redo it when your needs change. Size all this stuff to whatever the maximum amount of power you can ever see yourself needing, even if it is massive overkill for your current generator.
You are very welcome! Really glad to hear you found so much value it it all! Thanks a lot for the feedback and for the Super Thanks. It is very much appreciated!
Very kind of you. Really glad to hear you are finding value in the channel. God Bless and thanks a lot for taking the time to leave that feedback! Means a lot.
Always go bigger just in case. But in my case the 30 was the smart easy fix, all I needed was a 30 amp inlet box. The previous owners had a 30 amp 240 for a suntan bed. So all I had to do was move the breaker up to the top right side for a lockout. Remove the 240 outlet and pull the wires to the crawl space and drill a hole through the block into the garage. All I had in it was 20$ for a new inlet box.
This tutorial is very clear and concise. I watched it a second time as I get closer to ordering parts, and I suggest one more thing to consider when making a decision: Observe your household power consumption over the seasons, and really get a feel for how much power you've used, and how much power you'll need in a grid-down situation.
We have an inverter generator with both a 50 and 30 amp plug. The Generator (Genmax 9000 IED) only puts out a Maximum of 32 amps, but it can be tied together with an additional generator to get the Full 50 amps in the future, so I was thinking that installing the 50 amp would be best. Thanks for the tip of using 6 gauge wire 👍.
The question should be about what you need during an emergency. It should not be everything in your house unless if you are going with a whole house generator. You can go big, but you also need to have the fuel on site to keep the generator running through the emergency. If you have natural gas, sure go whole house, or have a good sized propane tank, and automatic switching does have its advantages. But for a portable generator, you have to feed something that may need 1 gallon of gas per hour at a 50% load(12 KW). If you have a large load(well pump, electric stove, ground sourced heat pump, resistance heating, big AC unit), then you need big power to start it, but if you don't have that or need that, then keep it basic. My storage is 27 Gal of gas which combined with my planned generator usage should last a week in winter or summer. If I had that 12 kw generator, that would cover 2-3 days with my usage of 4 hr in morning and 4 hr at night.
Yes, it is best to run a #6 wire from inlet box to your breaker (or transfer switch) . If your generator is only 30 amps, when you UPGRADE to a 50 amp generator, you will already have the wire installed.
All of us commenting just run inlet, #6, 50amp inter lock, a quality whip line, and power it up. Customers, gotta put the safety in and idiot proof it.
I'd like to mention an issue I had with my generator during my outage here in Houston recently. I plugged in a portable A/C into the 20 amp outlet. The portable A/C was pulling 9 amps and kept tripping the gfci. It was the only thing on that plug and the cord was rated at 15 amps. Found out later that some newer appliances will trip gfci, regardless of the amps being used. When I moved the portable ac over to the non gfci 30 outlet, everything worked great. This issue happened using the outlets on the generator with extension cords only, and not via the home install.
Houstonian here also.. my fridge would trip my GFCI, so I went out and bought a 3-to-2 prong conversion plug (little over $1) and use that anytime I run it to my generator. Works like a charm. Not sure if this could potentially cause damage if something were to go wrong but I ran it like that for a combined total of 2 weeks (both storms) and had 0 issues with either device.
GFCI's are an absolute joke. They are an additional safety if something shorts and will generally trip faster than a breaker, which is why they are utilized. They go bad CONTINUOUSLY and are expensive!
@@jonathanvigil8526 The point of grounding metal appliances is so that if they have a ground-fault, then electricity will take the ground path instead of going through a person to ground! Grounding is required even if you bypass the GFCI (don’t).
When I was putting in a generator interlock on my last house, I wanted to have a 50w outlet outside, but the big box stores in my area only stocked the 30w boxes. If you can get a 50w box, go with that and keep a 30w to 50w adapter on hand as most generators only have a 30w outlet at most. Be prepared beforehand because the govt. isn’t going to save you when it really counts.
great video, think its fine based on 70 amp example you have but if I have a 30 amp, 9,000 peak watt generator and a 30 amp but 7500 watt receptacle, would that be a problem? given that the generator has more wattage than the inlet box ?
Really glad to hear you liked it. Thanks a lot for the feedback Jim! I am originally from Ohio. Visit there from time to time as a lot of my family is still there.
