The AM Forum

This week was marked with some news at W1VTP

The generator is a 14.4 KW gas fired that has been set with a 30 amp breaker to accomodate the line that goes to the transfer panel. It's manual but I'm looking into having the the transfer box automatic.  That way I only have to go to the storage room and flip the generator run switch,. It runs on that LP tank in the background.

Look at that winter scene.  I stayed in all day in my jammies.

Al

You know what this means, don't you?

Now that it's installed and paid for,


the power won't go out again

Al,

Good deal on getting a back-up generator.  As Paul mentioned, your power will probably not go off now!  Even so, its nice to have on those few occasions when you need it.  Just like my snow blower, it hardly gets used but when you need it, it sure beats shoveling!  I do have a back-up generator as well.

Joe, W3GMS 

Why a 30 amp breaker for a 14 KW genset Al?

Jim

The existing connection between the point of entry and the main breaker panel where the transfer takes place dictates 30 amps.  I will have to run heavier wire for about 70 feet at considerable additional cost.  I was originally going to buy an 8 KW generator which would been a perfect fit for the wire size but got, new, last year's 14.4 KW Kohler (not genset) generator at the same price so I went for it.

I'm perfectly happy with 30 amps.  The fuel consumption will be pretty close to the same as for the 8 KW. The 14.4 will be loafing along at full load.  Oh yes, I would have had to add an additional 100 gal LP tank and yet another cost upper.  I'm happy with what I have and have room for expansion in the future.

Joe (& VJB)

I'm counting on it :)  While it is a smug feeling to have the backup, it doesn't come cheap at ≈ $4 / gal.  I'll pay the price to keep toasty warm and not have my food spoil in the fridge / freezer.  Yet another advantage is that I won't have to store all that gasoline in the garage (always a worry for me) and won't have to worry about driving around trying to find a gas station that has power.

Finally: Here is a sepia of the back yard shot with some gamma correction on the left panel as done with IrfanView - that freeware I bragged about on another post.

Toastily yours, Al

Understand Al.  I have a 14.4 gas portable and the line from the house where the transfer switch is located to the building where I store the generator (down here we sometimes call them generator sets (gensets), some of us have more than one.) was a run of about 35 ft. and I used #2 aluminum.  The cost was high but not nearly as high as copper would have been.

My installation will run most of the house and I like having hot water for my showers  ;D.  The house is only 2 years old and very energy efficient so the demand is about 65% of the generator's capacity.  The gas tank is 8 gallons and it runs about 6 or so hours with that load.

You might ask a few electricial contractors to see if the have a roll end or surplus piece they used as a temporary jumper.  They might be willing to sell it to you for much less than retail.  That is where I found my run of 35 ft. for about 50 bux.

If you have a Square-D panel... they make an INTERLOCK switch that is significantly cheaper than a transfer switch and gives you 100% flexibility on the circuits you want running on generator.

It is a simple plate that prevents a backfeed breaker from being active at the same time as the main and the main from being active at the same time as the backfeed.

This allows you to manage what circuits are active on the generator.

The only disadvantage to the arrangement is there is no way to tell when the power comes back!

That's what is in place now.  We look out at the street lights and the automobile pound to tell when power comes back on.  While they're off, we gloat.  When the light comes on, then we go back to the grid.

Al

Funny you mention this Paul.  How true it is.  When the XYL and I moved out here 11 years ago we were plagued with outages on a regular basis for 2 or 3 years. Anywhere from 2 hours to 18  hours at least 2 to 3 times a month for over the course of a year.   We had one outage in the middle of February when the temps where in the single digits that lasted 16 hours.  I got tired of it and obtained a 50amp genset. Soon after that we never had an outage after that.  It wasn't until the hurricane and snow storm of 2011  that the genset earned its keep.  We were out for 9 days and 7 days for both storms.  Last years storm, no outage.  I've since supplemented the genset with a small solar system to reduce run time.  I can power lighting now and when larger amps are needed go to the genset.