Unsure of shop panel amps!?

oregon1991 said:

Hi all, first post but have been a long time lurker...

Have a few questions regarding my home panel/shop.
Below I will post a photo of how I believe everything is ran.
Previous owner I believe installed the generator panel after the house was built, it looks like it was ran by an amateur.

Our home has two 200 amp panels, next to that is a generator panel that is fed by a 60amp breaker from one of the main panels. In the generator panel there are a few house lights, water heater etc. The shop is tied in there somehow as well which is where our water well is powered from (only reason the whole shop panel would be in the gen panel i assume). So when that 60amp breaker in the main panel is shut off that feeds the gen panel, the whole shop and anything else in the gen panel is shut off.

My first question is, do you think he wired the shop sub to the lugs in the generator panel as seen in photo?
And if thats the case the gauge of wire seems much smaller than whats coming into the shop panel which I believe is a copper 2 (and original to when the house was built), and is not color wire. The wire in the gen panel is colored (not taped although the red does look taped...) From the looks of it the ground is also ran in the gen panel, the shop panel being detached has its own ground rod. Its about a 140ft run from the shop to house including elevation etc. Im thinking maybe the shop was on a 100-120amp originally when the house/shop were wired and then after the fact the home owner added the gen panel and had to extend the wire going to the house panel and maybe spliced it behind the wall with something smaller, which would be awful...




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Oregon is your generator the type that you have to go out and start or does it have a transfer switch which starts itself automatic. I’m trying to wrap my head around what’s going on.
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Megawatt said:

Oregon is your generator the type that you have to go out and start or does it have a transfer switch which starts itself automatic. I’m trying to wrap my head around what’s going on.

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Are you saying you have two 200 amp panels on the side of your house plus the panel which looks like a transfer panel and one panel in your shop

Megawatt said:

Oregon is your generator the type that you have to go out and start or does it have a transfer switch which starts itself automatic. I’m trying to wrap my head around what’s going on.
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Are you saying you have two 200 amp panels on the side of your house plus the panel which looks like a transfer panel and one panel in your shop

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Yes, you can see the 8/3 power cable wrapped around the box, so when the power goes out generator gets hooked up, started and then the 60amp gets switched, which simultaneously switches the other grid power 60amp off. So then that small generator panel gets back fed power I believe.

Yes the house has 2 200amp panels and then a gen panel right next to them surface mounted to the drywall. Shop has its own 200 amp as well but is being treated as a sub panel Coming from the gen panel. Because our shop has the water well circuit on it.

Like mentioned above I believe he may have spliced the shop main feed with a smaller wire up at the gen panel (in wall) and used a smaller breaker accordingly. Meaning at some point when it was originally wired and the shop was being run off the house panels it may of had a bigger breaker (because of the copper 2 wire in the shop panel)

Hope it makes sense. It’s super confusing whatever original owner did and I’m just trying to clean the mess up, I will be disconnecting and testing wires this weekend. I suspect when I pull the gen panel that I will find a splice somewhere in the wall...

oregon1991 said:

Yes, you can see the 8/3 power cable wrapped around the box, so when the power goes out generator gets hooked up, started and then the 60amp gets switched, which simultaneously switches the other grid power 60amp off. So then that small generator panel gets back fed power I believe.

Yes the house has 2 200amp panels and then a gen panel right next to them surface mounted to the drywall. Shop has its own 200 amp as well but is being treated as a sub panel Coming from the gen panel. Because our shop has the water well circuit on it.

Like mentioned above I believe he may have spliced the shop main feed with a smaller wire up at the gen panel (in wall) and used a smaller breaker accordingly. Meaning at some point when it was originally wired and the shop was being run off the house panels it may of had a bigger breaker (because of the copper 2 wire in the shop panel)

Hope it makes sense. It’s super confusing whatever original owner did and I’m just trying to clean the mess up, I will be disconnecting and testing wires this weekend. I suspect when I pull the gen panel that I will find a splice somewhere in the wall...

Click to expand...

oregon1991 said:

Hi all, first post but have been a long time lurker...

Have a few questions regarding my home panel/shop.
Below I will post a photo of how I believe everything is ran.
Previous owner I believe installed the generator panel after the house was built, it looks like it was ran by an amateur.

Our home has two 200 amp panels, next to that is a generator panel that is fed by a 60amp breaker from one of the main panels. In the generator panel there are a few house lights, water heater etc. The shop is tied in there somehow as well which is where our water well is powered from (only reason the whole shop panel would be in the gen panel i assume). So when that 60amp breaker in the main panel is shut off that feeds the gen panel, the whole shop and anything else in the gen panel is shut off.

My first question is, do you think he wired the shop sub to the lugs in the generator panel as seen in photo?
And if thats the case the gauge of wire seems much smaller than whats coming into the shop panel which I believe is a copper 2 (and original to when the house was built), and is not color wire. The wire in the gen panel is colored (not taped although the red does look taped...) From the looks of it the ground is also ran in the gen panel, the shop panel being detached has its own ground rod. Its about a 140ft run from the shop to house including elevation etc. Im thinking maybe the shop was on a 100-120amp originally when the house/shop were wired and then after the fact the home owner added the gen panel and had to extend the wire going to the house panel and maybe spliced it behind the wall with something smaller, which would be awful...