Thanks for breaking it down to where I can understand the normal running watts vs the peak watts . The generator I’m hooking up does have the 50 amp outlet built into it but it’s a tri fuel gas being the highest wattage 7500 (normal operation) and 9400 peak by. So I will be using the 30 amp box to connect to my home so I can have some backup power
I have a similar situation, but is there a reason why I couldn't use the 50amp outlet on the generator and connect it to a 50amp input on my panel with a 50amp breaker installed? (thanks for all of your great videos. you have taught me a lot!)@@tomschmidt381
Any store that sells a generator should know this. 2 box stores and not even basic answers to my simplest questions. This clip makes me want to ask more questions…so I’ll watch additional videos.
A good rule of thumb is to install the largest sockets and plugs, use crossover cables to interconnect if needed, ie. make a cable with 8Ga wire with a 50 socket to go to the house and 30 amp plug to the generator. When you buy a either a replacement, or buy a larger wattage gen set, simply replace the 30 amp plug with a 50 amp. Or have both cables so you can use the larger gen for the house, gotta keep the wife happy, and the smaller into either a adu or garage to keep pipes from freezing or wnat to simply keep working on a project!
If I may suggest that you give the names of these connectors because when you are purchasing the power outlet box 30A/50A they have a description on them for each application. For example, the 30A connectors are NEMA14L-30P/L14-30R. Which is the connector that has one of the prongs that is shaped like an "L" facing inward. The 50A connectors are called NEMA14-50P/SS2-50R, the female end on this chord or connector has the "L" shape prong facing out. You have to match the connectors. It took me a while to figure this out. I visited websites to get the low down. Thanks for the content I liked the video!!
You should have a video where you break down the draw you may have and how sometimes you have to segment your usage in your average home. Like furnace/AC, fridge and other essentials.
I went with a 30 amp plug and a 50 amp manual Gen transfer switch. I do not need to run everything and with my generator+27 gal of stored gas, I can maintain the house for a week with my planned usage pattern. What I can't do is run the electric stove, electric clothes dryer, or whole house AC unit. In an emergency, I should not need those things. Note: backup cooking is a propane camping stove. If NG for heat runs out, there is 20 gal of Kerosene in storage for a Kerosun heater.
Actually as a Licensed CA. Electrician a #8 cable is fine at 6’ with the same connectors shown above. But to go over’ then I would agree with all the above. The same rule for the distance from the Breaker to the Alliance connection box. The actual NEC allowance for #8 wire is much longer than 6’ but the 6’ to 12’ cord is very hard to find. 25’ might be the next standard length, but in my opinion that is too long for #8 on a full load. The main reason I say 6 foot is due to some people wanting to go 25 foot with #8 for an EV charging extension cord. Which have different rules that apply due to the high continuous amperage load.
Question - When running Liquid Tight Conduit From the Service Panel to the Generator Box. Do you need some type of Wire Strain Relief or just loose as it comes from the Liquid Tight Conduit Connector to the Boxes? My Setup is using 3/4" Liquid Tight Conduit with 90 degree connecters on each end. Yes, I screwed them into the panel and box properly with the nuts provided.
Hi. Wonderful videos. You are very clear and understandable. I really appreciate that. Here is my question. I have a 60 AMP Breaker installed because I power my Tesla EV. Do I need a 60 amp breaker for my generator as well? I believe so, but just wanted you to confirm/explain. Again, thanks a million...
i just went from 30 to 50 amp and let me tell you i love it a lot more before i could run anything but my 220 i could run the stove or the water heater but not both at the same time. but we lost lights and i was out of town and my brother in law came over started it and flipped the switch. but forgot to turn off most of the 220 stuff and when i got home a couple hours later my old lady was drying clothes and the water heater was still on and she was even running the A/C. and it would never do that on the 30 amp. not saying i would do this every time. but its nice to know it will.
I would really like for you to do a good video on tri-fuel conversion kits for generators. I really can't find a good one that explains things as well as you.
great stuff sir. i learned a LOT from you. one question, could i put the generator on its side for storage or during transportation from one site to another?
Great videos thank you. I currently have a generator that only has a 240-volt 30-amp outlet I am going to install an inlet box. I was thinking about upgrading my generator in a few years to a larger one with a 50-amp power supply. Can I install a 50-amp inlet and just run my current generator with a 30-50amp adapter until I purchase another. Or could that cause a problem? Thanks again.
4 Questions: 1. What is the maximum length 50amp cable I can run from my house to the generator? 2. Can I connect two shorter, 50amp (25ft each) cables together to go 50ft? 3. When running a 50 amp unit, what gauge grounding rod cable do I need? 4. What is the maximum length cable I can use to earth ground the above? I would actually like to use a car jumper cable if possible. Thanks!!!
