Has anyone used their Lightning ER 220 plug for home power V2H?

[pdp0617]

I did a search on this but didn't come up with any hits, though it may have been wrong keywords.

I'm in Central Florida and we lose power intermittently, usually from a hurricane but sometimes from other issues.

My neighbor does the following when the power goes out for an ongoing time. First, he turns off the main breaker to the grid and all the house breakers. He has a 220 volt generator that he then plugs into his dryer plug. Then he turns on the breakers on for things that he needs, like fans and lights. Just the low power stuff. He says it works well and he suggested I might try the same approach using my Lightning Lariat ER with Pro Power.

I'm wondering if anyone else has done this using the 220 V outlet in their Lightning ER. If so, any recommendations or other experiences to be shared? Did you buy a connecting power cable online or have one made? Thanks in advance.

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[Vulnox]

There's a sticky at the very top of the sub-forum you posted this to.

https://www.f150lightningforum.com/...r-backup-options-using-f-150-lightning.13691/

Am I missing something special in your question?

Anyway, what your neighbor is doing is insanely dangerous and illegal. If he's backfeeding into a dryer plug then he has a cable that he probably made himself called a suicide cable that has male ends on both ends. While you can use it relatively safely if you are extremely careful, one human error moment and it's likely game over.

The proper way to do what he is doing is to have an interlock installed in the main home breaker and then a circuit added for an inlet. The interlock only allow the breaker for the inlet to work if the mains are off and the inlet has a male connect so the other end of the generator cable has a female preventing an accidental discharge to human.

The other problem with your neighbor using the dryer plug is it likely isn't rated for constant load, which could lead to a fire even if he does everything else properly, and insurance would have a field day with the cause on that one.

Anyway...

You unfortunately can't just use an inlet and interlock with the ProPower on the Lightning or PowerBoost F-150 because it has its own ground and will detect the ground at the house and will trigger a fault. Some people modify a cable to remove the ground wire from what they plug into the house to get around this, which is not to code, but not likely to be as world ending as what your neighbor is doing.

The most correct option is to get a sub panel that has a ground disconnect, which the above linked thread goes into.

Anyway, sorry for the long post. But there are pages of info to go through, that is a rough summary though.

 

[Maquis]

What your neighbor is doing is potentially dangerous. He’s setting himself up for a Darwin Award. Use a breaker interlock or transfer switch, and use an inlet, not an outlet for connection.

 

[Henry Ford]

What your neighbor is doing is potentially dangerous. He’s setting himself up for a Darwin Award. Use a breaker interlock or transfer switch, and use an inlet, not an outlet for connection.

The neighbor is also potentially putting utility workers in harms way. If he does things out of order and forgets to open the main breaker or closes it with power still hooked up it could back-flow into the grid.

 

[PreservedSwine]

Just add a transfer switch, to idiot proof the process. You'll also likely need to wire straight into the main panel (VIA a new breaker ), bond the neutral of the truck to the panel as well as main bond/ground.

I added a transfer switch and a 4 prong weatherproof receptacle on the outside of the garage. When hurricanes hit, and we lose power for a couple weeks, we always power the entire house. Select vital breakers and use the main panel to tailor fit what works best for you.

It's VITAL the main is turned off for all the reasons listed above.

 

[The Weatherman]

Is turned off and LOCKED OUT while the truck or generator is plugged in. The interlock will ensure that is the case.

 

[pullinggs]

He has a 220 volt generator that he then plugs into his dryer plug.

I hate "what they said" posts, but this is a special case. This is a terrible idea. Just buy a transfer switch!

Added: I use the truck to power the house when the grid is down (common for me, too)... through a transfer switch. Works beautifully.

 

[richguy82]

I am also in central Florida. Last year’s hurricane hit us around 1 am, but we lost power at 9:30 pm. In order to avoid food loss, I put my generator out in the storm with a Gentent and connected to my sub panel (I didn’t get my truck until December). I recently bought a Pecron E3600LFP to act as a UPS for the essential circuits on my sub panel. By my rough calculations it should last 7-8 hours, enough to get us through the night. I plan to charge it back with the ProPower (at 30 amps 120V!) after the storm passes. This should be plenty enough to power a few fridges, freezer, some lights, window ac, and fans for several days using the massive truck battery. Hoping this also avoids the grounding issue, but I have also run ProPower directly to the panel without the ground with absolutely no issues.

 

[pdp0617]

OK, so the universal response to the dryer plug option leads me to eliminate that. I have an estimate from a major electrician company here in central FL,to do it via a sub-panel and a plug. But I’m concerned they won’t know how to handle the “bonded neutral/GFCI“ issue. I’m asking if they’ve done one before and if they know how to handle that.

