Emergency Standby Generator Install, DIY Start to Finish. Generac 24kW Backup Generator.
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- Опубліковано 6 лип 2024
- This is a somewhat complicated install compared to a typical single home installation. I am powering 2 buildings which requires 2 transfer switches, I have 400 amp service instead of the typical 200 amp, and I have to provide controls for my solar array to avoid conflicts with the generator. Many systems would have built in functionality to work with a generator, but some will not, so figuring out how to deal with that took some time. Not too bad in the end, and we got it done. I try to go through all the details along the way to show another DIY'er how to do it as well.
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00:00 intro.
1:26 Place generator.
3:36 Wiring day begins
4:33 Power disconnected.
5:53 Power pole explained.
7:35 My existing setup and plan.
10:00 Remove existing disconnect.
11:14 Install first transfer switch.
15:02 Working on second transfer switch.
16:36 Wiring generator.
18:34 Finish main wiring.
21:18 Cow interlude.
23:21 Ground wire problem solved.
24:41 Recap/review/explanation.
28:34 Turn power back on, demonstrate transfer switch.
29:46 Control system for solar array.
40:14 Start and test generator.
44:47 Contactors explained & could be better.
48:32 Generator done
49:05 What happened to my battery backup?
52:12 Outro. - Навчання та стиль
As a Master Electrician I commend you on a well thought out project! A couple of minor things that I want to point out:Generator works better with stranded copper wire connections, they stay tight better. A flex connector would be required in my area for the feed conduit to generator. PVC conduit requires a mounting strap of some kind. The ground wire you installed in the contractor enclosure would never pass inspection under a sheet metal or self drilling screw. A small lug with a machine screw and nut is required.
I know you had a lot of aluminum wire available to you ,but I would have used copper wire sized down for all the jumpers. It makes the job easier and you don’t have to worry about using nolox. Just nit picking really,nice work otherwise.
In many areas nolox is no longer required as the aluminum is now an alloy.
As a lifelong Electrician myself, I think that you did an overall excellent job! The conduit from the generator should have at least a small section of flexible conduit....I spend the extra money and always use Metal Liquid Tight on any Genset or Equipment that is not mounted to the same structure. Be sure to check the generator often for mice....they will always try to move in.
Be instrested to hear any good sudjustions to keep mice out of your new generator.
@@slypig24 Mothballs once a year
For a self proclaimed lifelong electrician you might expect that you at least had a comment on the solenoid breaker solution at 34:59 since this is in a metal enclosure totally ungrounded(he loops neutral and ground directly thru) which to the Dutch(where i live) code is a big violation to leave metal enclosures unearthed like that, i think the American code is not much different, but to you it appears of no concern and praise the dude for his exellent job which leaves me doubted if you're a lifelong certified electrician, probably not 🙂
@@sapperdeflap Sorry you feel that way dude. You can imagine whatever you please. I saw him get plenty of advice on that and didn't want to pile on. I know he is very thorough and detailed and I would bet money that he will research it out and get it right. Again, there is excellent advice all through the comments on that and I simply digress.
@@sapperdeflap Maybe you should've watched another 2 minutes of the video before acting all smart. He clearly talks about grounding (really, it's bonding) that new metal box, and does so with bare copper looped over the ground screw and running to the box on the left.
I’m 23 minutes into this and I’m loving this. It’s really cool to see the cows and calves interact after 4 months apart. I’ve never seen that before.
A wire can be extended inside an approved enclosure as long as you use suitable connectors (splice). You can also move a ground bar to any location in the panel where there is room. Also, you should be ok to just put a ground lug straight to the box as long as you remove the paint under the lug and use an approved bolt size to connect the lug. The ground just goes to the metal enclosure, so anywhere on that enclosure should be the same.
Yes, polaris makes a 1/1 connector for this. I had to use 2 in my ATS because my neutral and ground were a little too short from my SER cable to loop like I wanted it to.
I build a ton of 480 meters poles and I always forget to take the paint off I need to get better and taking the paint off
Video a day early? Merry christmas! I hope the video was helpful to you. The connector crimper is in my amazon store under 'Tools every shop needs.' www.amazon.com/shop/farmcraft101. I honestly think if you buy one, you'll wonder why you didn't buy it a long time ago. Happy holidays everybody!
I am just always impressed with your knowledge and skills! This install was SOOO complex! Great video
After having one I would agree, for many years I used a punch and hammer then soldering them. With the hydraulic one does so much better and faster.
Are your generator run on natural gaz or propane gaz?
Just used your link!! What’s your weapon of choice for non insulated connectors?
Dude one of the reasons I like you so much is how you acknowledge that your videos are viewed all over the world and your advice won't work everywhere. One of my biggest pet peeves about some youtubers in the techincal space is how they pretend their advice is the sole truth completely ignoring all other factors.
