Inlet on boiler

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M. D.

M. D.

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As you may have heard ,..here in the Northeast we have had some power outages , lasting several days.. I rigged up for a customer of mine a way so she could run her boiler , I would like to run it by the good folks here to get some feed back....

I installed an inlet on her boiler . 15 amp 125 volt straight blade,. mounted in a 4" square box the grounded connection and the grounding are connected to both the house panel via my connection to the boiler circuitry ,. and to the very fancy portable generator via a hydra cord which came with the generator .
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The hydra cord is a multi-outlet extension cord 12 awg. I then replaced the single pole switch on the boiler with a 3 way ,.. the common feeds the boiler ,.. I then took the normal house line to one of the runner terminals and the hot from the inlet to the other ,.. then I installed it so that up is normal house line "on" and down is generator / off .. the only time the inlet is live is when a live extension cord is plugged into it . the boiler is gas with two very small .6 amp circulators .


It took about an hour to install and I thought it was pretty clever , the only thing that concerns me is the grounded and grounding connection ,..but I have installed gentrans which share that connection ,..I don't think there is an issue.. what do you folks think .. as always my protocol included shutting the main off any time a generator is employed ..
 
now just add some relays, electric start for the generator, a battery charging ckt, and some control wiring and you can make your manual transfer switch into an ATS. :D
 
wbalsam1 said:
Just wondering if the exception to 702.6 would permit this hookup?:smile:
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Fred
I do not believe that residential locations would qualify for this type of installation.

As I have said before, electricians are some of the best and finding a way to "make it work". But this is not a code compliant installation, and I would have issues with it if I was the inspector.

If one really wants to help, install code compliant jobs, as one thing goes wrong with this install and someone gets hurt, they will quickly forget that you were trying to help.
 
Pierre C Belarge said:
....But this is not a code compliant installation, and I would have issues with it if I was the inspector.



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What are your issues with this? That the double throw switch is not "suitable for the intended use"? or the inlet? or the disconnect to the boiler not being indicating... or something else? If I'm understanding what he did, I think it sounds safe. What is in violation?

702.7 ex. Signals are not required for portable standby power sources.
 
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I think it is safe ,..I too ,.. don't think it is compliant ,.. it is going to stay however..
 
mdshunk said:
It's actually listed as a switch. How you use it is up to you. I've used 3-ways as fan speed selectors already.
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me too,.. is it listed for this use?? or does it have to be?? I'm not sure.

I've also controled outlets for a dishwasher and disposal this way up for diswasher down for pig... one 15 amp circuit both can not run at same time ,.. no violation ???
 
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M. D. said:
me too,.. is it listed for this use?? or does it have to be?? I'm not sure
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My assumption here is that you are thinking 3-ways can only be used to control lights from two locations, since that's how 99.99999999% of them are used. '3-way' is really a 'trade term' for a SPDT.

If a 'light switch' can only be used for controlling lights, I guess all the SP switches I've installed for furnace discos and garbage disposals all these years have been installed improperly.:cool:
 
480sparky said:
How so? What are the listed purposes of a 3-way?



I've used them to select which set of lights come on. Also, to create a manual/automatic control for motions sensors.
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I don't really know,.. perhaps it is compliant.

I'll be approaching all the major manufacturers of residential boilers first thing Monday,.. I'll be in touch with the patent lawyer within the hour:D
 
I thought the same thing ,.. but there are thousands of non separately derived systems out there ...
 
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