Excellent explanation between the 30 and 50 amp circuitry. I do have a question about the math why do you use 240v in the denominator and not 120v since mostly all electrical loads operate on 120v ?
I have a 30 amp inlet already on my house. I’m looking to buy a generator now. This generator will be primarily just for backup purposes, rarely used for anything else. So with the 30 amp inlet I shouldn’t be buying a generator putting out much more than 7,000w? If 7000w to 7500w would be max on the 30 amp load would handle in this case . If so using a inventor generator With 7000-7500 w could be an option? Basically that would put that size inverter generator in the price range of a 10-12000w regular generator
Great video! What is the impact or risk of installing a 50 Amp inlet box if the generator doesn't fully support 50 Amps? My tri-fuel generator is 9500/7500 watts (when running on gasoline) and has a 50 Amp receptacle. Since I already had the 6-3 wiring and 50 Amp breaker in my panel (from a hot tub), I ordered a 50 Amp inlet box. Unfortunately, I saw this video after I already ordered the parts.
Adam, I really appreciate your videos. I really try to do a good job of researching things that I need to do before starting. Sometimes it’s hard to do the correct research if you don’t know the question to ask. With that being said I don’t blame anyone but myself but I really need your help locating a male 4 prong 50amp receptacle box to replace/install below my breaker box for my generator connection! I bought a suggested 3 prong 50amp box 2 weeks ago from amazon but all of the 50amp cords I’ve found locally have 4 prong connections on both ends. The generator connection for the 50amp is 4 prong and a 30amp on it is 3 prong. This is confusing to me but that doesn’t take much to do. Because of my disabilities and lack of tools and hard to find wire, which caused me to spend at least an hour and a half carefully stripping it from a cable, it took me 4 days sporadic work to complete! Not a lot of money but a lot of fortitude! I’m not sure if I can return this because I already installed it but I need to find a replacement now, if possible please!! GOD bless!
I replied to your first comment but now I’m confused on what you have. Did you install a 50 amp power inlet box or a 30 amp? If it’s 50 then the male end of the cord should have 4 prongs on the male side for the generator and 3 holes on the female side for the power inlet box. If it’s a 30 amp power inlet box then it will be 4 prongs on the male side and 4 holes on the female side.
Excellent overview. I have installed a 30 amp box since my gen is 7000 max. I thought about installing a 50 amp so down the road I could upgrade to a larger gen. Is there a converter plug/adaptor that would allow my generator to hook up to a 50 amp box? Thanks!
After you connect the correct gauge wire from the plug, how do you connect the wire in the transfer panel? Do you use wire nuts on the supply wire to the wires in the transfer panel? Do you use Burndys? I wish there was a bar with better connections than just 2 large wires that need to be connected. I have a reliance transfer panel system.
Generator cords, 50 amp, to connect generator to power inlet box. Is there a difference between a generator cord and a RV cord , to connect from generator to house ? Are they interchangeable? Some cords on female end have a twist lock, others have a threaded female ring ?
Get a cord with the connectors that match your application. The wire gauge should match, too: it’s based on the type of wire, the insulation (heat rating), and the maximum current capacity at a given distance (AMPS or Ampacity).
I have a 5500 watt generator.. when plugged in to my 30amp service it can only run lights in the with maybe a fridge it has a hard time doing that... thank you for the great video...
This doesn't make sense. A 5500 W genset should have no problem running many lights, multiple fridges, TV, router, chargers, and even a heavier load or two like an air compressor, window aircon or portable aircon, well pump or sump pump, etc. Is it possible there was some other large load on that you hadn't noticed? Like maybe an electric water heater?
8 gauge THHN has a rated ampacity of 55 Amps, baring de-rating due to conduit fill calculations. 6 gauge THHN ramps that up to 75 amps which is overkill for most installs; I would consider #6 for longer runs but most of the time the generator inlets tend to be quite close to load centers, in the case of interlocks, or transfer switches. Buy once cry once and make things future proof; I usually recommend a 50 amp receiver as you can hook up a 30 amp plug via an adapter and you’re set if you size up in the future. I’m an electrician though and my time is about the same for north so the small cost increase in materials between 30-50 is a small drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things. Anything over 7,500 watts should have a 50 amp receiver, otherwise you’re wasting generator overhead; that is unless you’re running other things from the generator while it’s hooked into the house. You should also do your calculations based on 250, not 240 volts, as 125/250 is actually the standard numbers.