This guy knows too much, he's the manliest man who's ever manned. We could all have a beer with this dude.
This is my first time watching one of your videos. I'm totally impressed. Not only are you an excellent communicator, but you do neat, precise work. Bravo!!
Just a note to be cautious, it looks like you now have power in your barn with two sources of isolation.
The main ATS on the right powers the main loads in the barn, but the solar contactors are powered from another source (the left ATS when the main utility power is available).
You or someone else could think they had isolated the power in the barn by disabling the generator and flipping the ATS breaker (or flipping the barn sub-panel main breaker), but that solar contactor wire will always be live as long as the house ATS is on.
I thought about that. Was thinking about labeling the box to explain. Now that you commented, I definitely will. Cheers.
@@FarmCraft101 Thanks for the reply, I should have said it was a very enjoyable video too!
@@FarmCraft101 im getting a new $8,500 kubota GL11000 generator for the house
@@michaelmactavish4445 I bought that same generator this year. Have not needed it yet, but it is ready to go.
@@michaela1655 you bought a kubota gl11000 ah there nice plus it uses the same filters from the kubota tractors wich makes it somuch easyer most other branded ones have to go thousands of places get different parts wich is kinda hassle plus for $8,500 i couldnt beat that good of a price better then a rediculas over priced 10,000 watt caterpiller one same size as the gl series wich cat wanted rediculas $36,900 with a 90 day warranty and my kubota dealer offered free 5 year warranty plus the gl has 2 ways of uses wich option 1 can mounted to the house or 2nd option is extention cords wich is nice
As a retired refrigeration and hvac tech I was about to message and say just get normally closed contractors but you beat me to it. Allen Bradley used to make a real handy contractor, four pole and you could just simply invert the contacts to what you wanted, open or closed. Great job and timely considering the big storm that is to hit the east coast before Christmas.👏🏻🇨🇦
They still make these. Use them on industrial machines.
My understanding is that woven multiconductor wire is more efficient than single solid conductors.
@@dougstaines986 Not an electrician, but an industrial designer here. Solid wire conductors are not well-suited to an environment where there is movement or vibration, or what we call harshness, such as would be present in a generator. That is why the control and associated wiring is stranded and not solid.
@briansmyth905 Curious about the whether it is a good practice to reuse wire, reconnecting original ends to a new device. Wouldn't cutting off the end of the wires, stripping insulation, and exposing fresh wire make a better connection? Even with the anti oxidation paste original wire may introduce resistance at the connection? Also, is the source for the automatic transfer switch Generac?
If you want the generator close to the house do you need to worry about exhaust gases?
One of the best UA-cam channels out there. Much appreciated.
I spent 17 years in the automotive industry and I've been on electrician for approximately 10 years. There's something very satisfying about torquing down a fastener to spec. I think the importance of it in electrical is severely underrated. Too many guys just tighten it down with a ratchet or an allen wrench and assume it's good. I primarily do electrical replacement/restoration and more than half of the homes we go to have loose connections at the meter socket or upper electrical panel. In most cases, this causes major burning of the conductor. One guys loose is another guy's tight. The specs are on the box so just torque it.
A term many people use is
"Hot water heater". If we think about it, it's a "cold water heater", or just a water heater.
Very well produced video!
The word "hot" is an adjective describing the water heater, meaning the water heater is hot.
-Albert Einstein
The terms got confused back when water was heated by a steam boiler so it was a hot water tank because it just stored water heated by another source. When self contained water heating units were developed, they were called water heaters. You either had a hot water tank or a water heater. The two were combined by people who didn't know which they had to get hot water heater.
American English is great, huh? No other language has so much vague definition(s) and meaning(s) to it's words and phrases.
Most recent wackiness I thought of is "buy, by, bi, bye". Not only is it strange but saying it makes you think of boy bands.
@@VTKingdomsawing Chinese is all about the tone you use.
-Albert Einstein
@@VTKingdomsawing or Resume your work on your resume. LoL 😹😆
I haven't finished the video yet, but I just want to comment on how great this is so far, you do a wonderful job explaining things and I feel like your videos are an asset to YT. I work for my local government and we're an electric utility, so I find this stuff fascinating every time I check it out. I don't do any of the wiring stuff, but all the meter reading back in the office (SCADA, servers, etc). I don't know if your electric meter is able to be read via powerline, but that is what we do here. We also have internal disconnects where we can log on to a server and open a switch to kill your power. It's all pretty neat stuff. Hope you have a Merry Christmas! Okay, back to watching...
That's the way they do it where i live in southern Ohio
Ppp
Maybe it is just me, but when I read "We also have internal disconnects where we can log on to a server and open a switch to kill your power" I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up.
So I pay a connect charge just to have the wires from the street.
