Emergency Standby Generator Install, DIY Start to Finish. Generac 24kW Backup Generator.

[@jansanchez8437]

This guy knows too much, he's the manliest man who's ever manned. We could all have a beer with this dude.

[@anthonydebay6932]

YES!!!

[@richardkaufman1643]

As a Master Electrician I commend you on a well thought out project! A couple of minor things that I want to point out:Generator works better with stranded copper wire connections, they stay tight better. A flex connector would be required in my area for the feed conduit to generator. PVC conduit requires a mounting strap of some kind. The ground wire you installed in the contractor enclosure would never pass inspection under a sheet metal or self drilling screw. A small lug with a machine screw and nut is required. I know you had a lot of aluminum wire available to you ,but I would have used copper wire sized down for all the jumpers. It makes the job easier and you don’t have to worry about using nolox. Just nit picking really,nice work otherwise.

[@oakoliver7183]

In many areas nolox is no longer required as the aluminum is now an alloy.

[@t1mmy13]

Dude one of the reasons I like you so much is how you acknowledge that your videos are viewed all over the world and your advice won't work everywhere. One of my biggest pet peeves about some youtubers in the techincal space is how they pretend their advice is the sole truth completely ignoring all other factors.

[@befreeinitiative8110]

For a guy that isn't an electrician, great job. You had a problem, and you systematically work out a solution and implemented it. 👍

[@The-Deadbolt-Deputy]

I’m 23 minutes into this and I’m loving this. It’s really cool to see the cows and calves interact after 4 months apart. I’ve never seen that before.

[@jakobshinn3032]

I install stand-by generators for a living, Briggs, kohler, generac, cummins, cat, and taylor for a living. All I have to say is if you are on natural gas you do not need the regulator behind the generator, there is an internal regulator inside the unit, and if you are running off LP the regulator should be atleast 5-10’ off the unit to allow more volume in the line. And the grounds inside the switches can be extended with an approved splicing method, (burndy connectors etc). I’d also recommend some form of flexible conduit going into the unit because of the vibration, but non the less you’ve done a great job installing the unit and made a great video explaining the process.

[@dans_Learning_Curve]

A term many people use is "Hot water heater". If we think about it, it's a "cold water heater", or just a water heater. Very well produced video!

[@RealDeanWinchester]

The word "hot" is an adjective describing the water heater, meaning the water heater is hot. -Albert Einstein

[@tiredoldmechanic1791]

The terms got confused back when water was heated by a steam boiler so it was a hot water tank because it just stored water heated by another source. When self contained water heating units were developed, they were called water heaters. You either had a hot water tank or a water heater. The two were combined by people who didn't know which they had to get hot water heater.

[@VTKingdomsawing]

American English is great, huh? No other language has so much vague definition(s) and meaning(s) to it's words and phrases. Most recent wackiness I thought of is "buy, by, bi, bye". Not only is it strange but saying it makes you think of boy bands.

[@RealDeanWinchester]

@@VTKingdomsawing Chinese is all about the tone you use. -Albert Einstein

[@dans_Learning_Curve]

@@VTKingdomsawing or Resume your work on your resume. LoL 😹😆

[@RussCR5187]

This is my first time watching one of your videos. I'm totally impressed. Not only are you an excellent communicator, but you do neat, precise work. Bravo!!

[@FarmCraft101]

Video a day early? Merry christmas! I hope the video was helpful to you. The connector crimper is in my amazon store under 'Tools every shop needs.' www.amazon.com/shop/farmcraft101. I honestly think if you buy one, you'll wonder why you didn't buy it a long time ago. Happy holidays everybody!

[@mathewhartig236]

I am just always impressed with your knowledge and skills! This install was SOOO complex! Great video

[@DB-yj3qc]

After having one I would agree, for many years I used a punch and hammer then soldering them. With the hydraulic one does so much better and faster.

[@MsMarc1960]

Are your generator run on natural gaz or propane gaz?

[@nickvogel7934]

Just used your link!! What’s your weapon of choice for non insulated connectors?

[@fmskreg7424]

lots of DIY, a frugal life was my first impression. after realize you brought so many machines and tools, it is really an abundant life

[@JohnWatkinsUK]

Just a note to be cautious, it looks like you now have power in your barn with two sources of isolation. The main ATS on the right powers the main loads in the barn, but the solar contactors are powered from another source (the left ATS when the main utility power is available). You or someone else could think they had isolated the power in the barn by disabling the generator and flipping the ATS breaker (or flipping the barn sub-panel main breaker), but that solar contactor wire will always be live as long as the house ATS is on.

[@FarmCraft101]

I thought about that. Was thinking about labeling the box to explain. Now that you commented, I definitely will. Cheers.

[@JohnWatkinsUK]

@@FarmCraft101 Thanks for the reply, I should have said it was a very enjoyable video too!

[@michaelmactavish4445]

@@FarmCraft101 im getting a new $8,500 kubota GL11000 generator for the house

[@michaela1655]

@@michaelmactavish4445 I bought that same generator this year. Have not needed it yet, but it is ready to go.

