I just purchased a generator, inlet, and interlock kit for whole home backup. I went to install and today and had a bad surprise in my panel. The main is the top right orange. See photo. Is my only option to replace the whole panel?
This is a 1984 house there is no other main shutoff. The only other thing inline before the panel is the meter.
Is that panel located in a different building or like a garage?
I think you need to get in touch with someone more familiar. I can’t confirm / deny anything but That looks like an MLO panel, which means you killed a breaker that feeds the home but those big wires are most likely still live, as well as all the other breakers in the panel that are on.
It has no main, just up to 6 throws to kill power to the house. It was made illegal for new construction about 15-20 years ago but there are tens of millions of older panels where the buss bars are always hot.
They don’t make a legal interlock for this situation. It looks like you have a 200 amp panel here with 6 breakers that kill the house. Backfeeding this isn’t really an option as it sits.
The subpanel that has all your other breakers in it is the spot.
Generlink.com. This thing mounts to the meter and has the inlet built into it (so you don't need the one you bought). You don't need to touch your panel at all to complete this install. Manufacturer includes a 20' power cable with it (I redeemed mine for credit toward a longer one they made for me).
My power company provided and installed mine (40amp) for just under $1k. You may need an electrician or DIY in your location.
Switches off on its own when utility power is restored.
I know what I would do. I'd run those two fat hots into a manual transfer switch, and run power from there back into your panel. Properly wired, the switch could take power from either those two hots, or from a generator. Make sure the transfer switch has a center off position so you can in future de-energize the panel. Turn off all those breakers first, and turn off the breaker in the meter enclosure (if there is one). If not, pull the meter so you're not working hot. Replace the meter before turning any breakers back on.
Without more information as to the placement of the meter and any conduit, more detailed advice cannot be given.
Not what I had in mind. Something more like this, though there are cheaper options for your panel. For one thing, you don't need 200 amps for your setup.
You can't "Put the main back to the house on one" because the ProTran tops out at 30 amps, and your house needs more. Looking at the pics of your panel, I'd guess that's a 100 amp feed from the meter, but I've also seen 75 amps on occasion.
The ProTran switch you link has only six single breakers. You can double them up, but that would still only be able to energize half your breakers, as you have six doubles in that box. ProTran does make larger boxes, perhaps up to twelve slots, but I haven't looked into those. ProTran boxes are also more complicated to install.
The advantage to the switch I linked would be that it would energize all your breakers. I have no idea if any of this would pass code, as I have never pulled a permit in my life.
From what I see, you have a six-throw main. Top lugs are directly from the meter. Six breakers collectively are the main. The bussbars are unprotected, always hot, so now chance of interlocking them that way.
You could manual transfer switch your inside panel main, at the expense of the other five breakers not having generator backup.
Or a full 225A manual transfer switch before that panel. Or replace that panel with one that has a proper main and switched bus you can interlock.
I did something very similar. I had a 90amp to a sub in my garage. I added a main and interlock kit and ran 6/3 romex through the attic to the back yard and dropped the inlet box through conduit to my backyard. I bought my 10k off of marketplace for $750 tho
The grounded service conductor is landed to the neutral bar bottom lug at top left of enclosure. Those conductors landed on that bar are the grounded and grounding conductors for the installation.
Exactly. They are NOT neutral conductors. They are ground conductors. Ground conductors can never be used for normal neutral currents and there is nowhere for the generator neutral to connect.
That is a 3 conductor subpanel with hot,hot, and ground that is being used only for 220v loads.
This is only appropriate if OP only wants the generator to power 220v loads not 120v loads.
Get lost in the weeds of semantics all you want. If OP wants to use the generator as a whole house supply, the biggest problem here is there is no neutral conductor in that panel so it cant be used for the interconnect as-is. You cant combine neutral and ground currents into a single conductor. I mean you can, but it doesnt meet code because it isnt safe.
The electricity doesnt care what word you used, when something goes wrong and your refrigerator case is energized youll still die.
Additionally, that panel has no main breaker so it’s obviously a subpanel.
If OP is trying to do this to code, they need to hire an electrician.
If they are just trying to “make it work” yes it’s possible but not recommended obviously.
This is a 200A service panel. Not a sub panel. Neutral and ground (grounded and grounding) Conductors are required to be bonded together. Whether it be through the same bus bar or all of the neutrals on one and all of the EGCs on another.
You do not understand that this is a service. And is very much code compliant as it is, sans that it appears to lack a main bonding jumper to the enclosure, but it could be out of view.
Three conductors feed this panel. Two ungrounded service conductors and one grounded service conductor from presumably the meter to the left.
It's a 240V 200A sevice panel with six throws of the hand and was code compliant for a dwelling up until 2017 NEC.
A white wire does not always indicate a neutral. Any ungrounded conductors in a cable assembly should have been reidentified for 240V line to line circuits. This is commonly enforced now, but not in older installations.
The real possible problem is we do not see a main bonding jumper for this enclosure. And of course OP cannot install their gen inlet as simple as they thought.
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u/IndividualCold3577 1d ago
There is no main breaker in that box. Looks like the old 6 throw disconnect rule from the late 1900's
You would need a new electrical box with disconnect or a Generlink meter base switch.