Great video! Question: I want to have whole house back up for the rare power outages. The inverter kind is less powerful and far more expensive, but given that I have a gas furnace and refrigerators with control boards, some people seem to think they are necessary. Can I get away with a generator with higher THD or do I really need an inverter to run modern appliances?
Thanks for the wealth of info you share. Very well explained. I would like to take on the job of installing a power inlet box and an interlock myself. I am new to Florida, and I don't know if I am allowed to do the work myself and have it inspected. Eliectrician wants an awful lot of money. ( what should be an average cost to do such an installation?)
Read table NEC 250.122 for information on required grounding gauges. 10 AWG cable is good (for the GROUND ONLY) up to 60 amps because it is a temporary (emergency) load.
I have a 30 amp inlet box installed outside and I just got a battery generator so can I just add a new plug inside I have a box already inside ?It goes to a transfer switch .
![How Many Watts Does Your Generator Need![POWER YOUR HOME]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/WxNFiLour3E/mqdefault.jpg)
![How Many Watts Does Your Generator Need![POWER YOUR HOME]](/img/tr.png)
First time I have ever had this explained. Thank you.
One of the best channels on UA-cam.
Wow, you crushed it! Thank you for sharing your knowledge and doing so with great accuracy and clarity. Super impressed and we thank you for using our products in your demonstration.
This is the very best channel for clear, concise & to the point information! No endless blather! Thank you so much!
In my humble opinion, 50 amp inlet box & interlock switch are the way to go, regardless of the current size of generator(as long as gen has a 50amp receptacle).
If the generator has a less than 50A output breaker then you can still use a 50A inlet to your house panel. The generator breaker will trip instead of the 50A and still protect your generator and wiring. 30A plug for the generator and 50A connection for the house is OK.
yup. Just get the 50.
Great video. Explained very clearly. People also need to understand that most portable generators are neutral bonded. Important to remove that bond for feeding a home this way all ground and neutrals are only bonded at the first means of disconnect. I found and removed the bond on mine. I keep a make plug zip tied to the generator with a neutral to ground jumper in case I want to use the generator out in the field for powering lighting, tools, etc. i just plug in the jumper in that situation.
Great advice. I did the same on my generator. Finding the bond can be tricky. On some it is at the power head others in the outlet area. I have a HF 7,000W genie, the bond was at one of the 120V receptacles.
The generator is pretty heavy so I don't intend to move it around but figured I'd make the jumper plug just in case the need every arose.
me too
This is the best video I've ever seen on the power inlet box discussion. It really helped when you did the equation at the end to get the amps.
Exemplary. I'm much the wiser about matters I had practically no knowledge of and can now discuss intelligently with an electrician. Thank you very much from the U.K.
THANK YOU! I take delivery of a DuroMax 9000ih this week, get my MicroAir soft start tomorrow, have an interlock kit installed and each time I open UA-cam I see a very helpful video from you that answers questions that arise in getting this set up to run my 3 ton A/C. Thanks very much. Really well done without all the useless blabber on SO many sites.
Were you able to get everything set up successfully?
I was! Thanks again
@@cliff9745you went 50?
Thanks for the good info. You have a gift for explaining things. You don't trip all over your sentences looking for the right word to explain something. Keep up the good videos!
Hi Brother, You are so kindhearted human being, You explain very nicely to understand any person. May god bless you with all abundance and very good health. Thank you
Carefully consider future needs when deciding this. A couple of years back, I had a tiny, cheap little generator but still got a 50 amp transfer switch and cord, because I knew I might eventually want more power. Sure enough, I just bought a bigger generator this week, because now I want to be able to run my new heat pump when the power goes out. The most expensive way to do this is to buy too little the first time, then have to rip it all out and redo it when your needs change. Size all this stuff to whatever the maximum amount of power you can ever see yourself needing, even if it is massive overkill for your current generator.
That is why i never got a transfer switch, wasted $$, i just wired the cable direct to the breaker box with 2 breakers.
Excellent video! Really appreciate the formula for determining 30 vs 50 amp.❤
Thanks!
You are very welcome! Really glad to hear you found so much value it it all! Thanks a lot for the feedback and for the Super Thanks. It is very much appreciated!
I have learned a whole lot from you, Sir. I really appreciate you taking the time to share your knowledge.
God bless you and yours 🙏 ❤️
Better believe it;
U can say that again!
Very kind of you. Really glad to hear you are finding value in the channel. God Bless and thanks a lot for taking the time to leave that feedback! Means a lot.
