Posted: 8/18/2012 3:21:10 PM EDT
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Hey guys, trying to figure out an issue with my emer gen 10 circuit manual transfer switch. It is devided into two banks of 5 circuits each. Bank A -E will not power on at all, while bank F -J will power on. All cir uits ran thru the switch work fine on Line power, but when you move the switches to gen power that one bank doesnt work. Thought my gen was toast so I tried a buddys new one and the same thing happened using his generator.
Any suggestions before i pull my remaining hair out? X 
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What generator(s) are you using and how is the switch wired with respect to the two split phases of your home's electrical system? If you fed a switch designed to handle both phases of a split-phase system with just a 120V single-phase generator you could have wired it such that no power is received by one bank. If that's the case, there may be a provision to jumper the two banks inside the switch. Don't panic–– someone who actually knows what they're talking about will be along shortly. 
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What generator(s) are you using and how is the switch wired with respect to the two split phases of your home's electrical system? If you fed a switch designed to handle both phases of a split-phase system with just a 120V single-phase generator you could have wired it such that no power is received by one bank. If that's the case, there may be a provision to jumper the two banks inside the switch. Don't panic–– someone who actually knows what they're talking about will be along shortly.
Its a 5500 watt/6500 surge briggs and stratton genny with a 30 amp nemla outlet. Not sure about the split phase info you were talking about 
I wired it step by step according to the manual and emergan video. Perhaps my house panel is different than what it needs? I checked my breakers on the genny thinking they might have tripped and they are fine. |
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Its a 5500 watt/6500 surge briggs and stratton genny with a 30 amp nemla outlet. Not sure about the split phase info you were talking about
I wired it step by step according to the manual and emergan video. Perhaps my house panel is different than what it needs? I checked my breakers on the genny thinking they might have tripped and they are fine. Your house is supplied with split-phase power such that any conductor in the house can be identified as one of four: 1) one 120V hot, 2) a second 120V hot, 3) a neutral, and 4) a ground. If you measure the voltage between either hot wire and the neutral you'll find 120V. If you measure between the two hot wires you'll find 240V because the two 120V hots are 180-degrees out of phase. Your service panel is split with half of the 120V circuits fed from one phase and half from the other (hot to neutral). All 240V circuits in the panel use both of the 120V phases. Your transfer switch may be setup to receive only one phase or both phases. If it expects both phases and is only receiving one, one bank of circuits would be dead. Have you got the literature for your transfer switch handy? Check and see what it shows. Is your NEMA plug a three-prong or four-prong twist-lock, or just a big RV plug? See if you can find the NEMA number on the plug. NEMA plugs Split-phase power distro |
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If you fed a switch designed to handle both phases of a split-phase system with just a 120V single-phase generator you could have wired it such that no power is received by one bank. If that's the case, there may be a provision to jumper the two banks inside the switch. I think this is the problem. When I wired my Reliance 10-circuit transfer switch to my (2) paralleled Honda EU2000i generators, I had to add a jumper in the cordset from the generators to the power inlet box to short L1 and L2 together to get 120Vac to both phases of the transfer switch. Without doing this, I had only one side, L1, with 120Vac. |
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Sounds like the OP has a four leg NEMA L14-30 plug and receptacle. I wonder if one of the hot lugs on his patch cable isn't connected.