I pay transport fees to get the power down the mains.
I pay service and fuel offset charges.
The power company puts in solar panels and windmills to generate power to charge a battery system that costs as much as the panels and windmills themselves.
The batteries have to be replaced frequently.
To insure that I have power I need to install a generator and the switchgear to protect from a power failure.
At no point does the power company say "Hey we screwed up and won't charge you for the lost power and we will cover your losses from our mistake.
The system of 3 coal fired boilers running 3 generators that powered the Coldwater Board of Public Utilities and Branch County from the 40's to the early 80's ran continuously, two up and one on standby. The plant had a staff that maintained the generators and could rebuild or replace any component.
That changed when the power company put in a single steam powered generator purchased in Switzerland. It ran for a few years and the generator crapped out. It spent 2 years in transit and repair while the 3 municipalities that sank millions into the "New and Improved" paid for the repairs and bought power from Consumers Energy.
Not a big fan of the thought process going into these decisions.
All this is to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere.
Near as I can tell, being only a layman in Global conditions, if we don't generate any CO2 at all, in the US, the CO2 produced world wide, which is considerable, but still pretty close to what it was over the last 60 years, will just float around the world and end up here in the land of responsibility.
How will we know when we have succeeded in removing all the CO2 from the air in the US?
Brain dead thinking.
By the way Ukraine is burning. That makes a lot of CO2, NO2, and a billion variations depending on what is burning. Better send the EPA over to stop that right now!
@@OldSneelock You're not the only one.
"We also have internal disconnects where we can log on to a server and open a switch to kill your power. It's all pretty neat stuff."
Yeah, I don't think that's so neat.
coming up out of the ground put an expansion joint. Eventually, if we ever have frost again, your pvc will break with a frost heave or ground settlement. Invest in an irreversible crimp tool and you can splice ground wires to your hearts content. Glad to see you are using a torque too, especially on al wire. Generators can catch fire in wind driven rain, so have a gas valve you can get at whilst picturing flames shooting out and melting your wiring. On a brighter note, nice job!
This one earned you a subscription. Clear description of what you had to make a solar system work with a Generac generator. Exactly what I was looking for.
NEC code allows you to add extensions to any wire that is inside of the electrical panel as long as the right gauge wire is used. Keep in mind that I said as long as it is inside the electric panel in the right gauge wire is used
NEC code is also full of sh$$
That’s exactly what he did with the generator supply - spliced it in the panel enclosure.
NEC allows it but a local inspector may not.
Wrong
@@andrewhill9568 Who is wrong?
Fantastic job....you always do so good at editing, camera placement, etc. Very nice!
Thanks for showing us how you did this. I'm building a house now and plan on having both solar and a generator backup. It will only have a 200 amp service so a bit les complex than yours, however what you showed in this video will make it much easier for me when I do my own installation. I've done quite a bit of home electrical so I understood everything you were explaining, and you explain it very well. Thanks again, love watching your videos.
I'm glad you explained the "relays" for some folks. They are fairly simple and can be used in so many ways
That “bar” is a cutout door. Most are a fiberglass tube with brass fixtures on both ends with a fuse strung inside between the cap and the hinge. There are “solid doors” used on mainline taps for certain circumstances. The device beside the cutout on the same stand-off bracket is a Lightening arrester. For the ground issue, and only on a ground, use a split-nut to splice an extension as long as it’s an appropriate size wire. Grounds should never become energized, if it does, there is a problem. As someone who crimps wire terminals every day, the ratchet style won’t work reliably with every terminal. Sta-con plier type crimpers will(Klein brand are my preferred). Wire nuts are fine in a stationary dry enclosure ac or dc. Pro tip, ditch the cheap pvc insulated wire terminals for nylon. Much better product.
Some channels I watch as strictly entertainment but yours is entertainment with a healthy dose of learning. So glad I found you way back when. Merry Christmas to you, your family and all your subscribers.
Phenominal video! Your expertise in taking the time to produce and edit the content is the best for DIY. Keep it up!
I stumbled across your channel a few days ago. After watching a number of your videos, I have determined that you do a phenomenal job with documentation and video production. You also do a great job communicating what and how you are doing things. Your channel is one of the reasons I spend so much time on UA-cam! I love the longform videos as well. Keep at it!
Great video, love to see how things are done differently over in the USA. From a UK viewer (I understand split/2 phase, 3 phase etc), Stranded control wires are obviously just more flexible, and less prone to snapping. We always use stranded for control wires and use ferrules to terminate them into something that expects a single core.
Extending the earth/ground wire (CPC over here is circuit protective conductor and the same thing) to what we call the MET over here (Main Earth Terminal), you call it ground bar is also a definite no-no in the UK, but I don't see why you couldn't move it lower down the box rather than connect ground wires to the neutral. No difference electrically but it would seem better to me if they were separated and I think over here it would be the only option.
