Thanks for the enlightening info guys. Acompany contacted me last week for this deal. $130 offered per. I responded by telling them that is not my fee for an inspection and they could send more info if they chose. A couple days later I got a packet with an agreement to clean up houses for $20 a pop.LOL. They said they sent the wrong packet and I havn’t heard from them since. Just as well:roll:
Wouldn’t the 30 amp dryer OCPD trip before any damage would occur to the conductors? I’m missing where there is a potential for a fire.
Robert… Agreed to an extent. But, are you saying that backfeeding a Home’s system with wiring larger than the Dryers #10 wiring with a 30A OCPD and running the AC, the rest of the lights and appliances has no potential for fire??? What if the breaker doesn’t trip what if * fill in the blank *
IMO every time a Breaker trips, there was a potential for fire. Knowingly creating a situation like the one above is a bad idea.
But, I would never knowingly connect wiring in that fashion as it is incorrect…and YES the OCPD should trip to protect the homes wiring… should I think is the key word. As far as potential for fire… knowingly/incorrectly installing a “set-up” in that fashion (described in other post) is a potential to begin with. We may be dealing with a home with other problems that we don’t know about and are relying on a systems safety net
We may also be dealing with a handful of people that are less than clear as to the concerns of which we are discussing.
In my strong opinion… Field Altering an electrical system by way of backfeeding a dryer outlet when the home has an AC system is a bad idea and despite the protection of an OCPD can have a potential for fire.
If someone really wanted to be safe I suppose they could carry a handful of breakers from each manufacturer and back feed that way… I’ll pass, thanks very much. But, I imagine in a lot of areas, you (as an HI) wouldn’t be allowed to swap breakers without an electricians/contractor’s license… would ya???
This discussion is over some one doing a nearly complete Home Inspection AND backfeeding an electrical panel for what equates to a $100.00. Silly, very silly.
I’m not advocating this type of testing, just pointing out that even a back-fed 30 amp CB on the dryer circuit will limit the load to 30 amps. Could that CB be bad, I’d guess that it is possible even if unlikely. As you have suggested you could simply install a new CB in the panel and back-feed that instead.
So now I’m wondering, if you don’t use some sort of back-feed/generator method how do you test the A/C when there is no power? Or are you advocating not testing it at all?
Me?
I would have to lean more toward not doing this at all. If I decided to do so, I would likely want to attach a CB directly to panel. I would not be comfortable back feeding or even attaching a CB directly to panel for AC testing… AC Coils are expen$ive… even if I agreed with the methods, and the unit was tested with a reasonable supply/amperage, I would imagine too many fingers being pointed at me if failure occured shortly after I was there.
Repair Guy–> “I don’t know why the run capacitor and/or compressor (or some other part) failed on this 7 year old unit, but I heard some inspector was here testing it with a generator. The voltage may have been so low it was thru the floor and caused failure”
Not a good BUSINESS activity IMO.
$130 is considerably higher than what they were offering me to do out and baslcally do a home inspection, cut the grass, change the door locks, trim the bushes and trees as needed, make minor safety repairs, take photos, fill out their report and send all of the information via wireless back to them from the site. Considerable amount of actual manual labor involved for a fee way south of $100. I have declined their offer.
Try and understand that you were contacted by a sub-contractor who is contracting for the actual contractor who was awarded a $15,000,000 or more contract from HUD a couple of months ago. If you were to take that job then you would be a sub for a sub who subs. This is why the offer sucked so bad.
If you would have been contacted by one of the actual contractors (which would likely have never happened) then you would have considered the offer in more detail. Like I said before, there is a huge difference. You would be really surprised with the earning potential.
Clearly there is allot you don’t understand about using portable generators to perform system checks and if you were ever to do this I would recommend that you hire a electrician who can train you and rig the proper generator cords up for you. I am glad I brought this subject up now since some are being offered these jobs who have no understanding of using generators which have been around and used in this fashion for many years.
“Portable” generators are designed to be used to provide temporary power when necessary. When used correctly they are safe and perform very well. But like anything, there is a right way and wrong way to do things.
Think about it Tim, Lets say you have a 10 amp skill saw and you plug it into a 15000 watt “portable” generator (which is done daily by 1000,s) that has the potential of delivering 10 times the amps needed to run the skill saw, are you going to burn the skill saw up and start a fire? It is all about understanding and knowing what you are doing. Don’t take this job until you do. If you are concerned then don’t pursue this line of work.
I hope others are as concerned and careful as you are.
[quote=“fmagdefrau, post:28, topic:52076”]
Clearly there is allot you don’t understand about using portable generators to perform system checks and if you were ever to do this (doubt it) I would recommend that you hire a electrician who can train you and rig the proper generator cords up for you.
I’ve wired entire homes before… been an IBEW local 40 “permit” a few times… I think I can figure out how to wire a gene into a house 
or not…
I hope others are as concerned and careful as you are**. Thanks!/**quote]
Clearly, I neither condone the use of male to male plugs to back feed electrical panels, nor do I think “testing” AC units with portable power is a very good idea either… if you have equipment large enough to power 5-6 ton units… cool. A “system check” is one thing… powering large appliances is quite another.
The other part of my point is a risk vs reward, that I don’t think an electrician would help me much with.
Not sure how much “rigging” can be done beyond that of:
- Back feeding thru an existing 220V outlet (dryer/welder if you’re lucky)
- Installing an OCPD directly to panel once the main is shut off, preventing a back feed to the utility side
- Creating a splice at the AC disconnect itself <-- 80% rule gets ya in trouble there.
How do you do it Frank… so I can clearly understand?
By the way… If you have now set up a generator to temporarily power the home… are you leaving a primary or secondary path to ground? Section 250 in NEC I think… there are distinct differences in +5kw scenarios… unless that changed, dunno Used (95-6) to hook up Large 3 phase Gene’s for Studios… sometimes lines/boxes and sometimes heating up House Panels.
The NEC permits a generator (portable or permanent) to be connected without switching the neutral, or as a separately derived system where the neutral is switched and the generator has it’s own grounding electrode system (GES). If the neutral is not switched or disconnected the existing GES for the structure is permitted to to used in conjunction with the generator.
Frank, I understand that (got it the first time). Thanks for clearing it up earlier. I was simply stating there are other organizations out there trying to hook up with unsuspecting and perhaps newbie inspectors who may be needing work and point out some of the pitfalls to doing this amount of work for such a small percentage of the money being made at the top of the pyramid. Their offer of $40 is a far cry from the $130 someone else was being offered. Just pointing out the huge disparity. In the end, anyone can do whatever the hell they want, it isn’t up to me or you how someone runs their business. They can go do them for free just to get the experience for all I care.
A Proper transfer switch required for stand by power .
http://www.electrical-online.com/generatortransferswitch.htm
[quote=“tspargo, post:29, topic:52076”]
I doubt you would either Tim and that is a good thing that you know your limits. I was only bringing this subject up to help educate the members who have been offered to perform these inspections.
To my knowlede there is no Portable Generator that can run a 6 ton a/c unit and I have never seen one personally. However we have come across a 5 ton or two. A 17500 watt portable generator can and will handle it… Make sure you know what you are doing.
Cool Frank!