Fire, can you check the continuity of the four legs on the patch/extension cord you use to connect your genset to the transfer switch? On an L14-30 twistlock plug, the two "hot" prongs/legs are on either side of the keyed leg that has the "L" shape (when looking at it from the end). Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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If you fed a switch designed to handle both phases of a split-phase system with just a 120V single-phase generator you could have wired it such that no power is received by one bank. If that's the case, there may be a provision to jumper the two banks inside the switch. I think this is the problem. When I wired my Reliance 10-circuit transfer switch to my (2) paralleled Honda EU2000i generators, I had to add a jumper in the cordset from the generators to the power inlet box to short L1 and L2 together to get 120Vac to both phases of the transfer switch. Without doing this, I had only one side, L1, with 120Vac. That's a good point BD. One of my gensets has a 3-prong L5-30 output receptacle, and I had to make an adapter to power both legs of the 4-prong L14-30 plug on the transfer switch. Not exactly the same thing you are talking about, but if I hadn't connected L1 and L2 together in my adapter pigtail, only one half of my transfer switch would have been energized. Posted Via AR15.Com Mobile |
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Its a 5500 watt/6500 surge briggs and stratton genny with a 30 amp nemla outlet. Not sure about the split phase info you were talking about
I wired it step by step according to the manual and emergan video. Perhaps my house panel is different than what it needs? I checked my breakers on the genny thinking they might have tripped and they are fine. Your house is supplied with split-phase power such that any conductor in the house can be identified as one of four: 1) one 120V hot, 2) a second 120V hot, 3) a neutral, and 4) a ground. If you measure the voltage between either hot wire and the neutral you'll find 120V. If you measure between the two hot wires you'll find 240V because the two 120V hots are 180-degrees out of phase. Your service panel is split with half of the 120V circuits fed from one phase and half from the other (hot to neutral). All 240V circuits in the panel use both of the 120V phases. Your transfer switch may be setup to receive only one phase or both phases. If it expects both phases and is only receiving one, one bank of circuits would be dead. Have you got the literature for your transfer switch handy? Check and see what it shows. Is your NEMA plug a three-prong or four-prong twist-lock, or just a big RV plug? See if you can find the NEMA number on the plug. NEMA plugs Split-phase power distro My plug is 4 prong nemla 30 amp twist lock. Ive tried two seperate power chords and two gen sets. Every thing was double checked and installed as per the manual. So from the discussion on here it sounds like some have had the same issue. Can you guys describe to me in detail how to fix the issue? I just installed it and tried it for the first time yesterday and again today with a different gen set and chord. Thanks for any help guys |
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If you fed a switch designed to handle both phases of a split-phase system with just a 120V single-phase generator you could have wired it such that no power is received by one bank. If that's the case, there may be a provision to jumper the two banks inside the switch. I think this is the problem. When I wired my Reliance 10-circuit transfer switch to my (2) paralleled Honda EU2000i generators, I had to add a jumper in the cordset from the generators to the power inlet box to short L1 and L2 together to get 120Vac to both phases of the transfer switch. Without doing this, I had only one side, L1, with 120Vac. Can you explain what id need to do to accomplish what you are describing, or what id need to do to see if this is in fact the problem? |
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My plug is 4 prong nemla 30 amp twist lock. Ive tried two seperate power chords and two gen sets. Every thing was double checked and installed as per the manual. So from the discussion on here it sounds like some have had the same issue. Can you guys describe to me in detail how to fix the issue? I just installed it and tried it for the first time yesterday and again today with a different gen set and chord. Thanks for any help guys First thing to do: 1. Power up the genset and check to ensure you're getting 120V from each hot leg to neutral and 240V between the two hots. (Check to make sure there isn't a 120V <––> 240V switch on the generator. Mine has one for switching between the 120V 30A RV plug and the 240V 15A twist-lock). 2. Plug in your cord to the genset and then make the same checks at the end of the cord that plugs into the transfer switch. 3. Plug the cord into the transfer switch and check for voltage on the switch's bus bars. |
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My plug is 4 prong nemla 30 amp twist lock. Ive tried two seperate power chords and two gen sets. Every thing was double checked and installed as per the manual. So from the discussion on here it sounds like some have had the same issue. Can you guys describe to me in detail how to fix the issue? I just installed it and tried it for the first time yesterday and again today with a different gen set and chord. Thanks for any help guys First thing to do: 1. Power up the genset and check to ensure you're getting 120V from each hot leg to neutral and 240V between the two hots. (Check to make sure there isn't a 120V <––> 240V switch on the generator. Mine has one for switching between the 120V 30A RV plug and the 240V 15A twist-lock). 2. Plug in your cord to the genset and then make the same checks at the end of the cord that plugs into the transfer switch. 3. Plug the cord into the transfer switch and check for voltage on the switch's bus bars. Thank you for the response, sadly im not an electritian so some of your terms are hard to understand. What do i use to check the legs etc ? Both gen sets used haveno switch for turning on 120/240, simply 4 house hold plugs and then the 120/240 v 30 amp twist plug. Sorry im not more help, im a paramedic and can work on people, however im findjng this problem to be out of my realm :) |
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You normally use a volt meter to check the voltages across wires. Please don't take this personally as any kind of insult, but if you don't have that level of basic knowledge, I'm concerned that you are in over your head on this one. My recommendation is that you call an electrician at this point, so you don't risk burning your house down in the middle of an emergency.