I like those "coupler taps". Over here we use "Henley blocks" which are the same thing but need panel space as having them floating around wouldn't look good to our inspectors. Also for some reason, over here all bare ground/earth/CPC wires must be sleeved green&yellow, probably just for identification.
I can see why you chose normally closed relays/contactors. It always takes a bit of thought as to what happens when the coil power is lost.
Thanks for sharing the video.
I likewise am interested in how u do things on your side of the pond. No 120 volts like here. Is everything 240 volts 60 Hertz? Thank u!!
CPC wires are sleeved just in case one of the other wires ie line or neutral were to be exposed due to many reasons and touch that cpc creating a short circuit! And yes, it is for identification purposes also
One thing I’ve picked up when working with stranded wire is after tightening it down wiggle the wire back and ford right by the stranded connection. Sometimes the strands will flatten out and you will need to tighten it more.
Good advice... 👍
Crimp on ferrule barrels to get and maintain a good connection.
ferrules are the solution here
Love the Christmas Tree above the out building! Your video did a great job of showing the reality of cost and capability comparing generators and renewables!
Love it - great video as always. I'm always impressed by your tenacity, clarity of thought, and ability to explain in a simple manner. I studied to be an electrician in highschool, so I have a lot of respect for the dangers involved, and for people who handle that risk well.
The sight of that cancer warning sign honestly made me laugh out loud. Everything causes cancer if you measure carefully enough. 😂
You are right about the difference between a relay and a contactor. Relays are generally smaller and contactors are larger, although there is no defined point to separate the two. I've designed 150A contactors, and 1000A relays ( the customer made the call).
Wow, this took a lot of work to put together. Thank you for sharing it with us!
Invaluable and made sense to a guy who doesn't even know that much about electrical. Thank you - you're adding real benefit to many of our little worlds.
I've never even wired an outlet, yet I watched the video all the way through and paid attention the entire time. This video is awesome/ really well made.
I keep watching so many of your videos, because they are educational and more entertaining than anything I can find on TV or any of my subscribed services. So you have earned a subscriber!
Looks great! The overview at the beginning really helped! Knowing that your solar array can produce TOO MUCH power sometimes really helps me understand why you wouldn't want it to be connected while the generator is on, since nobody wants the voltage climb you mentioned. A generator can run up or down to produce more or less power, the sun on other hand... can't really turn that off 😂
This was a video that just happened to appear in my recommendation list, and I'm really glad I watched it!! Don't live in a rural setup where I'd likely need this, but the info and work shown here are great. I'd love to consider adding a Generac as a backup power source. Thanks!!
Whelp. After watching your hard work, i'm now inspired to go check the battery on my manual generator. Heck, I might even get ambitious enough to fire it up and put a load on it.
I bought a 24K Generac two years ago. So far it has been wonderful.
I have said in once, I will say it again, you are a rock star! You have a natural gift to teach and instruct, so folks feel excited about learning! Fantastic Video sir! Happy New Year top you and your family!
For a guy that isn't an electrician, great job. You had a problem, and you systematically work out a solution and implemented it. 👍
This is why I had the Electrican hook mine up 20 years ago, not as complicated as yours, after so many times without power. So glad we have it now with this wind and cold we’re having today on 12/23/22. You always do such a great job of explaining!
New Farmcraft video? Hell yeah
A wonderful job of explaining what you're doing and frankly a rarity in the UA-cam world. When I installed the electric panel in my shop, the supply house gave me a ground bar that could be located anywhere. Keep up the good work. Can't wait until the next one.
Excellent video! Very few people, can explain in layman's terms a complicated electrical installation like the one you just did. Thank you. From the commercial electrician.
You did a Fantastic Job of explaining the in's and Out's of the entire job and why you decided the Battery bank had to be put into dry storage! Great Video, Keep them coming!!
Good video. Everyone has advice so I will add mine. You should add a delay to the second transfer switch so both loads don't hit the generator at the same time. It will make it easier for the generator to get everything going.
Very good advice.
The timers may be adjustable for time delay.
Surely the most precise and informative video i have ever seen on YT. Thank you very much for the time spent helping us. Merry Xmas and Happy the year!
So good, I watched it twice. Once a few months ago, and watched it again today.
Now I understand how a standby generator backup system works. Thanks. That was really interesting to watch, and you explained how the system operates very well. Congrats, and enjoy your successful setup. Thanks again.
19:42 two words, wire ferrules. You should crimp wire ferrules onto any stranded wires. I'm a recent convert and will never go back to trying to twist stranded wire and shove it into a terminal. You can get a decent set, plus crimping tool for less that $20 on Amazon.
I LOVE Klein tools. They're always cheaper than top of the line, and always perform nearly as well. Perfectly good for a hobbyist. I own SO many of their tools.