SO, can I just go with the 50 amp plug for over kill ?@@HowToHomeDIY
Always go bigger just in case. But in my case the 30 was the smart easy fix, all I needed was a 30 amp inlet box. The previous owners had a 30 amp 240 for a suntan bed. So all I had to do was move the breaker up to the top right side for a lockout. Remove the 240 outlet and pull the wires to the crawl space and drill a hole through the block into the garage. All I had in it was 20$ for a new inlet box.
This video just answered my burning question! 😅 Thanks so much!!
This tutorial is very clear and concise. I watched it a second time as I get closer to ordering parts, and I suggest one more thing to consider when making a decision: Observe your household power consumption over the seasons, and really get a feel for how much power you've used, and how much power you'll need in a grid-down situation.
We have an inverter generator with both a 50 and 30 amp plug. The Generator (Genmax 9000 IED) only puts out a Maximum of 32 amps, but it can be tied together with an additional generator to get the Full 50 amps in the future, so I was thinking that installing the 50 amp would be best.
Thanks for the tip of using 6 gauge wire 👍.
I agree with you, 6 gauge wire is rated for 50 amps.
Thank you. Very clear. The Amp reading is also in the box.
Thank you for this video. I always learn great information on your videos.
Seems like the smart thing would be to install a 50 amp in case you want to upgrade in the future.
The question should be about what you need during an emergency. It should not be everything in your house unless if you are going with a whole house generator. You can go big, but you also need to have the fuel on site to keep the generator running through the emergency. If you have natural gas, sure go whole house, or have a good sized propane tank, and automatic switching does have its advantages. But for a portable generator, you have to feed something that may need 1 gallon of gas per hour at a 50% load(12 KW). If you have a large load(well pump, electric stove, ground sourced heat pump, resistance heating, big AC unit), then you need big power to start it, but if you don't have that or need that, then keep it basic. My storage is 27 Gal of gas which combined with my planned generator usage should last a week in winter or summer. If I had that 12 kw generator, that would cover 2-3 days with my usage of 4 hr in morning and 4 hr at night.
I say most people do not already own a generator!
Yes, it is best to run a #6 wire from inlet box to your breaker (or transfer switch) . If your generator is only 30 amps, when you UPGRADE to a 50 amp generator, you will already have the wire installed.
All of us commenting just run inlet, #6, 50amp inter lock, a quality whip line, and power it up. Customers, gotta put the safety in and idiot proof it.
Will a 30amp O/S plug box accept # 6 CU ,?
You’re so knowledgeable and I certainly appreciate you sharing this information.
I'd like to mention an issue I had with my generator during my outage here in Houston recently. I plugged in a portable A/C into the 20 amp outlet. The portable A/C was pulling 9 amps and kept tripping the gfci. It was the only thing on that plug and the cord was rated at 15 amps. Found out later that some newer appliances will trip gfci, regardless of the amps being used. When I moved the portable ac over to the non gfci 30 outlet, everything worked great. This issue happened using the outlets on the generator with extension cords only, and not via the home install.
Houstonian here also.. my fridge would trip my GFCI, so I went out and bought a 3-to-2 prong conversion plug (little over $1) and use that anytime I run it to my generator. Works like a charm. Not sure if this could potentially cause damage if something were to go wrong but I ran it like that for a combined total of 2 weeks (both storms) and had 0 issues with either device.
GFCI's are an absolute joke. They are an additional safety if something shorts and will generally trip faster than a breaker, which is why they are utilized. They go bad CONTINUOUSLY and are expensive!
@@jonathanvigil8526 The point of grounding metal appliances is so that if they have a ground-fault, then electricity will take the ground path instead of going through a person to ground! Grounding is required even if you bypass the GFCI (don’t).
Texas resended the 30a 2pole gfci requirement on A/C because the electronics on newer compressors tripped the gfci.
Your videos are always helpful and full of good details.
Very PRO video Bub! You’re good at this and the editing is excellent.
When I was putting in a generator interlock on my last house, I wanted to have a 50w outlet outside, but the big box stores in my area only stocked the 30w boxes. If you can get a 50w box, go with that and keep a 30w to 50w adapter on hand as most generators only have a 30w outlet at most. Be prepared beforehand because the
govt. isn’t going to save you when it really counts.
You mean amps smfh 😅
We're talking amps here Not watts
Your videos are always amazing
Really glad to hear you are finding value in the channel. Thanks a lot for the feedback Jim. Very kind of you!
