J
jerryk1234
Hello!
My electrical utility has decided to take our power away - occasionally - to prevent fires. So I have ordered a modest backup generator. To conveniently power the house without running extension cords everywhere, I need a transfer switch.
I have tentatively identified the switch I'd like to use - a Reliance exterior-rated unit, 30A, 10 circuits. It's quite wide, and will intrude into the space occupied by a telephone/cable box. But it will work if I mount it to the side of the house on 2" spacers.
The main panel is flush-mounted in the exterior stucco wall.
There is a junction box under the main panel that is surface mounted, and communicates with the main panel via a 1.5" conduit with some big wires ( which power our swimming pool, spa & sauna ). The junction box is almost empty.
I propose to mount the transfer switch next to the junction box - with a minimal length piece of conduit. Wires from the switch will go through the junction box and hence into the main panel. There will be 22 12-AWG THHN wires. Two wires for each circuit, plus a neutral, plus a ground. I believe the neutral is needed because there is a pair of wattmeters in the switch.
My question is - how do I get from the junction box into the panel? The existing conduit looks pretty full. So is the bottom of the panel. There are a couple of unused 1/2 inch punchouts, and space in a few romex clamps. There also might be a bit of legal space left in the existing 1.5" conduit - but not enough for 22 #12's!
I suppose I could run a pair of 1/2 flex conduits from the panel bottom , through the stucco, into the junction box. Doesn't look like much fun - the underside of that panel has to be just as crowded as the inside.
There is another concept that would have worked if we didn't have solar - an "interlock" - basically, an elegantly shaped piece of sheet metal mounted to the front of the panel. It slides back & forth, and guarantees that the "generator" breaker is never on at the same time as the main breaker. Can't use it because we have solar. No way to guarantee that the solar breaker isn't on at the same time as the generator breaker.
Anyway - anybody have hints or comments about how to get from the panel into the junction box?
Thanks in advance,
- jerryk1234
My electrical utility has decided to take our power away - occasionally - to prevent fires. So I have ordered a modest backup generator. To conveniently power the house without running extension cords everywhere, I need a transfer switch.
I have tentatively identified the switch I'd like to use - a Reliance exterior-rated unit, 30A, 10 circuits. It's quite wide, and will intrude into the space occupied by a telephone/cable box. But it will work if I mount it to the side of the house on 2" spacers.
The main panel is flush-mounted in the exterior stucco wall.
There is a junction box under the main panel that is surface mounted, and communicates with the main panel via a 1.5" conduit with some big wires ( which power our swimming pool, spa & sauna ). The junction box is almost empty.
I propose to mount the transfer switch next to the junction box - with a minimal length piece of conduit. Wires from the switch will go through the junction box and hence into the main panel. There will be 22 12-AWG THHN wires. Two wires for each circuit, plus a neutral, plus a ground. I believe the neutral is needed because there is a pair of wattmeters in the switch.
My question is - how do I get from the junction box into the panel? The existing conduit looks pretty full. So is the bottom of the panel. There are a couple of unused 1/2 inch punchouts, and space in a few romex clamps. There also might be a bit of legal space left in the existing 1.5" conduit - but not enough for 22 #12's!
I suppose I could run a pair of 1/2 flex conduits from the panel bottom , through the stucco, into the junction box. Doesn't look like much fun - the underside of that panel has to be just as crowded as the inside.
There is another concept that would have worked if we didn't have solar - an "interlock" - basically, an elegantly shaped piece of sheet metal mounted to the front of the panel. It slides back & forth, and guarantees that the "generator" breaker is never on at the same time as the main breaker. Can't use it because we have solar. No way to guarantee that the solar breaker isn't on at the same time as the generator breaker.
Anyway - anybody have hints or comments about how to get from the panel into the junction box?
Thanks in advance,
- jerryk1234
![20191017_094535[1].jpg](https://electricians.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/data/attachments/44/44197-08ca88ccea9b7487f0fd7a6f210af8f8.jpg?hash=CMqIzOqbdI)
![20191017_094706[1].jpg](https://electricians.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/data/attachments/44/44198-7521f33ded99e6c6cc5ef473ed7020c1.jpg?hash=dSHzPe2Z5s)
