Just to report on one of my experiments. I have 2 Ryobi 2200W and just bought 2 3500 Predators, all parallel capable. There is no 7KW kit for the 2 3500W, so I bought a predator 4KW parallel kit. Both 3500W worked perfect toghether.Next phase was, would the same kit work with the Ryobis? Well, it did. No problem.Third part, how about mixing a 3500W Predator and a 2200W Ryobi? This would allow me to run my double AC unit motorhomes. Didi some research, seemed possible, tried them out: no problem. I was able to run a 15K and a 13.5K with a 3500W and a 2200W in parallel.One more thing: They are hot swapapble. Once they are running, you can diconnect one and replace it with another one. Just don't expect both ACs to run on the 2200W alone.Great experience. The load was distributed according to capacity, not evenly, which was surprising to see. A 20 amp load would be 13amp on the 3500 and the rest on the 2200. But if I would hot-swap the 2200 with the other 3500, the load would switch to 10 amps each.Much better than I expected.Next test: 4 into 1...

Great news! Any parallel kit should be just fine as they're just wires (something you can easily make yourself).

im not remotely surprised they work, nothing different then how grid tie inverters workthe load balancing part must have some form logic or voltage watching.did you do any over load tests to see what happens?

As long as one of them is an inverter type I would think it would work.

I'm not surprised about the mixed brands working, but I am surprised about the hot-swap working smoothly. Either you were lucky, phase-wise, when randomly connecting the generators, or they work a lot better than I expected. If you threw a Honda eu-series generator into the mix I'd expect the load balancing to not work as nicely because of the Hondas having a higher output voltage than the others.I still remember all the posts about the generators going up in smoke if you connected different brands and/or connected one of the AC output lines to the case ground (i.e. the "2 leg" output theory).

Not all brands will interchange, I know Honda and Yamaha use different (opposite phase) signaling for the inverter sync. So be careful

Parrallel Generators - Dif brands hot swapable | Good Sam Community

21 Replies

MrWizard
Moderator
Mar 26, 2018
Properly wired 'Y' pair into an outlet box
Will not be putting all power thru one outlet on one generator

You are thinking of a jumper between generators

Regardless

The banana plugs are a better idea, as there is no exposed metal should you unplug one , which you are not supposed to do even with the banana plugs
Bird_Freak
Explorer II
Mar 26, 2018
I think I will just run one big enough to do the job.:B
burningman
Explorer II
Mar 25, 2018
Well that depends on what size and how many generators you’re connecting.
Sometimes I’m running four EU2000s.
“Suicide cord” connecting a few Hondas has the advantage of automatically keeping the polarity the same everywhere. You can mix up banana plugs and they don’t have the ground wire. That’s why I intentionally don’t use them to parallel my generators.
It would take a very crazy set of circumstances to cause a problem. It never has.
You can also put your eye out with a pocket knife. In my world, the one who does that is the one who doesn’t know what he’s doing.
But yeah banana plugs are the very most child proof PC warning-label way to go.
wnjj
Explorer II
Mar 24, 2018
burningman wrote:
ScottG wrote:

Not really. One can make a sensible cord up using the correct banana plugs and install a 30A outlet in said cable. That would be just as good as the factory setup. It just takes a small effort and some common sense.

Isn’t that what I said? Only difference being i use a box and not an in-line 30-amp RV outlet, because I haven’t found such a thing, have you?

You suggested the banana plugs as an option, but it’s the only option that isn’t a suicide cord. Regardless of whether you have a 30A female receptacle connected to it, 2 male plugs makes a suicide cord. It isn’t confined to a simple male-male cord.

Pulling all of the amps through the 20A receptacle isn’t thendangerous part because there’s a circuit breaker there to protect it from too much current. You won’t get much more than 20A though.
burningman
Explorer II
Mar 24, 2018
ScottG wrote:

Not really. One can make a sensible cord up using the correct banana plugs and install a 30A outlet in said cable. That would be just as good as the factory setup. It just takes a small effort and some common sense.

Isn’t that what I said? Only difference being i use a box and not an in-line 30-amp RV outlet, because I haven’t found such a thing, have you?
DrewE
Explorer III
Mar 24, 2018
burningman wrote:
Not so. Suicide cords with a pair of generators force you to pull your whole load through one of the 20-amp receptacles. That’s absolutely not the same.
Yeah yeah I know what you’re all worked up about, if some dummy plugs just one cord in and puts the other in their mouth they’ll zap themselves. Some of us are smart enough not to do that.

I'm more worried about some klutz, such as yours truly, tripping over one of the wires and pulling it out of a generator and having it bounce around the ground or my leg. I may be smart enough not to intentionally unplug the cord and stick it in my mouth, but I have been known to do things accidentally that I would not intentionally do. I still have a bit of a nasty looking bruise on my ankle from walking directly into a wooden pylon at the back of a camp site pad last fall, and I can assure you that I have known for many decades that running into posts accomplishes nothing good.

Many of the electric codes and standards (and other safety features generally) are designed around preventing accidental problems as much as thwarting intentionally inflicted ones.
ScottG
Nomad
Mar 24, 2018
burningman wrote:
Not so. Suicide cords with a pair of generators force you to pull your whole load through one of the 20-amp receptacles. That’s absolutely not the same.
Yeah yeah I know what you’re all worked up about, if some dummy plugs just one cord in and puts the other in their mouth they’ll zap themselves. Some of us are smart enough not to do that.

But if you’re worried about that simply use banana plugs on the ends of the cords instead of standard 20-amp AC plugs. Then you have nothing to squeak about it’s just as child proof as the overpriced and not-nearly-as-good factory parallel kit.

Not really. One can make a sensible cord up using the correct banana plugs and install a 30A outlet in said cable. That would be just as good as the factory setup. It just takes a small effort and some common sense.
burningman
Explorer II
Mar 24, 2018
Not so. Suicide cords with a pair of generators force you to pull your whole load through one of the 20-amp receptacles. That’s absolutely not the same.
Yeah yeah I know what you’re all worked up about, if some dummy plugs just one cord in and puts the other in their mouth they’ll zap themselves. Some of us are smart enough not to do that.

But if you’re worried about that simply use banana plugs on the ends of the cords instead of standard 20-amp AC plugs. Then you have nothing to squeak about it’s just as child proof as the overpriced and not-nearly-as-good factory parallel kit.
ScottG
Nomad
Mar 24, 2018
GordonThree wrote:
Homemade parallel kits that use the outlets are just as bad as suicide cords.

Absolutely true.
It also makes a person look like they have no idea what they're doing (to out it nicely). Especially when you can buy the correct insulated banana plugs at an electronics supplier for a few bucks.
GordonThree
Explorer
Mar 24, 2018
Homemade parallel kits that use the outlets are just as bad as suicide cords.