# Home generator questions!



## Craig Boucher (Jan 18, 2019)

Hello all, new to the forums. I have mulitple questions that would like answers for if possible. Any help is appreciated!

Ok, so my home is wired with a generator panel. I have a nema L14-30 30amp 125/250V male connection in my garage. I can get a 5000w generator but with a 20a 125/250v female connection for a good price (family deal). My questions are:

1. Can I make my own generator cord to go from 20amp male plug (from generator), to 30 amp female plug (to connection in garage)? What gauge wire would I need if this is possible? Would this even work?

2. My well pump breaker is two 15amp breakers linked together in my panel. What does this actually mean? Would the 20amp generator be enough to run my well pump??

My main goal here is to use that generator in emergency senarios, mostly to run my well pump and other small stuff. Would it be at all possible to do it with this setup?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!


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## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

Craig Boucher said:


> 1. Can I make my own generator cord to go from 20amp male plug (from generator), to 30 amp female plug (to connection in garage)? What gauge wire would I need if this is possible? Would this even work?


Yes, you can do this... Or buy a pre-made adapter https://www.homedepot.com/p/Locking...pmsbh8lF1bQhmaq3ZygaAhl1EALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.dsthat will connect a standard L14-30 cable to your generator, or simply change out the plug on the generator to an L14-30R.


Craig Boucher said:


> 2. My well pump breaker is two 15amp breakers linked together in my panel. What does this actually mean? Would the 20amp generator be enough to run my well pump??


Maybe? What are the running and startup amps of the pump?


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## Paloma (Jan 19, 2019)

Just depends on your needs / wants ! Also, that HF Predator 2000W that is also mentioned on this thread does seem to get good inverter reviews !


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## RedOctobyr (Aug 8, 2018)

Craig Boucher said:


> 2. My well pump breaker is two 15amp breakers linked together in my panel. What does this actually mean? Would the 20amp generator be enough to run my well pump??


Welcome! Having more specs for the pump would help, as tabora said. I had a 5500W generator, it ran our sewer pump without trouble. The pump was on a pair of 15A breakers, or possibly 20A, I don't remember offhand. But pumps come in all different power ranges, so it's tough to say for certain, but it's not unreasonable to think the generator will run it. 

Electric motors do draw a lot of current when they start spinning, so if you had capacity problems, you could try to minimize your other loads when the pump ran. Perhaps you could start with most of your breakers off, and turn the pump on first, giving it a few seconds to get going. Then individually turn on your other breakers one at a time. 

Turning the other breakers on one at time isn't a bad idea anyhow. It gives your refrigerator compressor a chance to start up "by itself", for instance, rather than all your electric motors starting at the exact same time, along with your other loads. Flipping everything on with 1 main breaker is more likely to overload the generator, and causes a voltage sag, which is tough on the motors that are trying to start. 

If the pump had trouble re-starting with other loads running, then you could let it run until it shut off, then turn its breaker off again, until you could minimize other loads, and re-start the pump. But hopefully that wouldn't be needed. 

Worst-case, you could try it, and if it doesn't work, sell the generator. Depending on the deal you're getting, you might even make a few bucks. 

The two breakers tied together means that the pumps runs on 220V, rather than 110V (single-breaker). 

Paloma, the Predator 2000W generator has a pretty good reputation, but it only puts out 110V, so it would not be able to run his 220V pump.


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## Craig Boucher (Jan 18, 2019)

So I measured amp draw yesterday.

Start up ~7.5 amps
Running ~4.5 amps

I'm thinking of using 12 gauge 4 wire cord with the appropriate 20amp/30amp connectors. This should work right? That cord is some expensive though! I thought I would save money making my own cord, but doesn't look like I will...


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## RedOctobyr (Aug 8, 2018)

Startup current can be difficult to measure, it's usually very brief. But I have heard guidelines that it can be roughly twice the running current, so your measurement seems reasonable, at least. 

Just FYI, I found a few less-expensive 20A->30A adapters. 
$13 plug: 
https://www.amazon.com/PowerFit-PF922033-4-Prong-Adapter-Connector/dp/B00BMPXFV8/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1547995286&sr=8-3&keywords=L14-20P+to+L14-30R

$22 short cable: 
https://www.amazon.com/MPI-Tools-L14-20P-L14-30R-Generator/dp/B01MUDTISM/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1547995286&sr=8-4&keywords=L14-20P+to+L14-30R

I looked at building my own 20 foot generator cable, 10-gauge, 30-amp, with L14-30 connectors. It was going to be around what I paid for a ready-made cable (admittedly, this was around 5 years ago), or maybe even a bit more. 

One consideration is that if you make a 12-gauge cable, you might limit yourself slightly in the future. You wouldn't be able to safely use it with a 30A generator. If you could buy/build a 10-gauge cable, maybe with L14-30 connectors, you could just add the $13 adapter pretty inexpensively, to use it with this generator. And you'd still have a more-capable 30A-rated cable, if you ever got a generator with a 30A output. The cable might also have more resale value. 

Looking on Amazon, cable prices have dropped some since I bought mine. This is $50, for 10-gauge, 30A, L14-30, 20 feet: 
https://www.amazon.com/Nema-L14-30-Generator-Power-Gauge/dp/B01A7EIIAM/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?ie=UTF8&qid=1547996300&sr=8-1-spons&keywords=generator+cable&psc=1

That, plus the $13 adapter, would give you a ready-to-use solution, at a pretty reasonable price. It would also be more capable and versatile than a 12-gauge, 20A L14-20 cable. The extra wire thickness would also slightly reduce the voltage loss through the cable, getting a bit more voltage to your loads (this is a minor difference, but hey, it's still something).


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## tabora (Sep 6, 2018)

RedOctobyr said:


> One consideration is that if you make a 12-gauge cable, you might limit yourself slightly in the future. You wouldn't be able to safely use it with a 30A generator. If you could buy/build a 10-gauge cable, maybe with L14-30 connectors, you could just add the $13 adapter pretty inexpensively, to use it with this generator. And you'd still have a more-capable 30A-rated cable, if you ever got a generator with a 30A output. The cable might also have more resale value. ... The extra wire thickness would also slightly reduce the voltage loss through the cable, getting a bit more voltage to your loads (this is a minor difference, but hey, it's still something).


When I had a 3500/4000 Watt generator with a L14-20 outlet, I looked at the pricing of cable components and the load capacity of a 60' cable to have the generator far away from the house, and ended up with an 8 gauge L14-30 cable that now easily supports the full output of my current 6000/7500 Watt generator and will also allow me to upgrade to a 11000/12000 Watt generator with a full 45 Amps. Total cost for the cable and connectors was maybe 25% more than for the 20Amp, and I'm never going to need to upgrade it. I have it on a wall-mounted (water) hose reel so it winds up and stores easily in my generator box when not in use.


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## Craig Boucher (Jan 18, 2019)

Thanks for all the feedback! I think I will go with 10 gauge!


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