Great video, very informative and easy to understand. Thank you
Another GREAT video.
Now my generator will produce 31.25 AMP so should I go with the 50 AMP?
go with 30amp.
50 Amp
great video, think its fine based on 70 amp example you have but if I have a 30 amp, 9,000 peak watt generator and a 30 amp but 7500 watt receptacle, would that be a problem? given that the generator has more wattage than the inlet box ?
Great info on amp capacity for a backflow to the cb box
Jim from Ohio 🇵🇷
Good information 👍
Really glad to hear you liked it. Thanks a lot for the feedback Jim! I am originally from Ohio. Visit there from time to time as a lot of my family is still there.
Very helpful I have a 30 amp kit that I’m going to exchange with a 50 amp kit for the future.
Thanks for breaking it down to where I can understand the normal running watts vs the peak watts .
The generator I’m hooking up does have the 50 amp outlet built into it but it’s a tri fuel gas being the highest wattage 7500 (normal operation) and 9400 peak by. So I will be using the 30 amp box to connect to my home so I can have some backup power
As long as you have a 30A breaker protecting the inlet that is fine.
@@tomschmidt381 I appreciate your reply thank you
I have a similar situation, but is there a reason why I couldn't use the 50amp outlet on the generator and connect it to a 50amp input on my panel with a 50amp breaker installed? (thanks for all of your great videos. you have taught me a lot!)@@tomschmidt381
Excellent explanation.
Great follow up vid!!
Really glad to hear you liked it. Thanks a lot for the feedback Thomas!
Any store that sells a generator should know this. 2 box stores and not even basic answers to my simplest questions. This clip makes me want to ask more questions…so I’ll watch additional videos.
Good video and explanation
Glad you liked it. Thanks a lot for the feedback!
Solid advice sir!
A good rule of thumb is to install the largest sockets and plugs, use crossover cables to interconnect if needed, ie. make a cable with 8Ga wire with a 50 socket to go to the house and 30 amp plug to the generator. When you buy a either a replacement, or buy a larger wattage gen set, simply replace the 30 amp plug with a 50 amp. Or have both cables so you can use the larger gen for the house, gotta keep the wife happy, and the smaller into either a adu or garage to keep pipes from freezing or wnat to simply keep working on a project!
If I may suggest that you give the names of these connectors because when you are purchasing the power outlet box 30A/50A they have a description on them for each application. For example, the 30A connectors are NEMA14L-30P/L14-30R. Which is the connector that has one of the prongs that is shaped like an "L" facing inward. The 50A connectors are called NEMA14-50P/SS2-50R, the female end on this chord or connector has the "L" shape prong facing out. You have to match the connectors. It took me a while to figure this out. I visited websites to get the low down. Thanks for the content I liked the video!!
Great job, very instructive
Thanks these very important information 😇
You are very welcome. Really glad to hear you liked it. Thanks a lot for the feedback!
Thank you for the clarification.
You should have a video where you break down the draw you may have and how sometimes you have to segment your usage in your average home. Like furnace/AC, fridge and other essentials.
Great informative video for us uninitiated home owners!
Great informative video! I’ve never been good with electric, so I leave most of it to the pros!
I went with a 30 amp plug and a 50 amp manual Gen transfer switch. I do not need to run everything and with my generator+27 gal of stored gas, I can maintain the house for a week with my planned usage pattern. What I can't do is run the electric stove, electric clothes dryer, or whole house AC unit. In an emergency, I should not need those things. Note: backup cooking is a propane camping stove. If NG for heat runs out, there is 20 gal of Kerosene in storage for a Kerosun heater.
Actually as a Licensed CA. Electrician a #8 cable is fine at 6’ with the same connectors shown above. But to go over’ then I would agree with all the above. The same rule for the distance from the Breaker to the Alliance connection box. The actual NEC allowance for #8 wire is much longer than 6’ but the 6’ to 12’ cord is very hard to find. 25’ might be the next standard length, but in my opinion that is too long for #8 on a full load.
The main reason I say 6 foot is due to some people wanting to go 25 foot with #8 for an EV charging extension cord. Which have different rules that apply due to the high continuous amperage load.
Great information!!!
Thanks for watching!
Thank you for sharing your knowledge.
ALWAYS GOOD SHARED INFORMATION FOR US SIMPLE HARD HEADED OLD SCHOOL SENIORS!! THANK YOU FOR SETTING US STRAIGHT!! KEEP UP YOUR CONTENT SHARING!!
