Generac 6852 Transfer Switch installed (to power my house from the Pro Power 240V plug)

[InTheCloud]

I guess you could also just run beefier gauge wire that could handle a 50 amp outlet, but just put a 30 amp outlet on there for now for the Lightning. Later you could swap it out for a 50 amp outlet assuming the wiring is gauged properly for that. I’m not an electrician but research that route maybe.

This might be the route I want to take; it solves the issue of not needing additional adapters or cables with mismatched ends.

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[Lightning Rod]

After almost 2 years of it being installed, I finally am using my Lightning to power my home! The lights went out at 11:40 am EST and they are still out 2 hours and 10 minutes later. I'm going to use my wife's car to go to work soon.

With the transfer switch, will the green Utility light light up when the power comes back on? I told her to go and look at the transfer switch every 30 minutes or so and if the green light is on, she can throw the switch back towards the green light, and the house will be on regular power again. Did I advise her correctly?

Thanks.

 

[Henry Ford]

After almost 2 years of it being installed, I finally am using my Lightning to power my home! The lights went out at 11:40 am EST and they are still out 2 hours and 10 minutes later. I'm going to use my wife's car to go to work soon.

With the transfer switch, will the green Utility light light up when the power comes back on? I told her to go and look at the transfer switch every 30 minutes or so and if the green light is on, she can throw the switch back towards the green light, and the house will be on regular power again. Did I advise her correctly?

Thanks.

If your setup is anything like mine, you have a bunch of lights that aren't in the switch panel. When you notice those lights turn back on you can flip the switch panel back to utility and be on your way.

To answer your question more directly; you are correct. The green light turns on when a load is on the generator and utility power is available.

 

[Lightning Rod]

If your setup is anything like mine, you have a bunch of lights that aren't in the switch panel. When you notice those lights turn back on you can flip the switch panel back to utility and be on your way.

To answer your question more directly; you are correct. The green light turns on when a load is on the generator and utility power is available.

Thank you. About 30 minutes after I posted this thread, she went to check and noticed the green light was on. She threw the switch to the utility side. She then unplugged truck from transfer switch plug, then turned off truck. We figure the truck ran the furnace (33 degrees F this morning), 2 refrigerators, internet modem, 3 huge monitors and 2 computers for her job... TV, cable box / DVR, lights throughout the house and more. All of this was powered via the Lightning for about 2 hours and 40 minutes, and the battery went from 77, to 76 percent!

I'm glad I finally had the chance to use it for backup energy supply.

 

[Henry Ford]

My utility company upgraded the infrastructure in my area shortly after I installed my switch. I got to use it once a week or two after installation. It's not fair the power goes out everywhere else!

 

[BhamDCam]

@Henry Ford Question for you. When our power goes out I still have to manually flip the main breakers for our panel to off, otherwise the truck will fault, even when grid power is out. Do you know why that might happen?

 

[P-38]

fault

Do you have an interlock? Is the truck faulting for ground fault or over current?

If you don't have an interlock or transfer switch you are back feeding into the grid which would cause an over current and be very dangerous for linemen fixing the grid

 

[BhamDCam]

Do you have an interlock? Is the truck faulting for ground fault or over current?

If you don't have an interlock or transfer switch you are back feeding into the grid which would cause an over current and be very dangerous for linemen fixing the grid

I’ve got the same Generac transfer switch referenced in this thread.

Not sure if the truck faulted for ground fault or overcurrent. I believe it was ground fault IIRC.

 

[Henry Ford]

@Henry Ford Question for you. When our power goes out I still have to manually flip the main breakers for our panel to off, otherwise the truck will fault, even when grid power is out. Do you know why that might happen?

The truck will fault when neutral touches ground. So neutral is touching ground when it faults. I can't say why neutral is touching ground in your case but I can ask questions of which the answers might give us some clues.

Exactly what steps are you taking when the trip occurs? Power goes out, you hook up the truck to the inlet box, start the ProPower, flip the switch and it trips. Is that right?

Have you tried resetting ProPower without turning off the main breaker? Some people have reported tripping the GFCI during the switchover. This is probably due to the switch landing the neutral slightly after the hot.

The main breaker is only hot wires. In other words, it's not switching neutral or ground. And it should be totally isolated from the transfer switch. I'll have to think about this.

@Maquis, any thoughts?

 

[carys98]

I’ve got the same Generac transfer switch referenced in this thread.

Not sure if the truck faulted for ground fault or overcurrent. I believe it was ground fault IIRC.

Once you switch and the truck faults what happens if you just reset the truck? Does it immediately fault again? I’ve had mine fault when it switches but if I do a reset it stays on. I think the relay generates a small current in the ground when it switches and the truck is very sensitive.

 

[BhamDCam]

Exactly what steps are you taking when the trip occurs? Power goes out, you hook up the truck to the inlet box, start the ProPower, flip the switch and it trips. Is that right?

Have you tried resetting ProPower without turning off the main breaker? Some people have reported tripping the GFCI during the switchover. This is probably due to the switch landing the neutral slightly after the hot.

Correct. The truck doesn’t fault until I flip the switch on the transfer switch when the main breaker is On.

And yes, even if reset ProPower from the truck it will immediately fault again if the Main Breaker is still on. But everything will work fine when the Main Breaker is turned off.

I hired a qualified, licensed electrician install everything. Even after he finished I took a look at all the wiring from the main breaker to the transfer switch and everything appeared correct; all the wiring made sense. I haven’t been able to find the issue or “why” I have to turn off the Main Breaker for the truck to not fault.

 

[Maquis]

Correct. The truck doesn’t fault until I flip the switch on the transfer switch when the main breaker is On.

And yes, even if reset ProPower from the truck it will immediately fault again if the Main Breaker is still on. But everything will work fine when the Main Breaker is turned off.

I hired a qualified, licensed electrician install everything. Even after he finished I took a look at all the wiring from the main breaker to the transfer switch and everything appeared correct; all the wiring made sense. I haven’t been able to find the issue or “why” I have to turn off the Main Breaker for the truck to not fault.

This is really odd. Have you run it in a true backup situation (meaning actual loss of utility power)? If so, did you still have to switch the main?
I suspect that there is some circuit that is cross-connected between the main and backup panel. Try turning off all breakers in the main panel, leaving the main on. If PPOB doesn’t trip, start turning individual breakers on one at a time until it trips. Once it trips, leave everything in the main panel as it is and switch all breakers off on the Reliance panel. Restart PPOB and start turning breakers back on in the Reliance panel until it trips. If you get this far, there is an interconnection somewhere between those 2 circuits. If you can’t get this far, let us know what happens when, and we’ll think about it some more.

 

[Henry Ford]

This is really odd. Have you run it in a true backup situation (meaning actual loss of utility power)? If so, did you still have to switch the main?

I was writing this question when I noticed that someone had replied.

Assuming the switch is wired correctly, which I'm inclined to believe. I'm thinking a hot on the main panel is touching ground somewhere. That's the only path from main breaker to the truck.

 

[Maquis]

I was writing this question when I noticed that someone had replied.

Assuming the switch is wired correctly, which I'm inclined to believe. I'm thinking a hot on the main panel is touching ground somewhere. That's the only path from main breaker to the truck.

Another possibility is that a hot from each panel are connected together.

 

[BhamDCam]

I work from home so I’ll try to give this a shot today during my lunch break. Will report back soon.

Thanks, y’all.

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