You should be using an inlet instead of a receptacle. A receptacle will require a double male ended cord that is illegal and very dangerous. It's not called a suicide cord for nothing.

 

Yes a wrong choice of words Here is the inlet I had in mind and the bridging adapter mentioned in the drawing.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000BQT47S/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1


https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0050PQ0UO/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

Your sketch appears to be 2 single pole 20 amp breakers. It should be a two-pole 30amp.

 

30 Amp would have been over the capacity of the generator so perhaps a double pole 25A?

The reason I wanted to do single pole is that the "hungry" leg would disconnect and the other would still be operational.

Does it have to be a double pole per code?

 

It doesn’t matter that the 30 amp breaker is larger than the generator output, it’s not trying to protect it. The breakers purpose is to keep the generator from being connected simultaneously with utility power. More of a disconnect or switch function rather than a breaker.

The one risk of a 25 amp breaker is if your equipment pulls that on one leg for 3 hours or more, especially on a hot day, you could experiance a thermal trip of the breaker. You won’t experiance that with the 30 amp breaker.

Yes, the breaker needs to be a double pole. A lot of the breaker interlocks only contact the upper handle. They rely on the breaker being 2pole. With single pole breakers, you could accidentally connect the generator with utility power, defeating the purpose of the interlock.

 

It doesn’t matter that the 30 amp breaker is larger than the generator output, it’s not trying to protect it. The breakers purpose is to keep the generator from being connected simultaneously with utility power. More of a disconnect or switch function rather than a breaker.

The one risk of a 25 amp breaker is if your equipment pulls that on one leg for 3 hours or more, especially on a hot day, you could experiance a thermal trip of the breaker. You won’t experiance that with the 30 amp breaker.

Yes, the breaker needs to be a double pole. A lot of the breaker interlocks only contact the upper handle. They rely on the breaker being 2pole. With single pole breakers, you could accidentally connect the generator with utility power, defeating the purpose of the interlock.

Your replies are appreciated. So a double-pole breaker is the only change in the proposed solution. Other than that it looks good as far as powering that last sub-panel with portable gen?

 

The reason I wanted to do single pole is that the "hungry" leg would disconnect and the other would still be operational.

Just turn off the breakers to the "hungry" circuits.

Also make sure you do NOT have any multi wire circuits. The neutral will be over loaded.

 

Just turn off the breakers to the "hungry" circuits.

Also make sure you do NOT have any multi wire circuits. The neutral will be over loaded.

Thanks for tagging on.

There are no multi-wire circuits anywhere in the house so that's something I don't have to worry about. Just a bunch of dedicated circuits for different computer equipment, hence the Inverter type generator being used.