Question - When running Liquid Tight Conduit From the Service Panel to the Generator Box. Do you need some type of Wire Strain Relief or just loose as it comes from the Liquid Tight Conduit Connector to the Boxes? My Setup is using 3/4" Liquid Tight Conduit with 90 degree connecters on each end. Yes, I screwed them into the panel and box properly with the nuts provided.
Thank you for a great video...Really helped me out!!
How do you run two generators at once like you mentioned?
Hi. Wonderful videos. You are very clear and understandable. I really appreciate that. Here is my question. I have a 60 AMP Breaker installed because I power my Tesla EV. Do I need a 60 amp breaker for my generator as well? I believe so, but just wanted you to confirm/explain. Again, thanks a million...
I guess that the Tesla charger will just go down from a 480 to a 240 charger. Am I right?
Great videos
i just went from 30 to 50 amp and let me tell you i love it a lot more before i could run anything but my 220 i could run the stove or the water heater but not both at the same time. but we lost lights and i was out of town and my brother in law came over started it and flipped the switch. but forgot to turn off most of the 220 stuff and when i got home a couple hours later my old lady was drying clothes and the water heater was still on and she was even running the A/C. and it would never do that on the 30 amp. not saying i would do this every time. but its nice to know it will.
Excellent explanation. Thank you!
Great information my friend...
I would really like for you to do a good video on tri-fuel conversion kits for generators. I really can't find a good one that explains things as well as you.
great stuff sir. i learned a LOT from you. one question, could i put the generator on its side for storage or during transportation from one site to another?
Great videos thank you. I currently have a generator that only has a 240-volt 30-amp outlet I am going to install an inlet box. I was thinking about upgrading my generator in a few years to a larger one with a 50-amp power supply. Can I install a 50-amp inlet and just run my current generator with a 30-50amp adapter until I purchase another. Or could that cause a problem? Thanks again.
Yes, you can.
Thank you! I appreciate the information. God bless!
Great and VERY useful info! Much thanks!!
4 Questions:
1. What is the maximum length 50amp cable I can run from my house to the generator?
2. Can I connect two shorter, 50amp (25ft each) cables together to go 50ft?
3. When running a 50 amp unit, what gauge grounding rod cable do I need?
4. What is the maximum length cable I can use to earth ground the above? I would actually like to use a car jumper cable if possible.
Thanks!!!
Good. Content..what's a good inverter gen for home. I have. 50 amp inlet box outside
Excellent explanation between the 30 and 50 amp circuitry. I do have a question about the math why do you use 240v in the denominator and not 120v since mostly all electrical loads operate on 120v ?
Because that's the accurate formula the math wouldn't be correct
I seen many newer generators only have RV 3 prong. What are the Pro and Con of 3 prong vs 4 prong?
Very clear video, thanks. Do you have any RV electrical videos?
Do you need a 240v generator to do this or will a 120v do?
Can you do a video on changing out a electric panel?
Great info thanks you
I have a 30 amp inlet already on my house. I’m looking to buy a generator now. This generator will be primarily just for backup purposes, rarely used for anything else. So with the 30 amp inlet I shouldn’t be buying a generator putting out much more than 7,000w? If 7000w to 7500w would be max on the 30 amp load would handle in this case .
If so using a inventor generator
With 7000-7500 w could be an option? Basically that would put that size inverter generator in the price range of a 10-12000w regular generator
Great video! What is the impact or risk of installing a 50 Amp inlet box if the generator doesn't fully support 50 Amps? My tri-fuel generator is 9500/7500 watts (when running on gasoline) and has a 50 Amp receptacle. Since I already had the 6-3 wiring and 50 Amp breaker in my panel (from a hot tub), I ordered a 50 Amp inlet box. Unfortunately, I saw this video after I already ordered the parts.
Great video!!
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks a lot for the feedback!
Great Video. Explained a lot for me
Just depends what the application is. For a gen hook up it might be best going bigger.
If its just a dedicated circuit, the 30 should be good
Great information! Thank you.
Thank you.
You are very welcome. Really glad to hear you liked it. Thanks a lot for the feedback!
Good information, thanks
The 50 amp actually is the hole in the center. A pin inserts into it that's attached to the cord.
