I'm making a cord from my generator to a rv.

On my generator, I have a L14-30 amp 120/240 twist lock receptable.

Do I just use one hot side to make a RV extension cord?

Or can you tie two hots together?

Does it hurt the generator to run on 1 hot side?

(it seems to sound different when a load is on one hot side, i've been told to equalize the load across both hots if possible)

Thanks

 

No, you cannot simply tie both hot together.... unless you want the let the magic smoke out of your gen set. If you want 120V, then you will have to settle for running it off of one leg or the other.

Also, keep in mind that if the gen set is capable of producing 40A at 120V (for example), that is 40A combined.... 20A from one leg, 20A from the other. If you try to pull a 30A load from just one of the 20A legs, it will trip the circuit breaker.

 

I can pull 30 amps from both legs, its a 7200 watt gen.

I've seen some generators with a single L5-30? 3 prong 120v plug that had both hots wired somehow, I'm guessing thru a series setup.

I know, sounds like a stupid question, but never hurts to ask

At the same time, I want to extend the generator life, so both sides are equal that would be cool, but doesn't sound like its feasible.

 

You cannot put both "hots" together to combine amperage. It is called a dead short.

It really depends on your generator if you can use one side of the voltage.
What brand and model do you have?

I have a Generac 5KW (7.2KW surge) generator which means 120/240V @ 20 amps. One of the 3 plugs on the panel is a 120V @ 30 amp twist lock. It draws power from 1 winding (hot) on the generator. This is common by using a 7KW generator for the extra wiring capacity. The generator must be rated for this usage.

 

Don't connect those two 120Vac out-of-phase 30A circuits together w/o a load in between...

Don't allow any expensive Smoke to escape the genset!

 

Actually its a PTO generator, similiar to this one. Run it off the tractor.

The guys ad was misleading, its a 11kw head, but turns out its a 7.2 kw head.
Only came with one 30 amp 120v twistlock, l5-30 or l6-30?, and duplex 120v 15 amp.

http://cgi.ebay.com/New-11kw-Generat...QQcmdZViewItem

They had it wired somehow in series, so it loaded both sides equally. I got the paper work from the factory, and rewired it, so I could get a full 60 amps from it. There is two hot and two neutral 10 gauge wires coming from the windings.

It works great now since I rewired it with a L14-30 twistlock. Got a transfer switch on the house now. I had to weld a frame for it, and buy a pto shaft, been a fun project overall. Used it alot around the house, and out in the field already.

It basically looks like this when its all done:
http://www.northerntool.com/webapp/w...8467_200308467

 

I am also on this Generator forum; there is a lot of valuable knowledge here.
http://www.smokstak.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=6
Jim

 

Get an electrician to help you with this. You definitly cannot wire the 2 120v windings in series. They are 180 degrees out of phase. 20 amps from each winding will give you either 2 120 volt 20 amp cicuits or 1 240volt 20 amp circuit. Those are the only possibilities from this generator.