Wow, it was 9:35am that our power went out! We just got it back at at 6:30pm!Well, we don't have all of it.? We don't have the curcuit that runs the kitchen lights or dishwasher or microwave, weired. Yes, we checked the breackers. FPL said that was a common problem.

 

Just a thought...check all your GFCI outlets...maybe one tripped.

 

Still on generator power here in Deltona.. Power was gone for 7 days with Charley, looks like it will be the close to the same for Frances. Fortunately this time around I have the generator, and my bro hooked it up direct to the house so no extension cords anymore.. Pain in the ***, but I am better off than many others without..

 

i stayed in NC till me neighbor called and said the power was back on! we got power bck on tuesday night! good luck with yours

 

Well, in the middle of the night the rest of it came on. Hay audiopro, I'm not that up to speed on generators, but I think you can mess stuff up if it is conected to the house.

 

got my power back on a few days ago...but didnt get internet or cable tv until later this afternoon.

Cory

 

Yes you can, if not done properly and safely.. The main thing is to make sure you turn off the MAIN feed breaker. This way the linemen working to restore power do not get fed the power your generator is creating. Outside of that, it is safe as long as your wiring and fuse is done properly, which mine is.

However if you dont know what you're doing, then of course dont mess with it...

 

audiopro, would it worth it to plug a 3550 gen into the house?

http://www.troybilt-gen-pw.com/gener...del.cfm?id=183

My Dad wants me to do what you did.
I just bought a 50ft 20amp extension cord, intend to put generator in Garage, and 20amp cord into living room, plug TV power strip in there, and extension to computer & rest of house.

how did you hook the gen to the fuse panel?

 

It makes it a lot more convenient. If you're keeping the generator, it is worth. Only takes a few bucks to install..

First off, DO NOT plug the computer in at all. Unfortunately power from generator is not regulated like normal house current. There are large surges, and your computer will likely fry within minutes.. Definitely do not plug it in...

To hook the generator in.. First go outside to on the exterior of your house. You need to look for your power meter. Next to it is a main breaker fuse panel. Open it up and there should be like a 150amp breaker inside. Turn it off.. This is very important, failure to comply could result in a nice jolt! And probably death... After that, pop of the cover to show the guts of your fuse panel, the one with all the breakers for the house inside. Take out one of the double throw breakers, for your dryer or range or something. Unhook the wires from it. Take the fuse to home depot or the like and have them get you a 30amp fuse that matches your fuse style. Get however many feet of wire you need, and a plug adapter to plug in the 220volt of the generator. Now at home, reinstall the fuse for the dryer or whatever, hook the wires back up the same way.. Wire the adapter to plug into your generator, it should be labeled green, white, black, red, or something to that effect.. Take the white and green, and ground them in the fuse box, you will see a grounding block with a bunch of other white wires, prolly no green ones, but plug the green one in there also.. Then wire the fuse with the black and red, plug the fuse in, and your done... To operate, MAKE SURE you have the main breaker outside OFF at all times during generator operation.. Then, turn off HIGH current breakers like water heater, AC, Dryer, Range, Washer, etc... Then turn your generator on, let it warm up. Plug in the cable.. Turn on the 30 amp fuse, and your done.. Have any questions let me know.. PM me and I will give ya my cell if needed..

 

okay, so put the generator wires into in my new fuse block, wire it in as an appliance, and that fuse will isolate the generator from the whole fuse panel (if tripped/open), and also back feed the whole fuse panel (when closed)

I never thought of taking out the outside breaker, why not just open the mains breaker at the top of the fuse box?

lot good info. my Dad's been telling over the phone for a week, no idea what he was saying.

 

Eh, sounds like you may have an older house.. Do you have a main feed breaker in the top center of your fusebox? If so, it is the same thing as the main breaker outside.. I think in 83 they started code where main breaker must be within 10" of power meter. I could be off a bit though with those figures, going by memory.. Either way, yes you got the theory down.. The important part is turning off main breaker for this reason... If your generator is running, and power is being conducted through the main breaker, to the meter, and up to the power lines... Mr. FPL Lineman gets shocked to all hell when playing with your wires trying to restore power.. Basically the idea is to kill the circuit from your house, to the meter and thus to the lines at the pole..

On a side note, you seem to well understand the generator side wiring. Just use 10awg wire and the 30amp and you are set.. Make sure you use some conduit to further protect the wire from the generator to the fuse panel.. There are many ways to wire.. I ended up putting in a 220 receptacle under the fuse panel, simliar to that of dryer socket, and I made a cord to pluf from gen to that socket, and the socket it wired to the gen.. Either way, just use some common sense, which it sounds like you should have no problem with, and you are set...