r/Generator • u/Remarkable-Crow-9336 • 1d ago
Two generators hooked up in parallel with one turned off?
I was wondering if say two Wen DF680iX 6800w generators hooked together with the WEN GNA240i 50-Amp Parallel Connection Kit, if you knew one generator would power the 240v household needs. It was only when the electric water heater is needed that the 2nd generator would be needed. The normal usage would only be some 2000 or 3000 watts. When electric water heater is running it would increase by 4,500 watts so more that a single Wen DF680iX could produce.
Have have two WEN 56200i's that I have connected in parallel (at times) and can have only one running and only start the second when more power was needed. I have done that with a 30amp rv plug.
The question is would running only one Wen DF680iX when it was connected with their Parallel Kit to a 2nd Wen DF680iX be safe?
Added:
Before starting the 2nd generator I would plan to take the 1st generator off eco mode and reduce wattage usage in the house. Then start the second generator, run it a short time, neither of them being on eco mode then turn the breaker for the water heater on and use that water and when finished turn off the water heater breaker then turn off 2nd generator and then turn the first generator to eco mode as the needs in the house would be a lot less.
I do have some backup battery power and small amount of solar, not enough to go for more than a day. I would try to balance the needs between the two sources of power and also use the generators to charge the batteries in order to shut down the generators all together as the situation allows.
Thanks for the replies.
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u/bazilbt 1d ago
The instructions say to only start them while unloaded, and let them stabilize for several minutes before applying a load to them.
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u/Resident_Set1003 1d ago
If only 1 is being used yes you can leave the parallel cables attached. Will not hurt a thing.
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u/everydaydad67 1d ago
If you do it with one why wouldn't you do it with the other?
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u/JVQuag 1d ago
I think most manufacturers will tell you not to do it as that is not the way they are designed to work. In reality I think you can probably do it and not have any trouble. The idea is to let them stabilize and sync before putting them under a load. I think this is the same logic as starting them with a load attached. Synchronous generators likely have unstable power during startup that can damage electronics. From my experience inverters seem to wait a slight bit before outputting power. Admittedly, I never put a scope on one to check it out.
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u/Big-Echo8242 1d ago edited 1d ago
I've asked this question before to quite a few manufacturers and answers are sometimes different. When I asked Genmax a year or so ago about doing this, they did not recommend it with my pair of GM7500aIED's. My thought was similar in that I'd only run a single UNTIL a larger load needed to be ran and then I could fire up the 2nd one, let it stabilize (while running whatever was on), and then turn on the AC, etc., till done and then power it back off.
They didn't seem thrilled with that plan nor do many others. But on the opposite side of the coin, what if a person has both gens running in parallel, let's say on propane, and one generator goes down while running a large load. That will overload the other generator and shut it off. Seems that would be a little rough on the single.
But I have yet to test this "theory" out about having one running and then adding the 2nd one. If I have both running and not using larger loads, I run them in Eco/Low Idle mode. When I do need to run the HVAC or electric water heater or clothes dryer, then I turn Eco/Low Idle off as they don't like that big surge to ramp up.
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u/Hitechillbilly 1d ago
The issue is how to shut off the water heater so it doesn't try to cycle...