Adam, I really appreciate your videos. I really try to do a good job of researching things that I need to do before starting. Sometimes it’s hard to do the correct research if you don’t know the question to ask. With that being said I don’t blame anyone but myself but I really need your help locating a male 4 prong 50amp receptacle box to replace/install below my breaker box for my generator connection! I bought a suggested 3 prong 50amp box 2 weeks ago from amazon but all of the 50amp cords I’ve found locally have 4 prong connections on both ends. The generator connection for the 50amp is 4 prong and a 30amp on it is 3 prong. This is confusing to me but that doesn’t take much to do. Because of my disabilities and lack of tools and hard to find wire, which caused me to spend at least an hour and a half carefully stripping it from a cable, it took me 4 days sporadic work to complete! Not a lot of money but a lot of fortitude! I’m not sure if I can return this because I already installed it but I need to find a replacement now, if possible please!! GOD bless!
I replied to your first comment but now I’m confused on what you have. Did you install a 50 amp power inlet box or a 30 amp? If it’s 50 then the male end of the cord should have 4 prongs on the male side for the generator and 3 holes on the female side for the power inlet box. If it’s a 30 amp power inlet box then it will be 4 prongs on the male side and 4 holes on the female side.
Excellent overview. I have installed a 30 amp box since my gen is 7000 max. I thought about installing a 50 amp so down the road I could upgrade to a larger gen. Is there a converter plug/adaptor that would allow my generator to hook up to a 50 amp box? Thanks!
After you connect the correct gauge wire from the plug, how do you connect the wire in the transfer panel? Do you use wire nuts on the supply wire to the wires in the transfer panel? Do you use Burndys? I wish there was a bar with better connections than just 2 large wires that need to be connected. I have a reliance transfer panel system.
Generator cords, 50 amp, to connect generator to power inlet box. Is there a difference between a generator cord and a RV cord , to connect from generator to house ? Are they interchangeable? Some cords on female end have a twist lock, others have a threaded female ring ?
Get a cord with the connectors that match your application. The wire gauge should match, too: it’s based on the type of wire, the insulation (heat rating), and the maximum current capacity at a given distance (AMPS or Ampacity).
An RV 30 Amp is only 120 Volt. His 30 amp inlet box is split phase. 240 volt.....
I have a 5500 watt generator.. when plugged in to my 30amp service it can only run lights in the with maybe a fridge it has a hard time doing that... thank you for the great video...
This doesn't make sense. A 5500 W genset should have no problem running many lights, multiple fridges, TV, router, chargers, and even a heavier load or two like an air compressor, window aircon or portable aircon, well pump or sump pump, etc.
Is it possible there was some other large load on that you hadn't noticed? Like maybe an electric water heater?
Excellent video! Thank you!
8 gauge THHN has a rated ampacity of 55 Amps, baring de-rating due to conduit fill calculations. 6 gauge THHN ramps that up to 75 amps which is overkill for most installs; I would consider #6 for longer runs but most of the time the generator inlets tend to be quite close to load centers, in the case of interlocks, or transfer switches.
Buy once cry once and make things future proof; I usually recommend a 50 amp receiver as you can hook up a 30 amp plug via an adapter and you’re set if you size up in the future. I’m an electrician though and my time is about the same for north so the small cost increase in materials between 30-50 is a small drop in the bucket in the grand scheme of things.
Anything over 7,500 watts should have a 50 amp receiver, otherwise you’re wasting generator overhead; that is unless you’re running other things from the generator while it’s hooked into the house. You should also do your calculations based on 250, not 240 volts, as 125/250 is actually the standard numbers.
I have never heard that 125/250 is the correct denominator.
Great video! Question: I want to have whole house back up for the rare power outages. The inverter kind is less powerful and far more expensive, but given that I have a gas furnace and refrigerators with control boards, some people seem to think they are necessary. Can I get away with a generator with higher THD or do I really need an inverter to run modern appliances?
Great as usual.
Merci beaucoup! Vous m'avez vraiement donné une idée comment faire le travaux par moi-même!
Thanks for the wealth of info you share. Very well explained.
I would like to take on the job of installing a power inlet box and an interlock myself. I am new to Florida, and I don't know if I am allowed to do the work myself and have it inspected.
Eliectrician wants an awful lot of money. ( what should be an average cost to do such an installation?)
Good job ,thank you so much
Thanks, one of these days we will buy generator and proper connection ..
Read table NEC 250.122 for information on required grounding gauges. 10 AWG cable is good (for the GROUND ONLY) up to 60 amps because it is a temporary (emergency) load.
Though nothing says you have to do the minimum required.
Thanks from Helene survivor.
I have a 30 amp inlet box installed outside and I just got a battery generator so can I just add a new plug inside I have a box already inside ?It goes to a transfer switch .