Connecting MEP to house

[Isaac-1]

Try your local electrical supply houses, I have found they tend to have a lot better price than Lowes. If that does not work try ebay, while shipping can get high on heavy wire, there are occasional deals, particularly if you don't mind stuff that may be a little gray on code acceptance due to lack of markings, etc..


Ike

 

[Speddmon]

obc,
for the wire go to an electrical supplier. most sell to the public as well. Try a home depot too...they seem cheaper than lowes on a lot of stuff

 

[NDT]

Here is a good source for transfer switches: electricgeneratorsdirect.com. I was sceptical at first of what I would be getting, but come to find out the "Reliance" brand is really Cutler-Hammer which is of course on par with Square D. This 100 amp outdoor unit cost $160 delivered. The main is 100 amp and the gen circuit is 60 amp. Perfect for the MEP002A.

 

[rat4spd]

You'll be cheaper by buying a 150 foot roll, per foot. It sucks not needing 150 feet, but you'll have 50 feet left for the same price as 100.

 

[EnteJager]

obc,
for the wire go to an electrical supplier. most sell to the public as well. Try a home depot too...they seem cheaper than lowes on a lot of stuff

I second the local electric supply shop. I picked up 85' od 6/4 os for 2.79 a foot. A buck cheaper than on line and no charge for shipping.

Waiting on a cs6364 plug for the cord and 100 amp gen transfer switch to arrive. Hopefully I'll have everything ready to go by next week.

 

[maddog]

I buy most stuff like that at a salvage/scrap yard. Another place I shop is surplus stores. Not military surplus but industrial surplus. You would not believe what you can find in those places. Many times its new. Penny's on the dollar most of the time.

In southern california I go to Apex. They have a website with much of what they have listed on it. They may ship it to you.

 

[steelandcanvas]

obc,

If you are referring to the "clips shown in picture "A", they are NOT necessary, they are just there so the nuts don't get lost in the field, although there is really no reason to take the nuts the whole way off to make a connection.

Speddmon, you are correct...the clips are to keep the nut on the Kearney bolt during transportation...vibration would put those nuts on the trail somewhere if the operator "forgot" to tighten them back up after removing the cables.

 

[originalboxcar]

I think that I'm going the #6 THHN route. I found a source at $140 for 400' and the pvc conduit is less then $20 for 100'. That sure beats nearly $400 for UF.

Thx for the input!

t~

 

[Speddmon]

That's a wise choice. Personally, as an electrician, for my own house I NEVER use UF cable. There is absolutely nothing wrong with UF cable, but I've seen too many wires rub through as the earth shifts and such (freezing and thawing), plus if you ever want to upgrade, it doesn't cost but a few dollars more initially to put in a larger conduit than you need. There is two reasons for this.

1. it's easier to pull the wires into a larger conduit (and out of the condiut if you ever have a wire go bad and need to replace it)

2. As mentioned above, if you want to upgrade to something larger in the future, you already have the larger conduit necessary burried in the ground!

Good Luck obc and keep us posted. Oh yeah...pictures are a must!!!!

 

[steelandcanvas]

That's a wise choice. Personally, as an electrician, for my own house I NEVER use UF cable. There is absolutely nothing wrong with UF cable, but I've seen too many wires rub through as the earth shifts and such (freezing and thawing), plus if you ever want to upgrade, it doesn't cost but a few dollars more initially to put in a larger conduit than you need. There is two reasons for this.

1. it's easier to pull the wires into a larger conduit (and out of the condiut if you ever have a wire go bad and need to replace it)

2. As mentioned above, if you want to upgrade to something larger in the future, you already have the larger conduit necessary burried in the ground!

Good Luck obc and keep us posted. Oh yeah...pictures are a must!!!!

I always talked my clients out of UF Cable. I didn't want to come back in three years to replace it, do it right the first time.

 

[Speddmon]

I always talked my clients out of UF Cable. I didn't want to come back in three years to replace it, do it right the first time.

amen brother!!!

"If you don't have the time to do it right the first time, you'll always need time to do it a second time"

 

[originalboxcar]

I finally have my wiring to the GenTran completed. Pulled almost 100' of #6- 4 conductor(included #6 ground-I know unnecessary) through 1" PVC conduit, installed a pedestal with inlet box just inside of my woods, wired J box inside to connect SO cord to plug into GenTran.

Towed genset over to the pedestal, fire it right up, plugged it in to inlet box, plugged SO Cord to GenTran inside and tested with something relatively cheap (Sump Pump circuit) and it worked great. I then proceeded to test the remaining circuits and all went well. Genset didn't even seem to grunt!

Currently have sump, furnace, kitchen lights, fridge/freezers and well pump. Will add tankless water heater later.

Sorry no pics. Thanks for all the input, especially from SM and a friend who's a master electrician for answering stupid questions. Gotta love them PROS!

t~

 

[Speddmon]

Way to go obc,

Those sets are fantastic!, you should have no problem running the things you mentioned during an outage. I'm glad you got it hooked up properly and with no major issues. When you get some time, we will need pictures though...LOL We love our pictures.

 

[lavarok]

Any interested in a Power Set switch box ( PN: 97403-13229E6535 ) used to parallel the gen sets. TM 5-6115-633-14&P has details about its use. PM me if so.

 

[Speddmon]

pm sent

 

[dirtyfingernails]

I've got one of those power switch boxes too Ian. Anybody got a need for it? It's free if you come get it. Got two huge cables on it too. The thing is VERY heavy.

 

[runk]

In case anyone needs the information about those switches, the manufacturer appears to be
Electroswitch Switches & Relays
catalog and spec sheet .pdf attached

 

[panic_button]

I finally got mine connected to the house today. I was at Lowes and they had a 85' piece of 1-1-1-4 Service Wire for $50 on the clearance rack! It's aluminum, but for the price... I can atest that the MEP-003 will run a 5 ton heat pump with no problem. With most of the usual house stuff on, I fired up the A/C to see what happen, it dropped to 58 hz (initial setting 61.5 digital meter) then settled at 60.3 hz. Pulled a starting load of 78A off the leg I had my meter on then settled at 18.6A running. Very happy camper and so is the wife!

 

[Speddmon]

SWEET!!!!!

sounds great, congrats

 

[Boatcarpenter]

OK electrical gurus, here is my situation and what I would like to do about it to get power from my 002a into the house.
I have an older 3 wire main breaker panel but I am thinking about using a four wire cable from the genset
as my next house (when I build it) will have a four wire panel. I have an outside waterproof, lockable box with
a four wire male connector in it. I would use three wires from the genset through the plugs to the top two breakers
on the right side of my panel with a lockout plate installed. The common would go where it goes. The fourth wire in the
cable would be a dedicated ground I presume. (Don't have the cable yet)
Question is, could I use that fourth wire to run from the genset ground lug (where you hook up your ground rod) and
then at the house end attach it to the grounding cable and/or ground rod for my Public Service feed. Is that legit or could
it in some obscure way backfeed my Public Service??
Basically I'm looking for a way to make sure the genset is grounded properly without having to try to drive the ground rod
this time of year with my very boney soil plus frost.
I want to accomplish this using the four wire pieces and parts,
Thanks and commence firing,
BC