Hi All

Sorry if this has probably been asked before but I couldn't find it.

I want to connect a small portable Ryobi 2.2kva inverter generator to my house

Is it as simple as turning off the mains feed and plugging the generator into one of the wall sockets?

and then turning off the large appliances/geyser to stay below 2KW

Thanks in advance

Brendon

Yes, you can do it that way. It is completely illegal as well, so for the love of all that is holy, don't switch the mains back on while you are doing it. Also I'm not sure where any earth faults would go, in that situation, you probably don't want to find out.

5 minutes ago, DeepBass9 said:

Yes, you can do it that way. It is completely illegal as well, so for the love of all that is holy, don't switch the mains back on while you are doing it. Also I'm not sure where any earth faults would go, in that situation, you probably don't want to find out.

Earth should remain connected with the main board main breaker off.

But this sort of connection is very unsafe.  They call a cable with a plug on both ends a "suicide cable" which tells you what you need to know.

@Brendonvdh please get an electrician in to install a proper point where you can connect your generator and a proper changeover switch.

Otherwise, buy some extension leads.

And what about the neutral to earth difference? Will you be driving that for the whole neighbourhood?

Ryobi units are V-0-V generators as far as I am aware.

This means there is a centre tap earth and both the live and neutral are 120Vac from earth.

There is no legal situation whereby this sort of generator is allowed in a fixed installation.

2 hours ago, Elbow said:

Earth should remain connected with the main board main breaker off.

But this sort of connection is very unsafe.  They call a cable with a plug on both ends a "suicide cable" which tells you what you need to know.

@Brendonvdh please get an electrician in to install a proper point where you can connect your generator and a proper changeover switch.

Otherwise, buy some extension leads.

I once, as a boy in matric, worked with just such a "suicide cable" and very nearly lost my life! I had one end plugged in inside the house and started coiling the other end - was barefoot to boot - and just as I entered at the kitchen door, all three the points on the plug in my hand made contact with my palm. What switched off the power by the grace of God I am not clear on to this day, but it saved my life. Still have the markings in my right palm, 52 years later. So heed that warning.

2 hours ago, phil.g00 said:

There is no legal situation whereby this sort of generator is allowed in a fixed installation.

Wonder how many people know that when they buy gennies all over and connect them as they see fit?

I did not even THINK of the V-0-V.

7 hours ago, Brendonvdh said:

Is it as simple as turning off the mains feed and plugging the generator into one of the wall sockets?

Several thing are wrong about this.

1. The "suicide cable" used to do it is dangerous if unplugged while live.

2. When you switch the main switch off you lose your neutral/earth bonding, so unless you create another bond in the system it is less safe than it should be.

3. The generator is feeding power into the system on the wrong side of the RCD (aka earth leakage), so you have no earth fault protection. A short between live and the body of one appliance can literally turn several other appliances into live shockers as well.

4. If someone inadvertently turns on the main breaker while the generator is running, it can result in a number of possible outcomes ranging from electrocuting someone outside your home, killing the generator with an overload, or damaging something (eg V-0-V generarator will instantly have half of its windings shorted out).

5. As mentioned already, V-0-V generators are not allowed to be connected to the typical TN-S and TN-C-S earthed houses in South Africa.

So my advice is to go to the hardware story and buy a couple of good extension cables and use those during load shedding 🙂

And if your house burns down insurance will repudiate.

On 2019/04/16 at 11:24 PM, Clivevan said:

And if your house burns down insurance will repudiate.

For sure.

It is better to get something that can be legally connected to your house, if you need it to be connected. Otherwise, as plonkster said, rather get a few thick, long extensions