3000W Chinese Gensets Info.

N9WOS wrote:
. . .
I found this because I was looking for a cheep generator for backup power at the house, plus or minus a few times I need to run something without access to mains power.

. . .

And I do not want one with a 220V output, or fancy 120V plugs. Just a basic set of normal outlets without any fancy 120-240 switches to break or malfunction.

. . .

Good day, and thanks for everyone's help. :)

This is just to comment briefly on the need for a 240 VAC (220V) output. I also wanted my new PowerPro 3000 watt generator for the same purpose--not so much for RV use as much as for an emergency supply for my cabin and for occasional field use.

Basically, there seems to be two choices when the power goes out and you are trying to plug your house into a portable generator: The first is to simply run an extension cord from the generator in through a door or a window and then plug everything you can (fridge, lamps, computer, window fans, freezer, TV, portable AC, etc) into that cord until you reach your load limit or you run out of additional extension cords. 120 VAC works fine for that choice if your generator can deliver full power to the 120 VAC sockets, as my generator can. But remember, some portable generators won't feed full power to its 120-volt receptacles without modification.

However, if the things you really need to power up don't have plugs (e.g. ceiling lamps, well pumps, ceiling fans, furnace blowers, yard lights, etc) then you really have to go with the second choice and power the house through a transfer switch. A transfer switch can also feed any of your existing wall sockets.

The cost for a low-end 30-amp transfer switch is pretty reasonable from what I can see on the Ebay listings for these, but they all seem to insist on being fed with a 240-volt plug from your generator. (Note: They also need to be put in by a real electrician unless you are super-sure you know what you are doing. If you don't do that, you run the financial and emotional risk of killing a lineman during an outage through feedback into the utility's power grid.)

The plug that feeds the transfer switch from your generator is a 240-volt three-wire single-phase plug with ground, such as the four-pin twist-lock L14-30 plug and receptacle that came with my generator, or one of its heftier kin, if your panel and generator can handle more amps. Despite its name, the plug handles two phases and those are split between each half of the transfer panel and each provides 120 VAC to the house wiring through individual breakers with half of them operating on each phase. Normally, there is also a single 240-volt breaker that taps both phases so it can be used to power a single burner element on a stove top, or a 240-volt well pump, or anything else that really has to have a 240-volt feed.

The moral of this is that, even if you know you'll never need to power a 240-volt appliance or circuit, 240-volts is still a very nice thing to have if you ever plan to feed your house (or anyone else's house) through a transfer switch.

--John