[@michaelmactavish4445]

@@michaela1655 you bought a kubota gl11000 ah there nice plus it uses the same filters from the kubota tractors wich makes it somuch easyer most other branded ones have to go thousands of places get different parts wich is kinda hassle plus for $8,500 i couldnt beat that good of a price better then a rediculas over priced 10,000 watt caterpiller one same size as the gl series wich cat wanted rediculas $36,900 with a 90 day warranty and my kubota dealer offered free 5 year warranty plus the gl has 2 ways of uses wich option 1 can mounted to the house or 2nd option is extention cords wich is nice

[@MichaelBurke-f2p]

I'm a retired Electrician was in the trade 40yrs. with the exception of hard piping from your gen to the trans switch great job.👍

[@rv-eb3wu]

Some channels I watch as strictly entertainment but yours is entertainment with a healthy dose of learning. So glad I found you way back when. Merry Christmas to you, your family and all your subscribers.

[@scottfurlong5475]

I spent 17 years in the automotive industry and I've been on electrician for approximately 10 years. There's something very satisfying about torquing down a fastener to spec. I think the importance of it in electrical is severely underrated. Too many guys just tighten it down with a ratchet or an allen wrench and assume it's good. I primarily do electrical replacement/restoration and more than half of the homes we go to have loose connections at the meter socket or upper electrical panel. In most cases, this causes major burning of the conductor. One guys loose is another guy's tight. The specs are on the box so just torque it.

[@markblanchard4091]

I’ll start with I am a master electrician in iowa and own a small company. This was a great install and clearly explained! Thank you! Your questions about the ground… first we need to explain definitions of the wires. From the transformer to the first means if disconnect is “service conductors” from the first means of disconnect to your house/barn are “feeder conductors”. Anything after is a “branch circuit”. By code we can splice feeder wires as often as we won’t. No code about it. Your inspector is correct that you can also tie them in the way you did. I’m also very surprised they allowed you to run the generator wire through the meter. That would have never been allowed here. In our power company won’t allow anything other than service conductors in there. The idea being they don’t want anyone other than them opening the meter. Clean install and thanks for the great content!

[@RichGiza]

They will not let me install a generator where I live. Have to be a license electrician. Inspectors expect someone is license and bonded before they can put their approval behind their name.

[@jatomlin1991]

Perfect ratio of depth vs entertainment. A feller could use this video to learn a lot and also a feller could use this video to entertain themselves. 👍

[@BillTheHawk]

I bought a 24K Generac two years ago. So far it has been wonderful.

[@rogervickery9376]

Hey bud, Roger here in Calgary Alberta again. Not sure if you picked up on this but the two relays you used to connect your solar were wired in series...this just means you now have two points of failure, not a redundancy system. You're awesome and I wish I was your neighbor so we could help each other out LOL!! Anyway, I'm a master electrician here in Canada and I own an electrical contracting business. I know our codes are different, but they are similar and electricity in itself doesn't give a shit about codes anyway lol! Great video as are most of your other ones, thanks for sharing!

[@petenelson8136]

Thanks for showing us how you did this. I'm building a house now and plan on having both solar and a generator backup. It will only have a 200 amp service so a bit les complex than yours, however what you showed in this video will make it much easier for me when I do my own installation. I've done quite a bit of home electrical so I understood everything you were explaining, and you explain it very well. Thanks again, love watching your videos.

[@mikequartucci9700]

The coupler tap you mentioned to feed the two transfer switches from the generator is called a "Polaris Tap". It is much easier and safer then using an aluminum split bolt connector, which you have to insulate, this way you just feed the wires into the tap, and tighten the screws, which you did in the video.

[@Locane256]

Looks great! The overview at the beginning really helped! Knowing that your solar array can produce TOO MUCH power sometimes really helps me understand why you wouldn't want it to be connected while the generator is on, since nobody wants the voltage climb you mentioned. A generator can run up or down to produce more or less power, the sun on other hand... can't really turn that off 😂

[@justwatermoving]

Invaluable and made sense to a guy who doesn't even know that much about electrical. Thank you - you're adding real benefit to many of our little worlds.

[@blueboatone5653]

A wonderful job of explaining what you're doing and frankly a rarity in the KZbin world. When I installed the electric panel in my shop, the supply house gave me a ground bar that could be located anywhere. Keep up the good work. Can't wait until the next one.

[@mattallen7667]

Great video sir! There is a saying in the electrical world, in which I work. If you put three electricians in a room, two of them will only agree on what the third is doing wrong! People need to shut up sometimes and simply appreciate a great video when it comes their way, instead of find any fault (electrical joke inserted) possible.

[@arichardofalltrades6770]

You are right about the difference between a relay and a contactor. Relays are generally smaller and contactors are larger, although there is no defined point to separate the two. I've designed 150A contactors, and 1000A relays ( the customer made the call).

[@bytesore1]

I'm never getting tired hearing your voice I bet :) Love the way you share your knowledge and I hope I can use it sooner or later when we've got our own farm!

