Shore power and generator

jorbill2or wrote:
The transfer switch is in the rear near where the power from the post comes in . Not on the generator . Normally it's in a gray electrical box in the basement wall or ceiling. Generator gets priority and overrides shore power.the generator will start and stabilize before the switchover begins , that can take up to a minute . It is capable of switching instantly under load and designed to do so ,however if you do it a lot , the contacts can wear and eventually fail so most would tell you to remove the "load". . You dont need to unplug ! just remove the heavy load ... i.e. turn off the ac / heaters etc.
the other problem is switching the generator off while under heavy load as it's tough on the electrical windings in the generator and can eventually damage them. Again turn off the "loads" before shutting down. I'm not a electrical engineer but I was told this by a couple service centers dealing with them (generators)

Neat, concise and precise.

The transfer switch is in the rear near where the power from the post comes in . Not on the generator . Normally it's in a gray electrical box in the basement wall or ceiling. Generator gets priority and overrides shore power.the generator will start and stabilize before the switchover begins , that can take up to a minute . It is capable of switching instantly under load and designed to do so ,however if you do it a lot , the contacts can wear and eventually fail so most would tell you to remove the "load". . You dont need to unplug ! just remove the heavy load ... i.e. turn off the ac / heaters etc.
the other problem is switching the generator off while under heavy load as it's tough on the electrical windings in the generator and can eventually damage them. Again turn off the "loads" before shutting down. I'm not a electrical engineer but I was told this by a couple service centers dealing with them (generators)

My 2002 Winnie has the Xfer switch in the power junction box in the electrical bay where the 50A cable is stored.

I've started my genset while connected to 50A shore power once a month and run it for 2 hours before shutting down to exercise it since I bought the rig in February of this year. The circuitry does such a good job, I can't even tell when the genset takes over, or drops out. Totally silent, no blinking of lights, neither the TV or computer show any evidence of the change over.

So at least with mine, I think it's perfectly safe to run the genset when on shore power. And to shut it down as well. JMO!

I know the automatic transfer switch will (should) avoid problems.
But, I always unplug from shore power before starting the generator. Just in case.

Isn't it possible for a transfer switch to fail causing dual power from the shorepower source and the genset source potentially starting a fire. For that reason I always disconnect from shore power before turning the genset on hot.

When transfer switch will handle switching the power once the generator went via warming-up period, it is the shutting down that can create problems.
Lot of generators will have hiccups, what will make the transfer switch fanning between dying power and shore power. That might mess up some electronics in RV.

Recommend unplugging from shore power before starting generator.

When you start the generator the transfer switch will disconnect the incoming shore power connection and your coach will be powered by the generator only. The generator is always the primary power source so you cannot run the generator and still have incoming power unless you kill the breaker at the generator to prevent power from coming into the coach. This is a good thing as not only do you want to know if the generator works, but you want to run it under load from time to time to keep it in good operating condition. When you shut down the generator the shore power will be restored automatically via the transfer switch.

It is common good practice to unplug from shore power before starting the generator; a primary reason being that if the transfer switch is passing shore power when the generator starts the relay contacts are likely to arc when opening up the shore power side .... this is potentially damaging to those contacts.

kemer wrote:
THANKS....dumb question....transfer switch, I assume it's on the generator itself? I'm also assuming that by switching it, it'll prevent power going from generator to RV? Thus just letting the gen run?

transfer switch allows in put power to switch from sp to gen and gen to sp but as I already told u just for extra safety turn off gen set output breakers if all u want is the make sure the gen set runs
If you need to make sure gen set puts out power for extra safety unplug SP cord but neither are actually required

for got to mention make sure theres ""no large power loads"" when starting gen set while plugged in