Installing manual transfer switch for standby generator

[thaisail]

I am trying to set up a small portable 2 KVA generator to supply power to lights and a small water pump during a blackout. If there is a black out, I will secure the main power on the consumer unit and shut off all the breakers. I would then connect the cable with a male plug to the generator and the opposite end of the cable to the outlet on the back patio using another male two pin plug. I would then start the generator and back feed 220 volts to the consumer panel. The power would only energize the circuit for the outlets in the garage which is good because nothing is normally connected to the garage outlets. If there was something connected, I would disconnect it. Then I would start the generator when everything is safe and make sure that no electric power can pass through the consumer unit and go into the power supply from the electric company. I would know when the black out ended when the voltage would show on my voltage protector. I would then secure my generator and unplug the jumper cable from the outlet and the generator and then turn on the main switch on the consumer unit.

 

When using the generator during the black out, I would use my clamp type amp meter to make sure that I don't overload the generator. Since all the lights in my house are LED, I think that there should be sufficient power for the lighting. The small water pump is only pulling 1.6 amps and would only run after some one used water in the sink or flushed the toilet. I would not turn on the power to the outlets in the house because of the refrigerators and no need to run them for a blackout less than 8 hours. I might try an experiment to see how one of my three Samsung double inverter 12,000 BTU aircons will work. Normally if run correctly, there would not be more than 4,5 amps. The big fridge is also inverter type and might have a soft start so that I could run the fridge when the water pump and air con would be secured. 

 

I want to be sure that no power can go to the city power supply through the neutral which would be energized on my side of the consumer unit during the black out but I need to be sure that there is no risk for anyone working on the power lines from the town. I am also interested to know if there is a reasonably priced transfer switch that I could use that would allow me to do this job in a safer manner. 

[PJHassselt]

I think you make it way to complicated. A transfer switch will make your life much easier.  Exclude some circuits you do not want to feed know from your generator. You want to do many things manual that it is close to sure that once it will go wrong.
 

When you really want to DIY make an arrangment with contacters, in a way that when generator supplies power to the designated place, you will always disconnect the connection to the grid.

 

In case you overload your generator, I suppose it just stops delivering power. 

 

Good luck!

[Crossy]

7 hours ago, thaisail said:

... connect the cable with a male plug to the generator and the opposite end of the cable to the outlet on the back patio using another male two pin plug.

 

There is a reason they call this a suicide cable!!!

 

Simple solution with such a small genset and limited load.

• Separate the loads you want to run to a single circuit, bring that circuit to a junction box with a short flex and a plug.
• For normal operation plug the plug into a regular outlet.
• For generator operation plug in to the generator.

Easy, cheap, safe!!

 

For a slightly more complex solution you could get one of these (lots of similar devices on AliExpress)

https://www.aliexpress.com/item/1005001816812485.html