[@frankeberhart265]

I have said in once, I will say it again, you are a rock star! You have a natural gift to teach and instruct, so folks feel excited about learning! Fantastic Video sir! Happy New Year top you and your family!

[@11696Ron]

I've never even wired an outlet, yet I watched the video all the way through and paid attention the entire time. This video is awesome/ really well made.

[@FishFind3000]

One thing I’ve picked up when working with stranded wire is after tightening it down wiggle the wire back and ford right by the stranded connection. Sometimes the strands will flatten out and you will need to tighten it more.

[@DB-yj3qc]

Good advice... 👍

[@ErikOrdway1984]

Crimp on ferrule barrels to get and maintain a good connection.

[@____________________________.x]

ferrules are the solution here

[@robinaoks3880]

HEADS UP ... I had a 17 kW Generac ... Loved it .. Worked sweet. Power not working when I came back from trip. All the main lines to the power pole were cut - sliced through - propane shut off and the generator was gone - stolen. Neighbors didn't notice anything. When I replace it ... Got to figure a way to lock it down, secure it somehow ...

[@yatesmachine1234]

This one earned you a subscription. Clear description of what you had to make a solar system work with a Generac generator. Exactly what I was looking for.

[@4168832800]

Came across your video by chance, looking at generators. I am no electrician and i love your video, showed what to expect for my home .

[@sunnyboy010101]

Awesome video! I installed a Generac 17KW generator in 2010 and it was pretty much exactly as you did, with the difference being 220amp home service (pass-thru 100A to garage) and off grid so we had to buy/install a 500gal propane tank. Same generators, dual fuel - gotta love Generac! We are also in the country so well and septic with heat pump. The 17KW generator runs everything except the stove and dryer.

[@jimcesiro5109]

I installed a 17kw Generac on my house in town back in 2005. It still does it job here in FloRida hurricane country. My only issue is keeping a battery alive. I switched to Odyssey batteries and they only last a few years. I now pull the battery until I think a storm is threatening me. I keep it on a tender in the garage. I suspect the tender on the generator is shot. I use Amsoil in it with Lucas oil stabilizer. Keep it tuned up and ready to go. I figure exercise every week is overkill. So I run it once pre- hurricane season and once post. Then change the oil post season. If I run it due to an outage. I change the oil every 60 hours of run time which I figure = 6k miles in a car engine. It's closing in on 20 years of service and has not let me down yet. Other than battery death.

[@sunnyboy010101]

@@jimcesiro5109 My friend in a different city bought one at the same time I bought mine. We both bought 'the same model' from the local home center, so they should have been identical. However, after careful comparison it was clear I had a 'newer' model than he did. One of the most significant differences was the wiring to the battery. His unit had a brick type charger wired into the transfer switch with wires that went back to the generator to trickle charge the battery. Mine (the newer one) had no such thing. The charger was now built into the electronic control panel IN the generator. My unit has never given me battery problems (still on first battery) while his has killed a couple of batteries in the same time.

[@jonathonchalk6603]

Replacing DPST contacts with DPDT contacts: $50 (5.5 yrs breakeven @ $9/yr waste using DPST). Not having to hear that A-Noiying buzzing sound anymore: Priceless!

[@MrKanjidude]

Love it - great video as always. I'm always impressed by your tenacity, clarity of thought, and ability to explain in a simple manner. I studied to be an electrician in highschool, so I have a lot of respect for the dangers involved, and for people who handle that risk well. The sight of that cancer warning sign honestly made me laugh out loud. Everything causes cancer if you measure carefully enough. 😂

[@WVdavidB]

I have a single 22kW Generac, aka "Genny", Lowes installed pre Covid, ~ Spring 2019. A coworker said you'll never use it and wonder why you spent $8k on a paper weight outside your house listening to it test run once a week. But that one time it's cold outside and power is out for any significant amount of time you'll be glad you did! Well, it's Christmas Eve 2022 and the power went out 12/23/22 at 2:19 PM. It came back on around lunch 12/24/22. I'm sure my neighbors hate me for the noise and jealousy. But it was -1 degrees F last night and hovered around a few degrees all day yesterday. So the pas 24 hours was the day I was truly thankful for the decision made and money spent on Genny. For anyone still reading, if you are buying or building a new home, get a genset added. The additional cost to your mortgage will be spent over the life of the loan and not all at once. I'm an engineer for a natural gas company and will never live anywhere without one again! It's good insurance! Merry Christmas and may God bless you and yours this holiday season.

[@flowerstone]

You are allowed to move the ground bar as long as it stays in the panel and bonding stays the same. Or do what you did when ground is bonded to the neutral.

[@robertmccully2792]

End of video, glad you were honest about the weakness in battery backup .. it’s stupid expensive!

[@Jenstyler1]

This was perfect. I've got 400A service at my house with two 200A panels in the house, with one of them providing a 100A breaker to a subpanel in my detached garage. I dug around trying to figure out how to use generac's ATSs in a way that would minimize what I need to do to my original panels in the house. This is exactly what I needed. Appreciate the explanation and details on the control circuits. I had to help the last "generac" tech who installed a 22kw unit 2 years ago on another home I have.

