How do you connect a 4 prong generator twist and lock plug to a power strip?

Answer 1

Yes you can put a 4 prong plug on a 3 prong appliance. A 4 prong plug is designed for 3 phase wiring. a 3 prong appliance is designed for single phase wiring. In the United States, going across two of the hot wires in three phase wiring will give you 208 volts instead of the 240 volts you would get with single phase wiring. Going across one of the wires will give you 104 volts instead of the 120 volts you would get with single phase wiring. Your stove will not be as hot.

On the other hand, if you are trying to run an appliance with a motor, you could burn up the motor. The motor is designed so the wire from one side will be on when the wire from the other side is off. That will not work when they are out of phase. Hopefully, your circuit breakers and fire extinguishers are in good condition. ( The answer above is incorrect and that's why I am leaving it alone, the correct answer follows.) your question probably applies to a residential dryer or cooking unit. Past codes only required three wire cords. The bare wire on this cord acted as ground and neutral. Now the code requires that the metal enclosure of these appliances have a separate grounding conductor and neutral. To convert a dryer to four wire, remove the wiring terminal cover, you will see a terminal block with three wires on it. the center wire is the neutral/grounding conductor, it should also have a copper bonding strap from this block to the frame of the dryer. Remove this strap and discard. Remove the two outside wires and complete removal of old cord. Install the new cord and connect the white wire to the center terminal, the green wire to the dryer frame. Connect the two hot wires to the outside terminals and reinstall the terminal cover. Do not put to much confidence in the original answer as part of his answer reveals to me he is an amateur electrician and shouldn't answer questions he knows nothing about.

You are correct that I knew nothing about that!. On the other hand, I have seen licensed electricians really mess up 3 phase in industrial settings!

Answer 2

If you properly connect a 3 conductor cable to a 4 prong twist lock plug end this can be done.

You must be sure that the grounding conductor and neutral are connected to the right terminals. Then the hot conductor, probably black, will connect to only one of the hot terminals. It wouldn't matter which. In this configuration you have 120v supplied from a 240v twist lock outlet and the cable can be connected to anything that requires just 3 conductors and 120v.

Answer 3

(Note: This answer applies to North American power and color codes)

Normally a 4-pin twist lock connector is used for 220V split power. So a power strip would connect with green (ground) to the (green) ground pin, white / silver to the neutral (usually silver) prong, and black / red / gold / brass to either of the two (usually gold / brass) hot prongs of the four-prong connector. Before plugging anything into the power strip, check that you have 110 across its pins, as 220V in anything you care about can really ruin your day.

Answer 4

No. The reason for this is the plug configurations are different and this is for safety reasons. Back feeding a generator into your home's wiring system is very dangerous and has killed linemen working on downed power lines. The generator will back feed voltage through the pole top Transformers and energize the downed line back up to its primary voltage of 13,200 volts. This is how the linemen get killed thinking that they are working on de energized primary lines.

If you want to have a correct installation installed in your home, call a licenced electrician and he can walk you through the procedure that has to be done and give you a price to do the work. The job when completed will be approved by the electrical inspector and when you connect your generator to the house it will give you peace of mind knowing that you are not going to get someone killed or badly burned.

Answer 5

You would need a generator transfer switch to safely connect a 4-prong twist lock plug to a power strip. The transfer switch acts as a bridge between the generator and power strip, ensuring that electricity is safely and properly distributed. Without a transfer switch, attempting to connect a generator directly to a power strip can be dangerous and may damage the appliances connected to it.

Answer 6

Yes, but ONLY if the generator is electrically modified and upgraded to accept the 4 prong plug.

Answer 7

It can, but you will not have a ground wire. I have my generator hooked this way for my house for emergency power, but my neutral wire is also bonded to ground by a ground rod.