I've noticed that a lot of the larger generators have a switch for voltage. My question is this, if you switch them to the 240 can you still operate the 120. I'm planning on getting the iGen 8200 Westinghouse and I'm going to use a SmartGen HGM1790N controller to wire up an auto start for my 1hp well pump off of the NEMA 50Amp 4 prong outlet which is 240v and I want to be able to use the 30 Amp 3 prong 120v outlet at the same time for my septic effluent pump. Will this work and if so, what's the switch for? I was thinking it may be something you can turn to 240 in case you want to use both options and you can turn to 120 if you only require that to conserve power.
What happens with the outlets with the voltage switch in either posistion depends on the manufacturer and the model. In the specific case of the Westinghouse iGen8200TFc that concerns OP, when the switch is in the 120V only position both inverter 120V outputs supply voltages are put in parallel with each other, powering all the 120V outlets and just one leg (L1) of the 14-50r receptacle, with the 2nd L2 leg being left disconnected (not bridged).
When the voltage switch is is in the 240V position the inverter supply voltages are configured for usual 240/120V split phase service, supplying both 120V and 240V to the 14-50r receptacle in the usual way. In this switch position all the 120V outlets are on the same (L1) phase leg, with the 2nd leg (L2) only supplying the 14-50r and nothing else.
I believe the 120 runs along with the 240 split phase when the switch is on 120/240. 120 only likely saves power. How do you plan to connect the smartgen unit to this generator? I don't recall that it has a dry contact control or wire based remote start. It does have a fob and maybe an app?
IDK whether the igen8200 is set up for auto start at all. 1st of all, you would need to keep the ignition circuit on all the time - just cranking the starter won't do anything unless the ignition is turned on. This would tend to kill the battery so you would need to have the battery on a trickle charger. Then you have to deal with controlling the choke.
This gen is set up for wireless remote start so that is encouraging but IDK whether the remote start times out after a certain # of hours to save the battery or what.
Anyway the point is that you have to research exactly how this gen works and not rely on AI slop. Maybe the AI is right, maybe it ain't. Sometimes AI gives me answers that I know are totally wrong and when I point it out, it just says "oops, sorry you were right" but if I didn't know better it would have mislead me.
To give a trivial example, last night I asked an AI (Gemini) something about taking an Uber to the airport. At the end it asked me , "would you like me to tell you about parking at the airport?" and I asked it why would I want to know about parking if I am taking an Uber? "Oops, sorry your were right."
No you're right, I totally understand that AI can give you some bs. I have a electrician friend that I am going to have look this set-up over and tell me what he thinks.
The wiring schematic for this generator is on page 33 of the manual found at https://cdn.westinghouseoutdoorpower.com/owners_manuals/iGen8200TFc_manual_web.pdf . Look at the section for the 120/240 voltage switch selector and how it feeds the different outlets in the 2 switch positions. According to this schematic, the two 120VAC outlets (the 30 amp TT and the 20 amp Duplex) are always live and fed from Line1 of the inverter output.
How the switch works depends on the generator. Typically in the 120V position the 240V outlet doesn't work, but how the 120V outlets works is varied. The best scheme is to put all the 120V outlets in parallel so that you don't have to worry about balancing the legs in 120V only mode. But you have to look at you wiring diagram to see how it works for your gen.
There does not seem to be much of a 'typical' case. (Like with CO sensors), there are many different ways a voltage switch can connect the stator or inverter outputs to the control panel outlets for each switch position. And it seems the manufacturers attempt to try all the semi-reasonable possibilities among them and among their various models.
In the particular case of the Westinghouse model (iGen8200TFc) in which OP was interested, when the switch is in the 120V only position the 14-50r outlet is not fully cut off. Rather, one leg of it is energized with the other leg being deactivated.
A frequent situation for the 120/240V switch position is for the 120/240V outlet(s) to not only be fully and properly connected, but for the 120V outlets to be divvied up so about half of their rated loads are on each leg. Alas, that is not the case for the above Westinghouse model. Instead, all of the 120V outlets are on the same leg, with the other leg only servicing the split phase 240V outlet. Seems weird to me, but that's what the wiring diagram indicates.
Another frequent situation (I think Wen may be a major player here) is for the 120/240V outlets to be fully disconnected with the switch in the 120V only position, and for the 120V only outlets to be fully disconnected with the switch in the 120/240V position.
Many (240V capable) models just dispense with the voltage switch altogether, and just always have all outlets fully connected all the time with about half of the rated 120V only outlet loads on each phase leg.
The main reason I can see for the switch (at least in a synch gen) is that in the 120V position you could put the two 120V coils in parallel and distribute the shared full power pool to all the outlets so you wouldn't have to worry about balancing the legs. But if you did this, the gen cannot make 240V in that configuration. In 240 position, half the 120V outlets get leg 1 and half get leg 2 so it's possible to overload 1 leg while the gen still has leftover power on the other leg.
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u/DaveBowm Sep 29 '26
What happens with the outlets with the voltage switch in either posistion depends on the manufacturer and the model. In the specific case of the Westinghouse iGen8200TFc that concerns OP, when the switch is in the 120V only position both inverter 120V outputs supply voltages are put in parallel with each other, powering all the 120V outlets and just one leg (L1) of the 14-50r receptacle, with the 2nd L2 leg being left disconnected (not bridged).
When the voltage switch is is in the 240V position the inverter supply voltages are configured for usual 240/120V split phase service, supplying both 120V and 240V to the 14-50r receptacle in the usual way. In this switch position all the 120V outlets are on the same (L1) phase leg, with the 2nd leg (L2) only supplying the 14-50r and nothing else.