[@CaptK-py8rq]

Glued to my seat from the first minute I ran across your channel and your tutorial! Thank you for the detailed explanations....and I subscribed! Those darn inspectors...it's always about their schedule! 🙄

[@ElvianEmpire]

for the stranded wires you can use crimp ferrules. slide on, crimp, done. much easier to push in then (for mains voltage that would actually be a code requirement in germany). also it's always amazing to me how in the US you can just do your own wiring. in germany I technically wouldn't even be allowed to install a ceiling lamp.

[@FishFind3000]

Different places have different requirements. The more rural you are the less rules there are.

[@Bob_Adkins]

Sorry to hear that. I designed my house, lived in it for 30 years, and did most of my own wiring, plumbing, flooring, etc the entire time. I think self-reliance is a big part of freedom. I wouldn't be happy at all if I has to depend on others.

[@ElvianEmpire]

@@Bob_Adkins it's not that bad. you can just do a lot of the work yourself, it just requires way more inspections than the US does. e.g. when my uncle was building an extension, he had to get an architect involved, a roofer, electrician, plumber etc. they specced it all out. he build it all himself, but it all got inspected.

[@Bob_Adkins]

@@ElvianEmpire We have national and local building codes here, but you can do your own work. Some farms and rural areas are exempt from some of the codes.

[@kevinwalker4623]

@@ElvianEmpire Sounds like your trades bought out the govt for rules to force you to hire them so they get to bend over the citizen. Seems like it might be time for the citizens to stand up.

[@stephengorczyca9855]

I mean this in the nicest possible way, you are a real life hank hill. I hope I’m half as competent as you are one day.

[@maestra1st]

Surely the most precise and informative video i have ever seen on YT. Thank you very much for the time spent helping us. Merry Xmas and Happy the year!

[@fredflickinger643]

Love the Christmas Tree above the out building! Your video did a great job of showing the reality of cost and capability comparing generators and renewables!

[@alskjflaksjdflakjdf]

Wow, this took a lot of work to put together. Thank you for sharing it with us!

[@kyros995]

Good video 👍 as a first year journeyman working in service, I can tell you there is nothing more stressful than being rushed to finish a complicated transfer switch job by the inspectors/customer 😓 Also yes you could move the relocate the ground bar or even use a irreversible ground crimp. P.s what is a lunch break?! 😉

[@DMSparky]

@23:55 journeyman electrician here in Alberta Canada. You can move the ground bar it’s not a problem. When you move the ground bar you are required to install it into a tapped hole in the enclosure and remove some paint behind the ground bar to ensure continuity. You can drill and tap a new hole. That being said 90% of the time guys just use self tapping panhead screws and don’t remove any paint. I applaud you for actually using a torque wrench most guys are too lazy to, but I think it’s important. Technically you’re supposed to wire brush the deox into the conductors, another thing that 90% of guys don’t do. I’m surprised that each ATS has its own ground rod. Here you’d be required to run your grounding conductor to the meter neutral then run bonds to each ATS and then to each sub panel. Canadian electrical code says you can only bond to ground once but that’s canada. Everywhere does it a little different though. The city I live requires a bunch of stuff above and beyond code because they like to over complicate things.

[@BarnStangz]

I haven't finished the video yet, but I just want to comment on how great this is so far, you do a wonderful job explaining things and I feel like your videos are an asset to YT. I work for my local government and we're an electric utility, so I find this stuff fascinating every time I check it out. I don't do any of the wiring stuff, but all the meter reading back in the office (SCADA, servers, etc). I don't know if your electric meter is able to be read via powerline, but that is what we do here. We also have internal disconnects where we can log on to a server and open a switch to kill your power. It's all pretty neat stuff. Hope you have a Merry Christmas! Okay, back to watching...

[@jameshedrick605]

That's the way they do it where i live in southern Ohio

[@ericdowd1033]

Ppp

[@OldSneelock]

Maybe it is just me, but when I read "We also have internal disconnects where we can log on to a server and open a switch to kill your power" I feel the hair on the back of my neck stand up. So I pay a connect charge just to have the wires from the street. I pay transport fees to get the power down the mains. I pay service and fuel offset charges. The power company puts in solar panels and windmills to generate power to charge a battery system that costs as much as the panels and windmills themselves. The batteries have to be replaced frequently. To insure that I have power I need to install a generator and the switchgear to protect from a power failure. At no point does the power company say "Hey we screwed up and won't charge you for the lost power and we will cover your losses from our mistake. The system of 3 coal fired boilers running 3 generators that powered the Coldwater Board of Public Utilities and Branch County from the 40's to the early 80's ran continuously, two up and one on standby. The plant had a staff that maintained the generators and could rebuild or replace any component. That changed when the power company put in a single steam powered generator purchased in Switzerland. It ran for a few years and the generator crapped out. It spent 2 years in transit and repair while the 3 municipalities that sank millions into the "New and Improved" paid for the repairs and bought power from Consumers Energy. Not a big fan of the thought process going into these decisions. All this is to reduce the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere. Near as I can tell, being only a layman in Global conditions, if we don't generate any CO2 at all, in the US, the CO2 produced world wide, which is considerable, but still pretty close to what it was over the last 60 years, will just float around the world and end up here in the land of responsibility. How will we know when we have succeeded in removing all the CO2 from the air in the US? Brain dead thinking. By the way Ukraine is burning. That makes a lot of CO2, NO2, and a billion variations depending on what is burning. Better send the EPA over to stop that right now!