Great video sir! There is a saying in the electrical world, in which I work. If you put three electricians in a room, two of them will only agree on what the third is doing wrong! People need to shut up sometimes and simply appreciate a great video when it comes their way, instead of find any fault (electrical joke inserted) possible.
Awesome video! I installed a Generac 17KW generator in 2010 and it was pretty much exactly as you did, with the difference being 220amp home service (pass-thru 100A to garage) and off grid so we had to buy/install a 500gal propane tank. Same generators, dual fuel - gotta love Generac! We are also in the country so well and septic with heat pump. The 17KW generator runs everything except the stove and dryer.
I installed a 17kw Generac on my house in town back in 2005. It still does it job here in FloRida hurricane country. My only issue is keeping a battery alive. I switched to Odyssey batteries and they only last a few years. I now pull the battery until I think a storm is threatening me. I keep it on a tender in the garage. I suspect the tender on the generator is shot. I use Amsoil in it with Lucas oil stabilizer. Keep it tuned up and ready to go. I figure exercise every week is overkill. So I run it once pre- hurricane season and once post. Then change the oil post season. If I run it due to an outage. I change the oil every 60 hours of run time which I figure = 6k miles in a car engine.
It's closing in on 20 years of service and has not let me down yet. Other than battery death.
@@jimcesiro5109 My friend in a different city bought one at the same time I bought mine. We both bought 'the same model' from the local home center, so they should have been identical. However, after careful comparison it was clear I had a 'newer' model than he did. One of the most significant differences was the wiring to the battery. His unit had a brick type charger wired into the transfer switch with wires that went back to the generator to trickle charge the battery. Mine (the newer one) had no such thing. The charger was now built into the electronic control panel IN the generator. My unit has never given me battery problems (still on first battery) while his has killed a couple of batteries in the same time.
I’ll start with I am a master electrician in iowa and own a small company.
This was a great install and clearly explained! Thank you!
Your questions about the ground… first we need to explain definitions of the wires. From the transformer to the first means if disconnect is “service conductors” from the first means of disconnect to your house/barn are “feeder conductors”. Anything after is a “branch circuit”. By code we can splice feeder wires as often as we won’t. No code about it. Your inspector is correct that you can also tie them in the way you did.
I’m also very surprised they allowed you to run the generator wire through the meter. That would have never been allowed here. In our power company won’t allow anything other than service conductors in there. The idea being they don’t want anyone other than them opening the meter.
Clean install and thanks for the great content!
I'm never getting tired hearing your voice I bet :)
Love the way you share your knowledge and I hope I can use it sooner or later when we've got our own farm!
Very well done. Appreciate the time and thoughtfulness put into making such a clear and educational video.
You did a fantastic job. I really appreciate the cattle information Merry Christmas to you and your family
I believe you could think of relays as a subset of the solenoid family. My dad was an electrician and he always used the term solenoid. I think this comes from the fact that a relay-like device can control other things besides voltage: you can use them to control water flow (valves) or air flow, as a couple examples. I cut my teeth in the Air Force as a radar maintenance tech and always used the word "relay". But my dad and I had that discussion and that's kind of what came out of it. In case you're interested.
Very impressive, your wide range of skill sets are insane. Very helpful for us and interesting to watch. Thank you
Excellent video. I learned a lot. I was thinking of a backup generator too, but haven't gotten a "round-tuit" yet. You have cleared up a bunch of gaps in my knowledge, thanks and Happy New Year!
This was very good. I have the same setup except I use part of a 200A panel to feed the shop and the rest to the house. With options to change. 400A feeding two 200amp panels. I have solar but no storage. Looking at a whole house generator and I have the propane already. So, your video gave me some good ideas.
I was thinking, “why didn’t he use normally closed contactors?” You got it before I could comment. 😁
You could simply have added a second ground bar closer to the main grounding wire and then connect the "extender" ground bar with code-spec grounding wire to the original main grounding bar. I'm fairly certain that solution would have passed inspection. Either way, had this been a test for getting your electrician's degree I would have given you an A+ on the whole setup :)
Shouldn’t need a wire between them, they are both going to the box - good enough.
Thank you so much for this. I’m in South FL, have been looking for a few things to be explained in more detail before starting my project and your video was perfect.
lots of DIY, a frugal life was my first impression. after realize you brought so many machines and tools, it is really an abundant life
You are allowed to move the ground bar as long as it stays in the panel and bonding stays the same. Or do what you did when ground is bonded to the neutral.
for the stranded wires you can use crimp ferrules. slide on, crimp, done. much easier to push in then (for mains voltage that would actually be a code requirement in germany). also it's always amazing to me how in the US you can just do your own wiring. in germany I technically wouldn't even be allowed to install a ceiling lamp.
