Honda generator and electrical grid
Might I ask a question here unrelated to motorhomes? The topic of portable generators often comes up here and on other forums. I am thinking of buying the Honda "Companion" portable generator, and I a...
Forum Discussion
Dutch_12078 wrote:Dusty R wrote:JaxDad wrote:cgmartine wrote:
The third option, the breaker interlock, is exactly what I pictured in my mind. I believe I could do it myself, but just to be extra safe, I will hire an electrician to do it for me.
I’d be surprised if you could get an electrician to do that sort of a job. It’s not legal because it’s potentially very dangerous.
Please do it properly and install a transfer switch.
A breaker interlock does the same thing as a transfer switch, and is legal.
Exactly... The interlock doesn't allow the generator supply breaker to be turned on until the main line breaker is turned off, and vice versa.
No, it does NOT do the same thing.
The ground and the neutral are bonded in the breaker panel and meter base. Backfeeding the house without breaking that bond means there is potential in the neutral wire beyond the meter base and back out into the grid.
A typical breaker doesn’t kick over with enough force to trip a second breaker, add to that the fact that it requires a massive overload to trip a breaker on a short circuit condition, not just a simple overload, like 5 times the normal load to trip.
If you haven’t transferrred the neutral, that massive overload could, and likely will, pass through the meter base and out into the grid.