[@RobCalhounPGH]

@@OldSneelock You're not the only one.

[@RobCalhounPGH]

"We also have internal disconnects where we can log on to a server and open a switch to kill your power. It's all pretty neat stuff." Yeah, I don't think that's so neat.

[@mikehrdlicka8635]

I watched you put your batteries in storage. Made me think of the oasis batteries of the 70s. Add water ready to go

[@rimmersbryggeri]

Bootlace ferrules are really good for stranded wires. I also think butt splice ferrules indtended for car battery/ alternator wiring would be good for extending the ground wires with some well rated heat shtink over them. Great content as usual, alot of wind noise in my subwoofer though maybe a high pass filter would be in order (in editing) ?

[@birdguy6730]

A ground can not be connected with a butt splice ferrule or soldered or need insulation. (bus bar) It has to be tied down so it will not come loose if it gets extremely hot. (dead short, lightening)

[@jaypino2642]

We installed a Generac 24kw ,best thing we ever did. Exercise every Sunday at 1Pm

[@francisbarbeau1862]

You did a Fantastic Job of explaining the in's and Out's of the entire job and why you decided the Battery bank had to be put into dry storage! Great Video, Keep them coming!!

[@dennisfahlstrom2515]

Good move Jon. I went with a 20 KW Generac 18 years ago, with geothermal 10 years ago and with solar 3 years ago at my current residence. I went with solar at my prior home 24 years ago. My income hasn’t gone up hardly at all being a retiree but my utility costs have gone away so my cost of living has gone down and my peace of mind has gone up. An update 9/23: my Generac quit because the propane regulator went inop. A replacement plus the service charge was going to cost me over $1000. The Generac is now nearly 19 years old. A dilemma faces me. I can replace it completely with a new one for slightly over $5K or shell out the repair money and still have a 19 year old generator. To further complicate the decision - the ads for a new one state that they consume 66 gallons of propane per hour with a 50% load and 100 gallons per hour on a 100% load. That would completely deplete my 500 gallon tank in 4 hours (if it was filled to the nominal 80% limit). But with my other propane needs it is seldom at the 80% full state. Replacing the propane every 4-6 hours of grid loss is an option but a very costly one as local propane costs vary between $1.40 and $2.30 per gallon! It’s pushed me to making the decision to not replace the Generac. Like you, in 19 years I’ve never lost grid power for more than 5 hours and I can just grin and bare it for the expense of the Generac and all that costly propane. To be honest, if Generac had published the fuel demand of this back when I bought it I would have never made that choice. It’s insurance I can’t afford even though I have 3 freezers full of food.

[@mikeb1]

First let me say that I love your videos. They are always very clear and interesting. As I write this, I have not yet watched to the end but I'd like to make one observation on your contactors to isolate the solar system. I've designed a few safety control systems and one issue I wanted to manage was that with two series contactors as you have, you cannot tell when one has stuck closed unless you manually measure it, so one day it loses the redundancy but you won't know. A more robust (but much more expensive) solution is to use a safety controller with a pair of safety contactors. These use forcibly guided sets of contacts with an auxiliary pair of contacts which are used by the safety controller to monitor the state of the main contacts.

[@Superduty_59]

You made an awesome video with a detailed explanation. Your generator only has 100 amps of output. You still have to be mindful of your loads in the house and shop when running on generator power as to not overload it. I was a technician for a Kohler dealer for 10 years before moving on to Caterpillar. We work on all brands of generators. All generators have known issues. Generac has more issues than most. They are the cheapest for a reason. Don't think I'm knocking your generator either they ALL have issues regardless of brand. Also watch for mice in the generator they love generators.

[@Wordsnwood]

really interesting how you worked out the solar disconnect. Was that part not also inspected by the power company? I would think that disconnects would be scrutinized very carefully, since grid-tie systems are a risk to workers during an outage.

[@FarmCraft101]

So they didn’t inspect that. 1, the solar was inspected when it was installed and automatically disconnects when the grid goes down. Nothing changed there. I just added an additional means of disconnecting so no additional danger of back feeding the grid. They never inspect anything in my shop because it’s a farm structure, I don’t think they want to know! ;-) But that’s why I spoke with an electrician about this solution. I wanted to make sure what I was doing was safe and legit.

[@FishFind3000]

Power company only cares what’s going on after the meter as that’s there stuff. If It’s been inspected and passed they don’t look inside your house. If your having issues and called them out then they might go digging to verify if it’s there issue or your issue.

[@maesto]

@@FarmCraft101 In the long run it might be worth looking into a solar inverter with a aux contact to enable/disable generation. No need to switch high current paths if the inverter itself knows not to turn on. A issue with your NC contactors would be that it will not fail safe. Any break in the control wire and your solar system stays connected. :/ Changing the Inverter is mostly a question of cost.

