Powering my 21BHE off generator

[Raife1]

Good day everyone. We purchased a generator for emergency home use, but would like to power our Imagine XLS 21BHE if needed in our driveway. Thought process is...if needed during an emergency we could live in the trailer.

This is NOT a discussion on my generator choice...but rather the appropriate cords/connections needed to make everything work.

We purchased this generator (primarily so we can run it off the natural gas connection in the back of the house).

We are considering getting an transfer switch installed on the house to power the house if needed and therefore purchased this generator extension cord to get the 240v and the 100ft to get it from the back of the house to the front (where the power main to the house is and the trailer would be).

I now need a plug adapter to be able to plug the cord into my 21BHE and am wondering if this will work.

I want to make sure I have the right connection(s) and also that running the 120/240V 30A output from the generator into the 120V 30A input of the trailer will not mess anything up.

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you.

[The_Lovells]

Good day everyone. We purchased a generator for emergency home use, but would like to power our Imagine XLS 21BHE if needed in our driveway. Thought process is...if needed during an emergency we could live in the trailer.

This is NOT a discussion on my generator choice...but rather the appropriate cords/connections needed to make everything work.

We purchased this generator (primarily so we can run it off the natural gas connection in the back of the house).

We are considering getting an transfer switch installed on the house to power the house if needed and therefore purchased this generator extension cord to get the 240v and the 100ft to get it from the back of the house to the front (where the power main to the house is and the trailer would be).

I now need a plug adapter to be able to plug the cord into my 21BHE and am wondering if this will work.

I want to make sure I have the right connection(s) and also that running the 120/240V 30A output from the generator into the 120V 30A input of the trailer will not mess anything up.

Any help is appreciated.

Thank you.

Hi. We to have generators, two for the RV/Outbuilding and one for the house. The cord you indicated will not work for your RV. You need a cord that has a TT30R outlet on the end for the RV to plug into and the generator plug on the other.

This is the sort of thing you need : https://www.amazon.com/Camco-55338-P..._t1_B07BHTVQS8

As you are possibly having an electrician in I would have them install a TT30R outlet for your RV on the house. Have that TT30R outlet connected to the house wiring and switchable to the generator transfer panel. That way you can plug in the RV when needed for cooling the fridge, running the AC/use as a spare room. It would also be useable in an emergency feeding the RV from the generator via the transfer switch.

[Raife1]

Thank you. So the link you listed would convert my RV cable (that came with the RV) to the cable I referenced...would the plug adapter I listed do the same thing? (Link here)

The plug I listed has an L5-30R instead of a TT-30R, but the L5-30R is the plug type on the back of my trailer so I could plug the adapter I listed straight into the trailer, then the other end into the cord I linked...

Just asking as it removes 1 set of connections...

[The_Lovells]

I do believe that it would also do that. However your RV cord probably has a twist locking feature that the cord you are looking at does not.

[Sleeping Rainbows]

The 'L' in L5-30R stands for locking. Just be sure to twist it when you connect it to the trailer.
100' is kind of long for a #10 cord with a 30A load. The connector at the trailer end might melt after a day or two.
I agree with Tim, a TT-30R should add minimal cost if you have a transfer switch installed.
Then you could use the cord that came with the trailer and have 30A for the house.

[Raife1]

Thanks. Not tracking the melting aspect of your comment. The 100' is needed to get from the generator (back of house as that is where the natural gas line is) to the front. We looked into getting a natural gas line in the front of the house but due to local building code it quickly became impractical and cost prohibitive. If we get a transfer switch installed I would still need to run the cord from back yard...I would just then run it into a transfer switch and then plug my trailer into the RV plug near the panel. Our estimates are:
$1150 for just the transfer switch
$2550 for a transfer switch and 30 or 50 amp RV outlet (we would need a new panel...)

[Tgunter5]

$1400 to add an RV outlet seems rather high! I assume you would need a new panel b/c you have no "empty" bays but there are other solutions that are much much cheaper. I personally installed an our 30-AMP RV outlet for around $60, that included the outlet, breaker, wire, and conduit.

[Tgunter5]

Thanks. Not tracking the melting aspect of your comment. The 100' is needed to get from the generator (back of house as that is where the natural gas line is) to the front. We looked into getting a natural gas line in the front of the house but due to local building code it quickly became impractical and cost prohibitive. If we get a transfer switch installed I would still need to run the cord from back yard...I would just then run it into a transfer switch and then plug my trailer into the RV plug near the panel. Our estimates are:
$1150 for just the transfer switch
$2550 for a transfer switch and 30 or 50 amp RV outlet (we would need a new panel...)

Also most 100 ft 10 gauge extension cords are only rated for 20AMPS. I would recommend a 6 gauge extension cord for that length.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/100-ft-S...0622/317634892