Do-It-Yourself Portable Generator Heavy Duty Home Wiring

M.D. Carlos
Important Safety Reminders:
1.
2.
3.
4.

Always check if power has been turned off.

Avoid handling live electricity with wet hands.
Wear rubber-soled footwear when handling live wires.
Double check connections before sealing covers.

Materials:
1. Duplex PDX Wire # 12 I used MegaTech # 12 wires for this project.
2. 1 x 2 wooden planks
3. -inch flexible electrical hose
4. -inch hose clamps
5. inch wood screws
6. ROYU 30-ampere safety breaker
7. EAGLE 15-ampere heavy duty, fire-resistant plug
8. FIREFLY 15-ampere heavy duty, fire-resistant plug
9. EAGLE 15-ampere side-tap outlets
10.ECODEX electrical raceway (white)
11.SASSIN cable ties
12.UNIX 300-volt capacity voltmeters/AC gauges
13.ROYU surface box
14.Stranded flat cord # 14
STEPS:
1. Measure the total distance between house and location of generator. This will be
the total length of your PDX # 12 wire and flexible hose.
2. Affix total length of wire. Leave at least 1.5 meters of available wire for the
generator. Use your hose clamps or SASSIN cable ties to affix the wire. SASSIN
cable ties may be used where a hose clamp is unusable.
3. Saw your wooden plank and create bases for all wirings, including base for
voltmeter, outlet and safety breaker. These must be measured beforehand.
4. Install the wooden bases.

5. Screw on the safety breaker a few feet above your portable generator. Cut the
PDX wire so that you have at least 1.5 meters remaining for the generator.
Attach the load wire (the wire running back to your house) to the bottom of the
safety breaker. Attach the remaining 1.5 meters of wire to the supply side (upper
side) of the safety breaker.
6. Cut one end of the short wire and attach your FIREFLY fire resistant plug.
7. Screw on the voltmeter unto the surface box, locking the device in place using
washers.
8. Screw the surface box with the voltmeter beside the safety breaker.
9. Attach the positive and negative poles of the voltmeter to the supply side of the
safety breaker. Use a stranded # 14 wire to connect the voltmeter to the safety
breaker. Do not use a PDX wire as this may overload the voltmeter.
10.Close the safety breaker and proceed to the other side of the circuit (your house)
11.After installing the wooden bases of your wiring, attach the ECODEX electrical
raceway and mount the wire.
12.Cut one end of the wire and install the outlet. Screw the outlet in place.
13.Cut an addition 1 meter of PDX # 12. Attach 1 EAGLE heavy duty plug. Connect
the plug to the first outlet.
14.Install another MOLDEX electrical raceway directly beneath the first outlet.
Mount your wire and install another EAGLE 15-ampere outlet. This will be your
main outlet. The first outlet will be your safety connection if something goes
wrong, you can unplug the outlet below quickly.
15.Before closing the front plate of your second outlet, create another custom
voltmeter using 1 pc. ROYU surface box and 1 pc. UNIX 300 volt voltmeter/AC
gauge.
16.Mount the voltmeter beside the outlet. Using a # 14 stranded wire, connect the
2nd voltmeter to the EAGLE 15-ampere outlet to create a direct connection.
Observe proper polarity to avoid short circuits (one wire to the left, one wire on
the right always).

17.You may extend this circuit indefinitely to include light receptacles and
additional outlets.
PROJECT IMAGES

Flexible hose and PDX # 12

Portable generator with custom wooden stand

Initial wiring without voltmeter

Installation of voltmeter (generator side)

Main outlet (house side)

Installation of voltmeter (house side)