[@troydunn6005]

Whelp. After watching your hard work, i'm now inspired to go check the battery on my manual generator. Heck, I might even get ambitious enough to fire it up and put a load on it.

[@seanbhaney]

What an Excellent video!!! And I'm totally with you on the batts...we just installed an Enphase 10.8kw system (27 panels) that was sized at 120.83% of our load last year. Enphase wanted $9300 for their Sunlight Backup system (that would only feed four circuits- totally not worth it), and the 3 each 10kw batteries to power during the night when solar was down would have costed us the same price as the entire system. We have a Toyhauler RV (with 60 gals of fuel onboard) about 10 feet away from the MSP that has a 5.5kw generator (albeit manual), so I bought a $500 Reliance 310CRK transfer switch so if the grid goes out, we've got power in 10 of our circuits. It was the only option that made sense. I have mapped out every load in our house to our 200 amp MSP breakers so I know they will be powered without load shedding (although there are a few other circuits that can't be covered like the AC. But we are also on nat gas for our heating).

[@b1zarre23]

Great video as always! Thank you for taking the time to produce these, I live vicariously on your farm 😝🤣😁 Any thoughts on using a solid state contactor instead? I used one in the past to turn on Christmas lights using a different branch due to excessive current on the light switch I was using. Also, +1 on the ferrules - a friend introduced me to them in hobby electronics and they are wonderful. Apparently they have been in use overseas for some time... we could use a lesson on this one! Merry Christmas and all the best for the new year!

[@cooders71]

Man, I've just found your channel about 2 days ago and I can't get enough. I don't know your background but I know you are one of us, the common man with good knowledge. Great job.

[@robertf584]

Nice! I've been out of the game for 12 years now. Interesting comments on the ground wire issue. Round here we can just extend that wire to the ground bar. As long as its done properly. In years past we would just bolt a lug to the cabinet to handle a short wire or any other ground for that matter but the inspectors will not allow that any longer. Now we must use a ul listed and labeled ground connection for the particular manufactures box and it can only be mounted exactly where the manufacturer has identified as the ground bar/lug location. All off which can be found on the labels in the box. I know. Also, it's great to see a craftsman at work. The way you "ringed" those wires to remove the insulation brought back memories. I was taught to never "ring" the wire to strip the insulation because if you nick the wire it creates a failure point. With that said.....I always "ringed" the wire because as I said, as long as you don't nick the conductor you are good. Your videos are great. you keep up the good work and I'll keep watching.

[@douglasborgaro6801]

You guys running a farm can do anything. I wouldn’t even think of trying such a thing. An electrician all the way.

[@jscancella]

For the control system for the solar array. Is there a way to add some sort of indicator to the relays so that you know when one of them has failed closed? That way you don't get into the situation where one has failed closed and now you are just down to a single relay which could also failed closed at some point.

[@FishFind3000]

Some have indicator lights if I’m not mistaken. You could also wire in a light inline with it as an indicator.

[@StonyAcresEstate]

So good, I watched it twice. Once a few months ago, and watched it again today.

[@cuoops]

Nice cow part in the video. I lived with my grandpa sometimes who had 200 acres and cows. Brings back good memories.

[@OldSneelock]

Good move installing a generator that is under your control. Suggestion. Set up a pm schedule and keep to it. It is a major pain when you count on an automatic system and it fails. I always call that failing with confidence. Every plant I was responsible for the maintenance at had two compressors. Master slave setup. One on and one on backup that swapped every month. My son had a generator at his house that kept him warm and safe during two outages.

[@andrewfunk9167]

You should have failed the inspection due to the emergency feeders passing through the meter socket. You are not to mix emergency and normal feeders unless it’s the same piece of equipment like the transfer switch. Obviously won’t start any fires, but code is code

[@HBSuccess]

BALONEY. In these cases what the utility co designs/certifies as A-OK in terms of their service equipment supersedes the NEC. I’m 99.99% sure that their engineers are just fine with using that giant cabinet as a pass-through.

[@andrewfunk9167]

@@HBSuccess I’m a licensed electrical contractor, not a utility worker/engineer/inspector. I can assure you that the raceways leaving the meter enclosure are 100% not under the jurisdiction of the utility company. Keep in mind the inspector that he had to hire enforces the NEC after the demarcation point with the utility. That point is anything after the lugs on the line side of the meter in his case. I didn’t want to sound nitpicky, just pointing out the obvious. The NEC is not written for the skilled tradesperson who knows what they are working with. It has to protect the unaware.

[@RichGiza]

They wouldn t let me install a generator where i live. Have to be licensed and bonded. Inspectors wouldn t put their name on the job. They assume if you are licensed you are trained to know all codes.

[@jukkiivi4282]

Relays are meant for control circuits. They rated for low amperage and have only one point of connect/disconnect. Contactors are meant for main circuits. They are rated for high amperage and two points of connect/disconnect.

