# wingless' Troy-Bilt 55r00 Watt 3,600 RPM Portable Generator



## wingless (Oct 29, 2019)

My southern Florida requires standby power generation, for living after storms.

My long-term solution was the 7kW Westerbeke generator on my boat, parked next to the house on the canal, using my 100' 12AWG extension cords. Not elegant, but effective. Note that my Westerbeke 7.0 BCGB generator is 1,800 RPM, not the Troy-Bilt 3,600 rpm. That half speed is much quieter and is a better long-term operation solution, especially on a boat where there is not distance and multiple walls available to place between the generator and the living space.

Now that I am replacing my Zinsco main circuit breaker panel, I decided to include a transfer switch, w/ generator feed, to make powering my house much easier.

This Troy-Bilt 5500 watt model 030245 portable generator wired to a 30A transfer switch on my new Siemens panel*is my current solution to safely providing emergency power. There will be a 30A exterior power inlet that will be connected to the generator's twist lock NEMA L14-30 receptacle, using a 4-conductor flexible power cord.*

This 3.600 rpm generator has: 5,000 watt continuous capacity;*8,550 starting capacity;*46.2 amps at*120 VAC or 23.1 amps at 240 VAC capacity and 5 gallons of gasoline capacity. This includes a*25' 120 VAC Briggs & Stratton cordset, providing four*pigtail receptacles, two*on each leg. The generator controls are: engine on/off; carburetor choke; fuel valve open / closed; circuit breaker on/off switch and a recoil pull start. There is also panel illumination when running, pointing at the receptacles and circuit breaker. All the receptacles have a floppy rubber weather cover. The circuit breaker has a see through / push through*rubber cover. The generator has a gravity-stored hoop handle and solid rubber knobby tires / plastic wheels for movement. The fuel cap has an integrated mechanical fuel gauge.

This was a lightly-used, complete and most-importantly indoor-stored generator. Many users selling this generator store them outdoors and they end up w/ LOTS of surface corrosion. All mine needed was cleaning and polishing for the exterior to look brand new.

The carburetor on mine was clogged, so I disassembled and cleaned the interior fuel passages. Now it is running before the first cord pull.

Now I run the carburetor dry, then disconnect the fuel hose and drain the tank dry after each usage. This should permit easy starting w/ fresh gasoline and a clean carburetor.

On mine, I modified the electric box to add a totalizing hour meter. I wired the meter to be powered whenever the generator is running, on the generator side of the circuit breaker on/off switch. That electric box interior volume usage only permitted placement of the hour meter at the less-exposed surface, making observation of the display possible, only by bending over and looking up at the interior of the generator. I selected a panel-mount hour meter, used a utility knife to cut the rectangle in the plastic box, used UL-rated wiring and crimped Faston connectors w/ stacking connectors to effect the connections.*At least now I can track generator usage, for gasoline consumption and oil changes.

So, when I need to use this, fill with gasoline, wheel to the side of my house, plug in the cordset, fire up the generator, then flip the main panel transfer switch, after selecting the circuits that will be powered and those that won't be energized.


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## wingless (Oct 29, 2019)

This topic shows my new home circuit breaker panel w/ my mechanical generator interlock and the exterior power inlet box.


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