Electrical Engineering

"Is there any reason why by feeding current in a receptacle it would not feed back to the panel to feed the light circuits?"

Yes.

could you tell me why?

If you are disconnected from the grid you should use one of the large breaker circuits to do this - like your stove or dryer. It does work. I have a friend who has done this as an emergency supply.

this is a office trailer. Not used for home.

It is frowned upon, and in some areas it's illegal to back feed a plug to power circuits, its very dangerous if you don't disconnect the utility supply

True.

This would work, but it is a very BAD idea. I presume when you say "by plugging my generator in one of the electrical circuits" you are refering to plugging you generator into a socket outlet. This would mean that you have a power lead with a male plug on either end and this is illegal.

What would happen if for some reason the plug was detached from the socket in your trailer and the generator was operating?

Let me answer this for you, you would have live exposed terminals on the end of the power lead, which be fatal if you or anyone came in contact with it. The live terminal could also come in contact with the metal frame of the trailer, and again prove fatal by someone comming in contact with the body of the trailer.

I would not recomend this type of installation.

Use only the recomended power supply socket, that is what they are designed for. It will keep you out of court.

Best Regards

Joe

These comments are totally correct and "right on".

The other reason that you might not power your entire system is because your panel was likely designed for, say, 100 AMP 240 VAC feed, meaning two hot bus bars. Plugging into a socket in only 1/2 the "active" bus bars.

The other dangerous item is that you could be trying to support say 50 AMPs of load through wiring rated for 15 amps and you breaker MIGHT NOT trip with power passing through the opposite direction that is was installed to match. Net result- you burn down the trailer as the over heated wiring burns.

IF your generator does NOT have a high voltage (2 phase) plug jack, then use a fabricated connector with a "standard" power plug mounted in a junction box and two "rated" cables coming out of the J-box to each of two single phase outlets on the generator.

Sorry I was thinking, when he said trailer, he meant like a caravan or some form of live in accomidation.

I dont think that the circuit breaker is polarity sensitive with AC, it should trip which ever way it is connected. Also even though I totally disagree with this form of connection to power the trailer, his total power supply supply would be limited by the circuit breaker on the sub-circuit that he is feeding it from.

I also presumed that the gen set was of a low KVA Rating for a domestic supply with no electric cooking facility.

We all are answering questions to this forum, with limited information supplied by the questioneer and so we interperate the question from different perspectives, with this in mind we get varying answers. This is why the CR4 Forum is so good, by taking part we all have the opportinuity to gain some knoledge and help others at the same time.

Having said all that, burning down the trailer, may be the best thing for our questioneer (as long as no one is in it). It would solve the problem, if he hasnt the commen sence to take the advise supplied from this forum. But because he has asked the question, I belive he will take the advise on board and do the right thing, otherwise he would have never contacted this forum.

I Remain

Joe

Hey Joe, I am always on this form. But there is some things I would rather stay out of. I have so many things that I am doing I am trying to do this best. I have ask a question because I need to see what is the best answer and If I do dare to do something Or not. I read my feed backs and take them all in consideration. Because I don't claim to know all.

Hey Mr Thinker, I was not getting at you presonaly. The reason most people are on this forum is to gain or share knowledge and experiences.

If your application is the way I am describing it, then it is potiently very dangerous.

I remember when I was a high school student, me and some friends were drinking in a sleepout out the back of a friends house, the power got accidently disconnected so in the dark I felt around for the plug to plug the power back in, and I got the suprise of my life when I picked up the plug, I recieved a reasonable electric shock because the power cable had a male plug suppling the power to the sleepout, I was not impressed. It could have been a child that had touched that plug and could have been fatal. I for one would not wish to be responcable for what could happen.

Best Regards

Joe

This would also be a good way to burn down your trailer. Reason being, the wiring to the outlets is generally small gauge, and trying to power the entire trailer through such small gauge wires will cause them to over heat, resulting in a fire inside the walls which you would not detect until too late to do anything about it...

Simply put:-

DON'T DO IT, YOU ARE SIMPLY NOT CLEVER ENOUGH TO RISK IT.

Please refer to this web page for further pertinent data:-

Electrical Connections

DON'T DO THIS!

Agree. If you have to ask the question, don't do it.

When the power has been out for many hours and not coming back any time soon from significant ice storm damage, I would never open the main breaker. And I would never connect the pig tails of a long, heavy duty extension cord (10/3 or 12/3) to the 20-A circuit breaker that feeds the single outlet next to the panel. I would never connect this extension cord to a portable generator at least twenty feet away from my dwelling. And I would never . . .

A much better solution is to use good quality extension cords from your power source and plug your refrigerator or freezer into them. Please keep your generator well away from your abode and make sure the batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon-monoxide detectors are fresh.

I believe it's ILLEGAL to do this anywhere in the U.S. You take significant risks to life, limb, and property if you do this. The proper way is to have a licensed electrician install a sub-panel with those critical loads (fridge, freezer, furnace, ...TV?) with a proper disconnect switch in accordance with your local building codes and utility regulations. In our area, automatic generators fueled by natural gas are gaining popularity. Typical installation is around $7K complete for a 5-10kW back-up generator. You can also have it wired for a special receptacle for a portable generator if you choose for significantly less money. I would think you could find an electrician to do the transfer switch and sub-panel for about $1,000 or less.