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My question will,most likely,be as clear as mud,but here goes. Mickey Mouse is very much alive and well here at my house! We're in the country with well water. We have a portable generator. Now that we are into hurricane season we would like to add a "pigtail" or whatever to the pump so we can have water should the power go out for any length of time. The last cane that hit this area with any force was Opal in '95,so I know that time is not on our side for a hit.
The pump is outside...holding tank inside. Pump has a pressure GAGE, but the pressure SWITCH (with points) is inside. Do we have to wire both the pump AND switch in order to plug in the generator? if so...how?
If you want to hook up the pump dirrectly to the generator, you will want the pigtail on the line side of the pressure switch so it will turn the motor off when you are not using it.
The best way (and safest) is to hook a pigtail into the outside panel box. You will need to add a breaker for the max amperage of your generator. You will need to get a long cord(so you can keep the generator fumes away from the house) and male and female cord caps(so you can disconnect and store the generator). If you hook up the generator up this way, you will be able to run other appliances and lights in your home without extension cords. You can tell what will work and what won't by the amperage on the breakers. If you have a 60 amp breaker on the generator pigtail, you can run 1-50 amp breaker only(like your stove). If you want to run some lights and fans, you can turn on 4-15 amp breakers. Just do a little math, and you'll find you can run almost anything in your house, just not all at once.
I am an electrician, and I suggest that you get an electrician to do the work(this can kill someone if they don't know exactly what they are doing). An electrician can tell you how to make this work safely, you must turn off the main breaker first(this will protect the linesmen working on the powerlines, and keep your generator power in your home), then turn off all other breakers that you can't use, and turn on the generator pigtail(you must keep this turned off when the generator is not in use)
This is the method I use in my own home. Good luck, and I pray for no storms for Fl. this year!!!
No, thank YOU! I was depressed this morning, but helping you helped me. :D I have'nt seen you on the trade list yet. I like to trade with other Floridians. I just updated, so check out my list too. :D
I am on a well too, and during the hurricanes, the water is what we needed the most, so we got the generator at the end of the next season on sale. Luckily, we haven't used it yet.
Where is Debary? I noticed on your member page that you are also in Central time zone? I don't have a formal trade list. Checked out your list...saw you have yellow walking iris. I have one that's a different color. I'll look for a picture of it and D-mail it to you.
When you say you love ginger I assume you mean plants. LOL I just got a Butterfly ginger at the spring swap in Florala...saw it was on your want list.