[@____________________________.x]

19:52 stranded wire going into a screw down terminal must have a ferrule crimp, then you don’t get that ‘loose hair wire’ problem. I’ve no idea if that’s code where you are, it’s just industry standard. And don’t make the engineer in the sky cry by using hand crimps or pliers. Ratchet crimpers are 30 dollars. (Edit: just noticed you have the correct tool later in the video, good man 👍 you are literally now only the third person on YT to have the correct tool) Stranded is used in control systems because it’s all routed in conduit trays anyway and won’t break during transportation, and a partially broken wire will burn out rather than become intermittent. Congratulations on the inspection pass 👌

[@charlesmicallef4673]

30yrs as an electrician, with some electronic background. Thought this was really good video, especially the part about the relays you added. Thanks

[@plandl1]

This is actually a good vdeo setup for me. My house was built by a man who installed TWO Generacs that feed TWO separate panels inside. He split the house loads up so each generator can handle 1/2 of the load each. This isn't even a large house but he was very thorough. I can envision the setup like mine and learn something, even though mine is already installed.

[@GirdHerd]

An excellent video. Thanks for sharing. It's interesting that the inspector allowed you to connect the too-short ground wire to the neutral bar. Guess it makes sense since the two bars are bonded together. I was going to suggest moving the ground bar.

[@tedspradley]

Great video & good idea splitting the 100A generator output. Note on load shedding for others: this is a 100A generator backing up 400A of potential load. Load shedding isn’t needed because he is doing load shedding manually. It us possible to overload the generator as configured. You could add a Generac PWRManager (or two) for auto load shedding so that you don’t have to think about if you are going to overload in a grid out scenario.

[@justinh7657]

I enjoy your videos very much, very thorough and very well put together. Earlier in my career, I was electrician, now I am a lineman for the power company. It’s crazy how the power company sizes their equipment versus how the customer sizes theirs. For example, you have a 400 amp service, which in reality will only carry 80% of what is rated at which is 320 amps. You can look at the markings on the face of the meter and it will say class 320. Your generator is 24kw I believe you said will carry approximately 100 amps. That overhead distribution transformer that powers, your property, is a 25 kVA and at full load is rated for 104 amps each leg and will carry 150% or a little more of its rating for a period of time before it burns up or melts out the fuse, depending on what size they have installed in the porcelain cut out that you referenced. But when you think about it, how often will you be using more than 100 A continuously on each leg in a residential application. A 400 amp service most of the time gets you more space so you have more options to send a load in different directions just like what you’re doing now. Great work- Merry Christmas and a happy new year.

[@mateo801]

This better than cable TV. Love my newfound channel.

[@chaseholsonbake5503]

We call those Polaris connectors and I always put a few wraps around each one with 33 or 88. Also, we like to put a wrap around wirenuts as well. Also, I might have missed it but it looks like you have 100A capacity on the generator feeding a potential 400A service and unless you have seperate critical circuits you may have some issues in the future depending on load.

[@knoester7714]

Wishing you and your family a Merry and Blessed Christmas, and a Happy and Blessed New Year

[@Weissenschenkel]

Hello, John. Great video with very useful content! Here in Brazil things are somewhat different. Local grid high voltage is 3-wire 69 kV, medium is also 3-wire either 14.5 or 13.8 kV and then the street transformers will deliver 3-wire + neutral either 127 V or 220 V per live wire with neutral as reference. Then depending on how you wire up things you can have 127/220 V or 220/380 V as mains. There are also special cases with 250/440 V usually for industrial purposes. Domestic voltages are between 115-230V range (because there are very old components in the grid.) 60 Hz frequency is our national standard, by the way. Cheers!

[@steventhoene]

Great job! like watching your videos keep doing them. I retired with 27 years hooking gas up to appliances. generators hundreds. If your generator didn't come with a flexible rubber hose you need to get that. The flex connector you have is for a range. Also test ports / drips To check pressure Before & After a regulator And last the shut off valve goes before a flexible connector. Again like watching your videos great job!!

[@jarodsnyder1698]

you could use a latching solenoid. that only draws power when it switches and then stops drawing power. the downside is the only ones I have worked with are 12v coils. that is very commonly used as battery disconnect switches for RV's and can be rated well over 100 amps DC.

[@brandonbilo]

Very impressive, your wide range of skill sets are insane. Very helpful for us and interesting to watch. Thank you

[@brianjordison2910]

A way around this to very accurately, and clearly labelling your install. An inspector doesn’t always look at these details but he will appreciate accurate labelling. Also label that there is two sources of power

[@MsRocketRoy]

WOW!! What a fabulous place to live and with your own grass fed steaks too. Heaven,

[@Guust_Flater]

@48:12 There could be a function and safety problem using the Normally Open contact. If the control wire gets disconnected or break, you don't notice it. Then when the Grid power goes out, the contacters do not work AND the solar installation stays on! So the first option with the Normally Open contact is better and safer. You could try to screw the 2 contacters on a piece of wood or plastic in the little square box, isolating the noise transfer (and amplification) between contacters and box. Or move the square box to a place where the noise doesn't badder you, but then you need 2 extra (4 in total) wires.

