Portable distribution block recommendations

Having a off grid shop, would a portable distribution block work with my mep 002a? If so any recommendations I need as many 110 outlets as possible and a 220 would be nice.
How would I wire the gen lugs to the 50 amp plug?

No codes to wory with either.....

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Build one with a 100 amp breaker panel from home depot.

Get a 12 space panel from home depot and use it to build a breakout panel. **Bond the neutral (L0) to ground** Since it is a separately derived system when you set your grounding (rods) you need to tie L0 to ground to establish your neutral to 0 potential. At your breakout (panel) the neutral and grounds should be separated.

You can either mount a 50A box on your machine, or you can lop the plug off the power lead on the spider box, and wire up to the lugs that way (wires inside the main lead should be color coded to electrical norms).

steelshooter said:

Build one with a 100 amp breaker panel from home depot.

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Wellllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll, I may not be a certified electrician in the states, but sure am in Germany. Perhaps a tad more guidance then that. Post 3&4 are getting you on the right track.

No codes to worry with either..... and this may not be all the truth to the thing. Codes are there to protect you and yours. Safety. First. last and always.

Howdy,
Treat the off grid shop like a normal electric supply.

Select a service panel and wire all your plugs and lights like normal. This way, if you ever get a mains power, your good to go.

Your generator is operating as the power supply, off grid, but panel is wired properly, you would connect 4 wires, because you will use the service panel which will have a proper ground rod and line back to the panel.

It's always easier to wire everything for the future purpose of having mains power.
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In the field and moving around
Power distribution boxes work, or make your own.

First of all, just because it is off grid doesn't automatically mean that the codes don't apply or can just be ignored. It might be true in your area, but unless you've talked to an electrical inspector, the power company, or a professional electrician who knows the codes in your area don't make assumptions like that. It doesn't take much sometimes for a code inspector to write you up for all sorts of violations you never knew existed.
Might not apply to your situation, but still felt the need to throw that out anyway.

it's a 002, so you're only talking about 5-6kw of actual power output. 50 amps of 120V power or 25 amps of 240V power (maximum). Enough to run a couple tools at a time and the lights, but not going to be running multiple heavy pieces of equipment at the same time.

Best/safest, since you mentioned this is an off grid shop, is to wire the shop like you would a normal building, using a 50 or 100 amp panel or sub panel as your main breaker box. Where the main lugs are you wire it to the output of the generator. Use a power inlet box on the outside of the building and wire a 30 amp 240V power cable to the generator to plug into the building, thus making it a non-permanent power source (once again, codes in some places make a generator power source fall under a different code compliance category if it's hardwired)



Now, if we're just talking quick and dirty, buy a cable like this one, cut off the end, and wire it to your generator lugs.


you can either wire it one hot to each of the lugs for 120/240, or wire both hots to the 120V hot lug if you're going to leave the gen in 120V only output.

If the generator is a ways away from the shop (and for the sake of your hearing I hope it is) then wire in a 30 amp cable with an L14-30 plug on the end, then go to a splitter like this.


But seriously, it doesn't matter how many 120V outlets you have available, the generator is still going to only put out 5kw or so of power so even with all those outlets you're only going to be able to run a few things at a time.

This is my setup, hopefully it gives you some ideas.
I originally planned to put another dual gang 120v box on top (thats why the first one is all the way on the left) but between the 2 GFCI receptacles I installed and the 1 convenience receptacle already on the generator I figured that would be good enough. Also if I needed lots of low draw items (like lights or fans) I could simply use power strips.

So far I've mainly used it for plugging in 3 5kW heaters to act as my load bank.

I would agree, even being off grid, its nice to wire the shop like normal and then bring in power through a twist lock connector. (As opposed to mains power) My friends have an off-grid cabin wired this way.

That said, I have a portable setup I use with my 802a that works pretty well for taking power on-the-road to remote locations or emergency power. I have run 2HP mills and lathes, a 220V welder and even a 3.4HP compressor with some protest from the 802a.




I added a 30amp twist lock to make connection easier. Most cords are 6/4 with 50amp connectors incase I buy an 803a down the road. The spider box is off-the-shelf with a 50 amp input. I modified it with a 30 amp twist lock outlet and it has 6x 20amp 120V outlets.

Thank you for your recommendations! I probably will use a combination of them, last question:
Can each phase be used independent of each other? Like 3 separate 110 panels? I'm trying to find something to do with the last lug, I will only need 220 but I hate to waist it if I got it.

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With the gen set to 120/240v mode L2 is dead, couldn't use it even if you wanted to.

That being said if you set it to 120/208v 3 phase you could run 3 120v panels.
Balancing the load would be a pain though.

nextalcupfan said:

With the gen set to 120/240v mode L2 is dead, couldn't use it even if you wanted to.

That being said if you set it to 120/208v 3 phase you could run 3 120v panels.
Balancing the load would be a pain though.

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That depends on how you wire your building. Proper prior planning, prevents piss poor performance. With some forethought, the differences between the phases can be kept to a minimum. And a small amount of difference is not that big a deal. For an "in the field" operation, might be harder, but there again, we never had a problem. We ran 3 phase to a "D", Distribution box, and the various plugs were hooked up to the phases. We always tried spread out the load. But no one really paid all that much attention to it.

The worst thing you can do is heavily load 2 phases and leave the third completely empty. Minor unbalance just wastes fuel because the unbalanced load returns to the source on the neutral.

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How would you equally run the three phases? Shop would have more 110 than anything but possibly a 220 generator but never higher voltage.

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If you need 240, just tell the machine to produce 240 and forget about it. Don't even give the 3PH setting a second thought. Use the machine to do what you want.

Tpoole said:

How would you equally run the three phases? Shop would have more 110 than anything but possibly a 220 generator but never higher voltage.

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some equipment uses 3 hots, otherwise it can be broken down to 3 120 volt circuits L1-L0 L2-L0 L3-L0. or for 220 (in this case it would be 20 L1-L2 L2-L3 L3-L1.

Scoobyshep said:

The worst thing you can do is heavily load 2 phases and leave the third completely empty. Minor unbalance just wastes fuel because the unbalanced load returns to the source on the neutral.

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The key words here are Heavily, and Empty.

Guyfang said:

The key words here are Heavily, and Empty.

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Perhaps I should have made them bold

I am assuming it won't hurt to run them unbalanced: thinking of adding a few more 110 off of the third phase and have a 220 50 amp plug (overkill) going to a distribution block

Tpoole said:

I am assuming it won't hurt to run them unbalanced: thinking of adding a few more 110 off of the third phase and have a 220 50 amp plug (overkill) going to a distribution block

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Unbalanced will just reduce your fuel efficiency due to the unbalanced current going to neutral. Other than that no, it wont harm it.