Different places have different requirements. The more rural you are the less rules there are.
Sorry to hear that. I designed my house, lived in it for 30 years, and did most of my own wiring, plumbing, flooring, etc the entire time. I think self-reliance is a big part of freedom. I wouldn't be happy at all if I has to depend on others.
@@Bob_Adkins it's not that bad. you can just do a lot of the work yourself, it just requires way more inspections than the US does. e.g. when my uncle was building an extension, he had to get an architect involved, a roofer, electrician, plumber etc. they specced it all out. he build it all himself, but it all got inspected.
@@ElvianEmpire We have national and local building codes here, but you can do your own work. Some farms and rural areas are exempt from some of the codes.
@@ElvianEmpire Sounds like your trades bought out the govt for rules to force you to hire them so they get to bend over the citizen. Seems like it might be time for the citizens to stand up.
Thanks for posting this video! You answered a lot of questions I have. I'm going to go with solar panels and LiFe batteries and still want to get a generator set up like this. I don't need as many watts as you do so I think I will be able to afford it. The transfer switches are the most important thing I wanted to learn more about. We are getting a Polar Vortec right now and if we're lucky no rain or snow this time. Knowing how people react I'm still anticipating power outages and have my hand crank generator ready to go to keep the gas central heat and fridges going like last time. You do a great service explaining your projects and the comedy makes it even better to learn from.
good job. I did something similar with contactors at my old house, that only had an 8KW WINCO generator, and couldn’t run both the 3 ton and 5 ton air conditioning compressors.. I used “grid power” to close a contactor that interupted the low voltage 24VAC controls to each compressor, so when grid power went out, the contactor opened and the compressors wouldn’t try to start on generator power 👍
Its a good idea to make a raised foundation for the generac so servicing it is easy and hevy flooding wont smoke or hydrolock the motor.
Those connectors are "NSI Polaris Multi Tap Wire Connector IPL" commonly known as "Polaris Wye".
Retire from Eaton after 35 years of dealing with this type of equipment.
You have done an AMAZING job explaining this install.
Great job.
@23:55 journeyman electrician here in Alberta Canada.
You can move the ground bar it’s not a problem. When you move the ground bar you are required to install it into a tapped hole in the enclosure and remove some paint behind the ground bar to ensure continuity. You can drill and tap a new hole. That being said 90% of the time guys just use self tapping panhead screws and don’t remove any paint.
I applaud you for actually using a torque wrench most guys are too lazy to, but I think it’s important.
Technically you’re supposed to wire brush the deox into the conductors, another thing that 90% of guys don’t do.
I’m surprised that each ATS has its own ground rod. Here you’d be required to run your grounding conductor to the meter neutral then run bonds to each ATS and then to each sub panel. Canadian electrical code says you can only bond to ground once but that’s canada. Everywhere does it a little different though. The city I live requires a bunch of stuff above and beyond code because they like to over complicate things.
Bootlace ferrules are really good for stranded wires. I also think butt splice ferrules indtended for car battery/ alternator wiring would be good for extending the ground wires with some well rated heat shtink over them. Great content as usual, alot of wind noise in my subwoofer though maybe a high pass filter would be in order (in editing) ?
A ground can not be connected with a butt splice ferrule or soldered or need insulation. (bus bar)
It has to be tied down so it will not come loose if it gets extremely hot. (dead short, lightening)
Good video 👍 as a first year journeyman working in service, I can tell you there is nothing more stressful than being rushed to finish a complicated transfer switch job by the inspectors/customer 😓 Also yes you could move the relocate the ground bar or even use a irreversible ground crimp. P.s what is a lunch break?! 😉
I have the same one. Costco! Had licensed electrician as I replaced entire house breaker box at same time and disconnected a barn and connected barn from another barn with its own meter. Anyway awesome video. You are truly a master on knowledge on many levels and I love your videos. Keep up the good work.
I love seeing the work that you do, and learning a lot of things from you, but man do I love the nature segments.
Another great video! Really appreciate the consistency of your posts.
I'm not an electrician, but I worked for one in high school and I've successfully upgraded my entire 90+ y/o home and property from 50a service to 200a service in a way that passed muster with the inspector. If I were in your situation and unable to run the ground to the neutral bar, I would have moved both ground bars to the bottom of the box (same metal there, right?) and lengthened the bonding wire to the neutral bus bar. Can't imagine the added distance between the neutral bus bar would have added too much resistance.
45:34 DONT DO THAT - this is your safety circuit. All correctly done safety circuits in the world are controlled like : when 0V they disconnect, open or trip to avoid any failures on the control circuit . (lose connection, damaged wire or contactor's ). Relay and contactors usualy buzing when they have DC selenoid connected to AC or are fatigure.
I love your videos. Your ability to work in any discipline is awesome.