[@DracoOmnia]

Yowza, helluva good time with electrical shenanigans, I thought about getting an automatic gennie with a transfer switch but I found a 7kw gennie that had barely been used for too cheap to pass up, bought a 12 circuit transfer switch and can damn near power the whole house with that. It helps that I don't have a well (I'm rural but for some reason there's a 30 plus mile long 36" water main on the main drag by my road) and the oven, water heater and dryer are all gas. Anyways all that made the most financial sense at the time, and it's easy enough to do the wife can do it but after watching your initial setup that automatic portion sounds reaaaal nice. The wiring is actually easier than messing about with the wiring for 12 circuits between the normal circuit box and the transfer switch. Not to mention don't have to choose the 12 circuits you want to power. I also got a heat pump after this setup and now have to go refigure the whole thing to incorporate that... I've got a 500 gallon propane tank and setting up a gennie that runs off that would be most excellent, but our power is usually only out for a handful of hours, most the time we don't bother unless we know the city is out, then we know we are low priority and liable to get cold. Yay, modern living

[@jskjsk3986]

Nice job, I have read some of the comments and they are accurate. In my part of the country there would have been clearance issues with the generator too close to the panels, LP line under the right transfer switch and the utility would have taken issue with generator wiring running through the meter pan. That gen may be a little undersized for everything including the refrigeration. Nice job🪛

[@brianjordison2910]

As an electrician for toooo many years I to point out a small but potentially dangerous situation. You wired one contactor from the bottom and looped it to the top of the second contactor and out the bottom of second contacter to load. For safety all hot wires should be on the top of any contactor, relay or any switch. So. You feed into top of first contactor and out the bottom of that contacror to the top of second contacror. Normally an electrician will meter the top for power. Early in my career I got hit with 250v on a panel from Europe. They fed the contactor from the bottom. I measured no volts on the top and thought the circuit was off and safe. That hit threw me 10feet. That hurt a lot. Hope that is not confusing but a critical comment for you to review……please! Other than that this is a fabulous video and thanks.

[@garydroper]

This is why I had the Electrican hook mine up 20 years ago, not as complicated as yours, after so many times without power. So glad we have it now with this wind and cold we’re having today on 12/23/22. You always do such a great job of explaining!

[@ericwotton2046]

Best way to tie solar into the grid is with lineside taps. You would just have to push the solar back to your service (added cost of the wire)

[@jimc3891]

Enjoyed the break, and the electrical work.

[@dalevalentine1721]

No water is bad. No sewage pump is worse. Our septic tank is uphill from the house and we have an effluent tank next to the house. No power means no flushing the toilets. Generator is good. Merry Christmas

[@QuaabQueb]

Now this was an interesting video. I have never seen a tandem generac ATS install. As for your freezers I highly recommend you invest in a temperature monitoring system, for each and every fridge/freezer you own. They are standard in laboratories, and have become more popular in commercial kitchens and restaurants. While you are at it, order the most common to fail and inexpensive parts for your fridges/freezers to keep on hand. (compressor starter relay, defrost sensor, temp sensor etc..) A warning when it comes to grounding, more is not better. I don't think you mentioned if you drove a ground rod at the generator pad, doing so is not necessary and can actually damage the generator if lightning strikes near by. A high energy DC pulse (like a huge EMP) will travel from one grounding electrode to another, and across all the equipment that is connected to it. Look up Mike Holt's bonding & grounding seminars for some extremely in depth and valuable information.

[@rynoopperman5010]

The thing with your videos - even though I do not agree with anything you did, I watched every second till the end and still enjoyed it ❤

[@thomasbooth9079]

I have to agree about those crimpers, game changer. I also recommend the Klein Katapult wire strippers.

[@rickbrodston1800]

New to your channel ( fairly, watched them all lol) I am considered the Building AC Guy ,( no channel) wanted to comment I love your videos! Your humor is a fresh air and now I want a back up generator. You come across as a Good friend everyone likes Keep them coming!

[@johnirwin1837]

My backup power experience was with 500 KW and 800KW gen sets @ 480V and 3 phase. So my transfer switches and distribution panels were massive compared to this set up. Good work by the way. The noise in the contactors are a result of using extremely cheap contactors.

[@joes2085]

A contactor is basically a large relay. Keep in mind contactors can be mechanically held, which requires control power to turn on, and control power to turn off. They look almost the same.

[@gonzalorolon1342]

I love seeing the work that you do, and learning a lot of things from you, but man do I love the nature segments.

[@dh405]

Like you, I have two 220 panels, one for house and one for barn. They run off a 320-KWatt main panel. We lose power 2-3 times a year and sometimes up to 3 days but did have once for 7 days. I've been considering this same installation (minus solar). I would love to see a cost breakdown including installation, operating costs, and fuel costs.

[@DuckRiverHomestead]

I have a 400 amp service with 2 200 amp passthroughs for two houses. This looks like it'll be extremely helpful.We just experienced 7 hours of blackout last night in 0˚ weather in Tennessee. I might need to prioritize this installation.