# Generac Generator



## bayou_boy_22 (Mar 13, 2009)

Well I recently purchast a 20kw Generac Generator with the smart switch. I am going to do the install myself but cant find any info on line. i found a couple of forums online and will continue to look. i was wondering if any one on here has any experience with hooking these up that could give me some pointers.


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## Johnnypantz (Aug 18, 2012)

Any particular questions? I've been a commercial electrician for 12 years and have done a few genset installs. If I can't answer off hand, I can find out for you


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## bayou_boy_22 (Mar 13, 2009)

i need you to keep this in mind. i am in the north sea working right now and my wife is at home dealing with the electricians. i am looking up stuff online to figure out what is going on but cant find out anything. 

They keep telling her diffrent things and want to charge like $3000 for install. i have the gen and the smart panel at home so it is just the install. we have ran the gas line and pored the slab for it sit on. 

i guess my biggest question is when hooking up the smart panel they keep saying that they have to go into the meter to hook it up and something about balancing the breaker box. could you elabartate on this some. i would think that you could hook up everything for the smart switch in the main breaker box. (talking about the power sensing wires). 

I will be home next week sometime and plan to go buy the 3 core 4 gauge wire for the power and the 6 core 18 gauge wire for the smart panel. i dont think it will be very difficult to figure out as i work with PLC pannels, contactors and breakers at work. only difference is we deal with 480 V AC 3 phase and 3500 to 4500 V AC 3 phase.


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## smartdave1 (Aug 6, 2012)

I have done this to my house and installed it myself with an auto transfer switch. What questions do you have


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## Johnnypantz (Aug 18, 2012)

Dude, tell her to tell those guys to get bent. Unless you have 3 phase service at your house(unlikely) then they are just trying to screw you over with the load balancing the panel crap. Plus, you don't need to get into the meter box, just intercept the lines feeding your main breaker, I do recommend getting the electric company to shut your power down for a bit for the hookup, once everything else is in place, and also maybe a disconnect between the meter box and transfer switch


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## smartdave1 (Aug 6, 2012)

What brand smartswitch/transfer panel did you get?


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## bayou_boy_22 (Mar 13, 2009)

Johnnypantz said:


> Dude, tell her to tell those guys to get bent. Unless you have 3 phase service at your house(unlikely) then they are just trying to screw you over with the load balancing the panel crap. Plus, you don't need to get into the meter box, just intercept the lines feeding your main breaker, I do recommend getting the electric company to shut your power down for a bit for the hookup, once everything else is in place, and also maybe a disconnect between the meter box and transfer switch


 
This is the kind of info i am looking for. Thanks man.


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## bayou_boy_22 (Mar 13, 2009)

smartdave1 said:


> What brand smartswitch/transfer panel did you get?


it is the nexus smart switch.


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## Johnnypantz (Aug 18, 2012)

bayou_boy_22 said:


> This is the kind of info i am looking for. Thanks man.


Hate it's not close to me, I love to tell ripoff con artists where to put it:flames:


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## bayou_boy_22 (Mar 13, 2009)

i wish i was home so that i could tell them they were full of it. my uncle works for the power company so getting my power turned off for a little while will not be a problem. he could do it one afternoon for me.


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## Johnnypantz (Aug 18, 2012)

Good luck man, and if you have any install questions when you get home, just ask


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## bayou_boy_22 (Mar 13, 2009)

I just found this out from my wife. Could any of you tell me anything about this. 

"The guy that sold me the generator said they have to make sure the load on the breaker box has to be balanced and that either side couldn't be more then 50% off from the other side"


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## Johnnypantz (Aug 18, 2012)

You have two phases coming into your house, andim seriously doubting that you would have one phase loaded up that much more than the other. Biggest thing would be to just make sure your major appliances are not stacked on the same phase, because your major home amp draw is HVAC, and it is more than likely a two pole breaker. 

Like I said earlier, you should be fine, but if you are concerned, a good digital meter with amp clamp is all you need

Just clamp it around one incoming phase, take a reading, then clamp around the other and check that one out.


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## BrutemanAl (Jul 3, 2009)

I work for a generac dealer , and I am a generac factory trained technician , we have well over 500 units out there , are you doing a whole house transfer , I assume you are ? You dont need to do anything when it comes to balancing the load , in the 6 years I have been doing this , I can recall only one house that we had to balance the load in the panel , but that was when we installed a circuit specific generator .

When we do whole house transfer's we have to get the Hydro company to come in and pull the meter base . I also live in Ontario , Canada , so the rules and regulations are different from the USA .


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## J2! (May 8, 2010)

I am an electrician also, have been doing electric work for about 24 years. All that balancing the load is a bunch of crap. Like stated above the only time you really have to "ballance" a load is on 3 phase services and 99% of houses have single phase services. Around here in some very rare cases you will find 3 phase at a house but it's usually in the older parts of town. The easiest way to kill the power to do this is just pull the meter out, you really don't even need the power company to do anything for you. Depending on what size service you have on your house,200 amp or 400 amp, will determine what size wire you'll need. 4/0 Aluminum for 200 amp and 500MCM copper for 400 amp. Like Johnnypants said just intercept the wires coming from the meter going to your main breaker. But it might be easier to do that "in" the meter, just depends on how your service is setup, it's hard to say without seeing it in person. Between him and I we should be able to walk you through just about anything you need help with.


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## bayou_boy_22 (Mar 13, 2009)

Thanks guys. This is the type of I was looking for. I think I may have found someone to hook it up for me. I will buy the cable and run it. That I have no problem with. If I have any other questions I will surely ask you guys. Thanks again.


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## Johnnypantz (Aug 18, 2012)

Glad to be able to help.


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