As an electrician and electrical engineer I have long criticized the notion that a residential electric service needs to exceed 100 amps…unless it supports electric heat or excessive air conditioning load. The 25 kVA transformer serving you is rated for just over 100 amps and I suggest you have never and will never stress it.
That’s not to say your design is not appropriate for your application. Also I avoid aluminum wire.
Really enjoyed the video. Thanks for keeping the details about the wiring in. So many videos like this gloss over the details. This video touched on a lot of details that are pertinent to my own situation. Good food for thought!
Stranded wire in your case was for convenience. You could have gotten solid core but you run the wires through conduit for protection. Solid would be cheaper though. Feather out the strands prior. And then twist them. It will be alot tighter and easier to manage. Especially when splicing two wires together. Alternatively (when not in a rush) Crimping pliers and insulation tube for the added porn.
"for the added porn" don't think this was that kind of video lol
stranded wire is required by NEC for any appliance that vibrates. (motors, gen sets, etc)
This was perfect. I've got 400A service at my house with two 200A panels in the house, with one of them providing a 100A breaker to a subpanel in my detached garage.
I dug around trying to figure out how to use generac's ATSs in a way that would minimize what I need to do to my original panels in the house. This is exactly what I needed.
Appreciate the explanation and details on the control circuits. I had to help the last "generac" tech who installed a 22kw unit 2 years ago on another home I have.
As a generac installer, you did wire this thing better than I would have guessed. It will work fine the way you wired it, but there are some definite code issues even a home inspector would notice.
1. Pulling through the meterbase with the generator feed is a huge violation. Only service conductors are allowed in that raceway.
2. The generator gas line and conduit violate NEC working clearance, and it’s likely the entire placement of the generator does
3. Have to use flexible conduit method into the generator
4. Any wire can be extended in a house. Only things like water pipe grounds, ground rods have to be irreversible. Service conductors being spiced is allowed, but the connectors must be rated for it.
5. The gas line is wrong in several ways. Lever action style regulators should be used on generators, not the maxitrol one that’s on it now. It will fail eventually. The regulator also has an indoor vent limiter that’s being used outside.
6. The starter on that thing sounds like it’s about to fail. They fail often
19:52 stranded wire going into a screw down terminal must have a ferrule crimp, then you don’t get that ‘loose hair wire’ problem. I’ve no idea if that’s code where you are, it’s just industry standard.
And don’t make the engineer in the sky cry by using hand crimps or pliers. Ratchet crimpers are 30 dollars. (Edit: just noticed you have the correct tool later in the video, good man 👍 you are literally now only the third person on YT to have the correct tool)
Stranded is used in control systems because it’s all routed in conduit trays anyway and won’t break during transportation, and a partially broken wire will burn out rather than become intermittent.
Congratulations on the inspection pass 👌
Great video as always! Thank you for taking the time to produce these, I live vicariously on your farm 😝🤣😁 Any thoughts on using a solid state contactor instead? I used one in the past to turn on Christmas lights using a different branch due to excessive current on the light switch I was using. Also, +1 on the ferrules - a friend introduced me to them in hobby electronics and they are wonderful. Apparently they have been in use overseas for some time... we could use a lesson on this one! Merry Christmas and all the best for the new year!
I can only give the advice to run the generator once very 3 months or so. Friend of mine had one generator go bust cause he never used it.
We used very large generators to backup our in-office dataroom. Tested weekly. To your point - 100%, test periodically.
Just did my 24kw and dual ATS’s. Great vid, don’t know why I’m watching someone else do what I just did… kidding! Love the knowledge shed by you and i 100% smile too, when I use my Klein crimpers. Cheers
Definitely not too much yakking for me. I found the whole project truly interesting. Thanks so much for taking the time to explain it all to us. A Happy New Year to you and your family.
Good move Jon. I went with a 20 KW Generac 18 years ago, with geothermal 10 years ago and with solar 3 years ago at my current residence. I went with solar at my prior home 24 years ago. My income hasn’t gone up hardly at all being a retiree but my utility costs have gone away so my cost of living has gone down and my peace of mind has gone up.
An update 9/23: my Generac quit because the propane regulator went inop. A replacement plus the service charge was going to cost me over $1000. The Generac is now nearly 19 years old. A dilemma faces me. I can replace it completely with a new one for slightly over $5K or shell out the repair money and still have a 19 year old generator. To further complicate the decision - the ads for a new one state that they consume 66 gallons of propane per hour with a 50% load and 100 gallons per hour on a 100% load. That would completely deplete my 500 gallon tank in 4 hours (if it was filled to the nominal 80% limit). But with my other propane needs it is seldom at the 80% full state. Replacing the propane every 4-6 hours of grid loss is an option but a very costly one as local propane costs vary between $1.40 and $2.30 per gallon! It’s pushed me to making the decision to not replace the Generac. Like you, in 19 years I’ve never lost grid power for more than 5 hours and I can just grin and bare it for the expense of the Generac and all that costly propane. To be honest, if Generac had published the fuel demand of this back when I bought it I would have never made that choice. It’s insurance I can’t afford even though I have 3 freezers full of food.
really interesting how you worked out the solar disconnect. Was that part not also inspected by the power company? I would think that disconnects would be scrutinized very carefully, since grid-tie systems are a risk to workers during an outage.