 

[richguy82]

OK, so the universal response to the dryer plug option leads me to eliminate that. I have an estimate from a major electrician company here in central FL,to do it via a sub-panel and a plug. But I’m concerned they won’t know how to handle the “bonded neutral/GFCI“ issue. I’m asking if they’ve done one before and if they know how to handle that.

I believe the most seamless option for you would be a neutral switching transfer switch. Use the link provided in the first response to your initial post for more details on what is compatible.

 

[pullinggs]

But I’m concerned they won’t know how to handle the “bonded neutral/GFCI“ issue. I’m asking if they’ve done one before and if they know how to handle that.

This is not unique to the Lightning; it's common with a lot of portable generators (like my Honda generator). If they don't already know what to do, find a different electrician.

 

[richguy82]

This is not unique to the Lightning; it's common with a lot of portable generators (like my Honda generator). If they don't already know what to do, find a different electrician.

Absolutely agree. However, I believe most portable generators will run regardless of whether the panel is bonded or unbounded (not that it should be run incorrectly). This makes the Lightning ProPower unique, as you likely know, as it will just refuse to run.

 

[Runaway Tractor]

MOST large portable generators that one would use to power a house does NOT have built-in GFCI. Hence most homeowners will never experience the issue. An electrician that isn't familiar with generator hookups because they don't normally do them in their line of work probably also will be oblivious. So yes, you need to own your requirement and make it very clear.

You can have an electrician install a generator inlet box, a new 240v 30 amp breaker, and a UL Listed legal main breaker interlock kit. This is very common, very easy, and very effective. You can use any portable generator to power up your whole panel the right way, without killing people like your neighbor sparky.

BUT, to use it with your truck, you will need to not connect the ground from the truck to the ground in the house in order to get around the GFCI issue. On mine, the ground wire is disconnected at the inlet box. It is not unsafe, and it does not bypass any existing protections in your panel or breaker functionality. The power feed from the telephone pole doesn't have a ground or GFCI either. We're all still alive. However, your licensed electrician will probably not do that ground disconnect for you. You would need to do it, remember it, label it, etc. Lots of people here, myself included, do this and use it frequently very successfully.

If do not want to do all of that stuff, the next most common thing is a Generac 6852 manual transfer switch subpanel. The built in manual transfer switch does indeed transfer the neutral to fully mitigate the GFCI issue on the truck. The downside is it only has 8 circuits. And a 240v circuit takes up two. It is limited. I prefer to control my whole house.

The best way is the put a 200 amp 3-pole (neutral switching) manual transfer switch between your meter and the panel. That will beautifully transfer the full panel between main and generator inlet.

 

[pdp0617]

MOST large portable generators that one would use to power a house does NOT have built-in GFCI. Hence most homeowners will never experience the issue. An electrician that isn't familiar with generator hookups because they don't normally do them in their line of work probably also will be oblivious. So yes, you need to own your requirement and make it very clear.

You can have an electrician install a generator inlet box, a new 240v 30 amp breaker, and a UL Listed legal main breaker interlock kit. This is very common, very easy, and very effective. You can use any portable generator to power up your whole panel the right way, without killing people like your neighbor sparky.

BUT, to use it with your truck, you will need to not connect the ground from the truck to the ground in the house in order to get around the GFCI issue. On mine, the ground wire is disconnected at the inlet box. It is not unsafe, and it does not bypass any existing protections in your panel or breaker functionality. The power feed from the telephone pole doesn't have a ground or GFCI either. We're all still alive. However, your licensed electrician will probably not do that ground disconnect for you. You would need to do it, remember it, label it, etc. Lots of people here, myself included, do this and use it frequently very successfully.

If do not want to do all of that stuff, the next most common thing is a Generac 6852 manual transfer switch subpanel. The built in manual transfer switch does indeed transfer the neutral to fully mitigate the GFCI issue on the truck. The downside is it only has 8 circuits. And a 240v circuit takes up two. It is limited. I prefer to control my whole house.

The best way is the put a 200 amp 3-pole (neutral switching) manual transfer switch between your meter and the panel. That will beautifully transfer the full panel between main and generator inlet.

Thanks, the idea of not having a ground at the inlet point was mentioned in another reply, also. And I think that’s the route. I’m going to go with.

 

[FloridaMan655321]

Dude, your neighbor.....


I'm also in FL and when I first got the Lightning I just made sure to have a bunch of heavy duty extension cables. I had a plan to keep a few things powered up (fridge/freezer/internet), and have a portable AC unit for the bedroom. Also a beefy enough cable to power my water pump via the 240v. This is the cheapest way and really isn't that bad of a solution.

Now I have a physical switch on my panel that will cut the power input from FPL so I can have the 240v from my truck as the power input for the house. I use the circuit breaker to decide what parts to power on. It's much nicer with less work, but does have a cost. I tested and can pretty much have all my circuits enabled except the main AC and the dryer. I might need to run my water pump and hot water heater separately, but not a big deal in a power outage.

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