Or maybe you realize that you need a volt meter to test for voltage. I think it was red_on_black that explained (above) the description of the 4 wires coming out of the plug. WIth 240V there are (2) "legs" or "hot wires" or L1 and L2, each carrying 120V. Essentially, when added together, the result is 240V. When the power from the electric company comes into your house, it's the same thing...there are (2) hot wires that each carry 120V, and each one is wired to 1/2 of your panel to serve all the outlets and fixtures that require 120V. For those appliances (stove, dryer, a/c) that require 240V, the (2) 120V legs are combined in one breaker to give you the 240V (that's why your 240V breakers take up (2) spaces in the panel). If you understand all of this, then you should be able to understand that what the posts above are suggesting is that it sounds like one of the "legs" or "hot wires" is either not connected within the generator to supply 120V to one of the prongs on the output plug of the generator, OR there is a problem with the cord that is not providing 120V to one of the prongs where you plug it into the house, OR there is a problem with your install that isn't connecting one of the (2) "legs" to one side of your panel (i.e. one "hot" 120V prong of the plug (let's call it leg 1 or L1) is supposed to supply the left side of the panel , while the other "hot" 120V prong of the plug (similarly called L2) is supposed to supply the right side of the panel...or vice versa, it doesn't matter left/right). Please be safe. |
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Get an autozone/walmart multimeter & read the instructions
Fire up gen and measure (find) the two holes that put out 110v plug cord in and measure end of cord to make sure juice is coming out Is juice on proper terminals? All Good=transfer switch problem Tranfer switch has 3 way circuit breakers: load, genny & "line" aka juice from pole likely a wiring problem (if a person touched it... check that first) This is like describing home surgery...in another language. Get the cord squared away and report findings. If the house/line power the circuits, then one leg of 110v is prob not energizing half of your panel (from Gen) take the cover off and inspect...find the wire/bar that powers the half w/no power and trace it back to the outlet where the gen cord plugs in. |
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Get an autozone/walmart multimeter & read the instructions Fire up gen and measure (find) the two holes that put out 110v plug cord in and measure end of cord to make sure juice is coming out Is juice on proper terminals? All Good=transfer switch problem Tranfer switch has 3 way circuit breakers: load, genny & "line" aka juice from pole likely a wiring problem (if a person touched it... check that first) This is like describing home surgery...in another language. Get the cord squared away and report findings. If the house/line power the circuits, then one leg of 110v is prob not energizing half of your panel (from Gen) take the cover off and inspect...find the wire/bar that powers the half w/no power and trace it back to the outlet where the gen cord plugs in. thank you, this makes good sense. I wil start with my chord and check that first. |
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Alright, got it figured out. Started at the begining and checked my chords, they were good. It was at my junction box were my whip is connected that there was loss of power in one leg. Took the cover off and one of my hot wires had come undone. Wire nutted it back and all is working. On a side note im glad i went with the 10 circuit transfer switch, worth the extra money.
Thanks for all the help. |