So they didn’t inspect that. 1, the solar was inspected when it was installed and automatically disconnects when the grid goes down. Nothing changed there. I just added an additional means of disconnecting so no additional danger of back feeding the grid. They never inspect anything in my shop because it’s a farm structure, I don’t think they want to know! ;-) But that’s why I spoke with an electrician about this solution. I wanted to make sure what I was doing was safe and legit.
Power company only cares what’s going on after the meter as that’s there stuff. If It’s been inspected and passed they don’t look inside your house. If your having issues and called them out then they might go digging to verify if it’s there issue or your issue.
@@FarmCraft101 In the long run it might be worth looking into a solar inverter with a aux contact to enable/disable generation. No need to switch high current paths if the inverter itself knows not to turn on. A issue with your NC contactors would be that it will not fail safe. Any break in the control wire and your solar system stays connected. :/ Changing the Inverter is mostly a question of cost.
Much better now ! Enjoyed every minute of it.
Man, I've just found your channel about 2 days ago and I can't get enough. I don't know your background but I know you are one of us, the common man with good knowledge. Great job.
For the control system for the solar array. Is there a way to add some sort of indicator to the relays so that you know when one of them has failed closed? That way you don't get into the situation where one has failed closed and now you are just down to a single relay which could also failed closed at some point.
Some have indicator lights if I’m not mistaken. You could also wire in a light inline with it as an indicator.
You should have failed the inspection due to the emergency feeders passing through the meter socket. You are not to mix emergency and normal feeders unless it’s the same piece of equipment like the transfer switch. Obviously won’t start any fires, but code is code
BALONEY. In these cases what the utility co designs/certifies as A-OK in terms of their service equipment supersedes the NEC. I’m 99.99% sure that their engineers are just fine with using that giant cabinet as a pass-through.
@@HBSuccess I’m a licensed electrical contractor, not a utility worker/engineer/inspector. I can assure you that the raceways leaving the meter enclosure are 100% not under the jurisdiction of the utility company.
Keep in mind the inspector that he had to hire enforces the NEC after the demarcation point with the utility. That point is anything after the lugs on the line side of the meter in his case.
I didn’t want to sound nitpicky, just pointing out the obvious. The NEC is not written for the skilled tradesperson who knows what they are working with. It has to protect the unaware.
Very well done video. You explained everything succinctly and understandable. This is the best generator install video I have so far seen and I have looked at all of them. I chose to go with a 25KW water cooled generator that runs at 1800 rpm. I figured it may have to run for days or weeks since I am in SE Louisiana and we have hurricanes! It did run for 5 days during and after hurricane IDA.
Your attention to detail is second to none. Thanks for the great content! Merry Christmas to you and your Family!
Interesting project. Sorry if I missed it, but what fuel does the Generac run on?
i figured gas from his BIG tank (no petrol/gasoline) but im interested how much it uses in a day
Propane. Should have clarified that better. Doh!
@@FarmCraft101 do a short vid of generator specs, i would be interested to learn more it and few others too i bet
@@FarmCraft101 I did look again at what appears to be the fuel line into the Generac and thought I could see some kind of regulator, thanks for clarifying.
You made an awesome video with a detailed explanation. Your generator only has 100 amps of output. You still have to be mindful of your loads in the house and shop when running on generator power as to not overload it. I was a technician for a Kohler dealer for 10 years before moving on to Caterpillar. We work on all brands of generators. All generators have known issues. Generac has more issues than most. They are the cheapest for a reason. Don't think I'm knocking your generator either they ALL have issues regardless of brand. Also watch for mice in the generator they love generators.
A thoroughly wonderful and informative video. I watched your presentation start to finish non-stop.
I have done several of these, you did a fantastic job. Many folks are scared to spitless of electricity. It's extremely simple and over the last 5 decades we have essentially adopted multiple mandates ( NEC, IBC codes) that make everything from color coding to gounding and wire guaging straight forward. again, great job and hopefully some DIY folks see this and use it as a guide.
The coupler tap you mentioned to feed the two transfer switches from the generator is called a "Polaris Tap". It is much easier and safer then using an aluminum split bolt connector, which you have to insulate, this way you just feed the wires into the tap, and tighten the screws, which you did in the video.