Is there an electrician in the house?

[Hawkmoon]

I need a consultation, please. Here's the scoop:

I have an older, manual-start emergency generator, a Coleman rated at 5000 continuous watts. It got us through Irene and this latest outage, but not without problems. I've got it fully functional again after replacing the on-board circuit breakers, but it's not really quite large enough, plus there's no way my wife can start it if I'm not home. And the run time on a full tank is only about three hours. So -- I'm shopping for a new, electric-start generator.
 
What I'm finding is that the new ones all use a NEMA L14-30R (4-wire, twist-lock) receptacle. My existing one uses a NEMA 6-30R receptacle (3-wire, straight) and has an external grounding lug on the generator frame.
 
So I'll need to install a new L14-30R generator outlet. I know this has two hots, a neutral, and that the fourth wire is ground. I assume this means no external grounding lug on the generator. How do I wire the receptacle in the panel box? Do both the neutral and the ground get run to the neutral bus bar? If it makes a difference, my main breaker panel has no spares. There is a smaller, auxiliary panel (with no internal service disconnect) that has space for the new, 30-amp double breaker to which I'll be connecting the new receptacle.
 
If I decide to run conduit/EMT to the new outlet in an outer garage, what's the minimum size for four #10 conductors? If the generator is going to be approximately 30 feet (wire length) from the house panel, is #10 adequate or should I use #8 for voltage drop reasons? (I'll still be running through a 30-amp breaker.)

Thanks

[zxcvbob]

[not an electrician]

You want something that will get you by, or do you want it to meet code?  And how safe do you want it?

Where do you want to change the receptacle, and why?  Are you talking about at the generator or at the makeshift transfer switch?  (something about a "separately derived system" mumble mumble)

30' is nothing as far as voltage drop goes, and 1/2" conduit should be plenty, but I can look that up tomorrow to make sure -- my outdated code book is in my office.

[Triphammer]

The L6-30 is two hots & a ground, no neutral. The fourth contact on t he L14-30 is also ground. It is tied, internallay to the generator center tap & the frame. The neutral is also the generator center tap. The external lug is to ground the generator frame to a ground source, either a rod when afield or the grounding system if you are running at home.

[Hawkmoon]

You want something that will get you by, or do you want it to meet code?  And how safe do you want it?

Where do you want to change the receptacle, and why?  Are you talking about at the generator or at the makeshift transfer switch?  (something about a "separately derived system" mumble mumble)

Who said anything about wanting to violate the code OR be unsafe? Maybe you didn't read the question. I already have a fully-functional emergency generator setup. The only issue is that it's a pull-start generator, which my wife cannot start. So I need a new generator.

The old generator has a 3-wire umbilical cord and an external grounding lug on the generator frame. The generators being sold today require a 4-wire umbilical cord with the ground carried through the cord back to the receptacle on the house side. So ... I have to replace the receptacle on the house side.

All I'm asking is how to wire it.

[zxcvbob]

Without a transfer switch or a mechanical lockout, you are in violation of the code and somewhat unsafe.  And if you're backfeeding a subpanel rather than the main panel, you *don't* have a transfer switch or a lockout.  No offense intended (my generator gets hooked up the same way) I'm just trying to figure out what you want.

Your subpanel should have a separate ground buss and neutral buss.  The green wire from your new 4-wire cord goes on the ground buss, the white wire goes on the neutral, and red and black goto the breaker terminals.  If the subpanel is in an outbuilding, it is possible that the neutral and ground are bonded together and there might only be one buss strip and a grounding electrode.  In that case, both the green and white wire to the buss strip.

None of the meets the current code because you have no mechanical lockout (that would have to be at the actual main service entrance; either the main panel or the meter)  Also the neutral is supposed to be switched for some cases but that gets complicated.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

or score this
http://www.generlink.com/about_generlink.cfm

[Hawkmoon]

None of the meets the current code because you have no mechanical lockout (that would have to be at the actual main service entrance; either the main panel or the meter)  Also the neutral is supposed to be switched for some cases but that gets complicated.

Not to belabor the point, but where did I write that I don't have a mechanical lockout?

http://www.interlockkit.com/



It's ugly, but it complies with the National Electric Code.

[cassandra and sara's daddy]

thats great!  you make it?

[zxcvbob]

That's exactly the sort of lockout I intend to put on my panel someday!  (until then, if I ever have to use the generator for an extended power outage, I'll just yank the meter and ask the power company's forgiveness later)
I read your original post that you were backfeeding a subpanel, and a lockout on a subpanel wouldn't really work unless you were only powering circuits in that subpanel.  So I still don't understand what you have.

But do you still have any questions unanswered, like "number of conductors in a raceway?"  I brought my 1993 code book home.

[Hawkmoon]

thats great!  you make it?

No, Sir. I found it on the Internet.