Generator Power Question - Might be a silly one

NO the shoreline cable DOES NOT BACKFEED. And you should NEVER backfeed, very dangerous.

now what you need to do

You say there is an outlet (I assume matching the shore line cord) that outlet is conneted to the generator.. Plug shore cord into it. That simple.

NOTE Do not plug or unplug with Air Conditioners, water heater space heaters Fridge or Electric cooking hardware (IE: Microwave or hot plate) on, turn those off or turn off the main breaker before plugging in or unplugging,, Wait at least 3 minutes before turning A/C back on. other loads as soon as generator stablizes (Choke opens)

If there's a 30 or 50 amp outlet in the power bay, the shore cord plugs into it to feed the motorhome. I've never seen a rig with both the outlet and a factory transfer switch.

Hey everyone! Thanks for all the quick responses. Im just now reading this. I thought my model was in my signature.

Im sporting a Class A Gulfstream Sunvoyager 1991 34' ford 460

Hank MI wrote:

Tom/Barb wrote:

daved9664 wrote:
Hey folks,

Might be a really silly question...here's the situation.

Generator powers up no problem. Haven't found how to get the power out of the outlets once it's running.

Here's my question. Doesn't the shoreline cable backfeed out the plug? There's another outlet in my shoreline cable storage unit. Do I plug that cable into it in order to get the generator power while it's running?

Fire up the genny, Unplug the shore power, tell us what happens?

Since he said he has no power to outlets I would assume he's not plugged in to shore power. If he was then he has other problems.

He also said there is another outlet in the electrical bay so I say that there is no transfer switch and the cord from the gen needs to be plugged in.

How can one assume anything with out knowing the system he has?

Tom/Barb wrote:

daved9664 wrote:
Hey folks,

Might be a really silly question...here's the situation.

Generator powers up no problem. Haven't found how to get the power out of the outlets once it's running.

Here's my question. Doesn't the shoreline cable backfeed out the plug? There's another outlet in my shoreline cable storage unit. Do I plug that cable into it in order to get the generator power while it's running?

Fire up the genny, Unplug the shore power, tell us what happens?

Since he said he has no power to outlets I would assume he's not plugged in to shore power. If he was then he has other problems.

He also said there is another outlet in the electrical bay so I say that there is no transfer switch and the cord from the gen needs to be plugged in.

daved9664 wrote:
Hey folks,

Might be a really silly question...here's the situation.

Generator powers up no problem. Haven't found how to get the power out of the outlets once it's running.

Here's my question. Doesn't the shoreline cable backfeed out the plug? There's another outlet in my shoreline cable storage unit. Do I plug that cable into it in order to get the generator power while it's running?

Fire up the genny, Unplug the shore power, tell us what happens?

To answer your second question, RVs are specifically designed so that the generator (or inverter) cannot backfeed power out the shoreline plug. If they did that, it would be a substantial safety hazard (energized plug when not connected, for one thing) and a violation of electric codes.

If there's an automatic (or manual) transfer switch, it's specifically designed to not be able to connect the generator power to the shore power cord, but still permit one or the other to be connected to the electric distribution panel. Manual transfer switches are very very uncommon in RVs, for reasons I don't entirely understand.

If there's no transfer switch as such, then usually the connection is accomplished by plugging the shore power cord into a socket connected to the generator output, and feeding the electrical system normally.

If it looks like this.


Then yes,plug your shore plug into it and the generator power will go into the motorhome.

In 2004, we rented a new Fleetwood Tioga Class C that you had to plug the shore cord into the genny.

MM.

I had a 1980 something class C...Mallard I think...and you had to plug the cord from the generator into a receptacle by the generator.

But we need more information about the year, make and model. It's possible the breakers on the generator are open which would cause a no power situation too.