View attachment 53385View attachment 53386View attachment 53387

Click to expand...

oregon1991 said:

Yes, you can see the 8/3 power cable wrapped around the box, so when the power goes out generator gets hooked up, started and then the 60amp gets switched, which simultaneously switches the other grid power 60amp off. So then that small generator panel gets back fed power I believe.

Yes the house has 2 200amp panels and then a gen panel right next to them surface mounted to the drywall. Shop has its own 200 amp as well but is being treated as a sub panel Coming from the gen panel. Because our shop has the water well circuit on it.

Like mentioned above I believe he may have spliced the shop main feed with a smaller wire up at the gen panel (in wall) and used a smaller breaker accordingly. Meaning at some point when it was originally wired and the shop was being run off the house panels it may of had a bigger breaker (because of the copper 2 wire in the shop panel)

Hope it makes sense. It’s super confusing whatever original owner did and I’m just trying to clean the mess up, I will be disconnecting and testing wires this weekend. I suspect when I pull the gen panel that I will find a splice somewhere in the wall...

Click to expand...

oregon1991 said:

Yes, you can see the 8/3 power cable wrapped around the box, so when the power goes out generator gets hooked up, started and then the 60amp gets switched, which simultaneously switches the other grid power 60amp off. So then that small generator panel gets back fed power I believe.

Yes the house has 2 200amp panels and then a gen panel right next to them surface mounted to the drywall. Shop has its own 200 amp as well but is being treated as a sub panel Coming from the gen panel. Because our shop has the water well circuit on it.

Like mentioned above I believe he may have spliced the shop main feed with a smaller wire up at the gen panel (in wall) and used a smaller breaker accordingly. Meaning at some point when it was originally wired and the shop was being run off the house panels it may of had a bigger breaker (because of the copper 2 wire in the shop panel)

Hope it makes sense. It’s super confusing whatever original owner did and I’m just trying to clean the mess up, I will be disconnecting and testing wires this weekend. I suspect when I pull the gen panel that I will find a splice somewhere in the wall...

Click to expand...

thQUOTE="oregon1991, post: 1584022, member: 123288"]
Yes, you can see the 8/3 power cable wrapped around the box, so when the power goes out generator gets hooked up, started and then the 60amp gets switched, which simultaneously switches the other grid power 60amp off. So then that small generator panel gets back fed power I believe.

Yes the house has 2 200amp panels and then a gen panel right next to them surface mounted to the drywall. Shop has its own 200 amp as well but is being treated as a sub panel Coming from the gen panel. Because our shop has the water well circuit on it.

Like mentioned above I believe he may have spliced the shop main feed with a smaller wire up at the gen panel (in wall) and used a smaller breaker accordingly. Meaning at some point when it was originally wired and the shop was being run off the house panels it may of had a bigger breaker (because of the copper 2 wire in the shop panel)

Hope it makes sense. It’s super confusing whatever original owner did and I’m just trying to clean the mess up, I will be disconnecting and testing wires this weekend. I suspect when I pull the gen panel that I will find a splice somewhere in the wall...
[/QUOTE]

oregon1991 said:

Yes, you can see the 8/3 power cable wrapped around the box, so when the power goes out generator

oregon1991 said:

Yes, you can see the 8/3 power cable wrapped around the box, so when the power goes out generator gets hooked up, started and then the 60amp gets switched, which simultaneously switches the other grid power 60amp off. So then that small generator panel gets back fed power I believe.

Yes the house has 2 200amp panels and then a gen panel right next to them surface mounted to the drywall. Shop has its own 200 amp as well but is being treated as a sub panel Coming from the gen panel. Because our shop has the water well circuit on it.

Like mentioned above I believe he may have spliced the shop main feed with a smaller wire up at the gen panel (in wall) and used a smaller breaker accordingly. Meaning at some point when it was originally wired and the shop was being run off the house panels it may of had a bigger breaker (because of the copper 2 wire in the shop panel)

Hope it makes sense. It’s super confusing whatever original owner did and I’m just trying to clean the mess up, I will be disconnecting and testing wires this weekend. I suspect when I pull the gen panel that I will find a splice somewhere in the wall...

Click to expand...

gets hooked up, started and then the 60amp gets switched, which simultaneously switches the other grid power 60amp off. So then that small generator panel gets back fed power I believe.

Yes the house has 2 200amp panels and then a gen panel right next to them surface mounted to the drywall. Shop has its own 200 amp as well but is being treated as a sub panel Coming from the gen panel. Because our shop has the water well circuit on it.

Like mentioned above I believe he may have spliced the shop main feed with a smaller wire up at the gen panel (in wall) and used a smaller breaker accordingly. Meaning at some point when it was originally wired and the shop was being run off the house panels it may of had a bigger breaker (because of the copper 2 wire in the shop panel)

Hope it makes sense. It’s super confusing whatever original owner did and I’m just trying to clean the mess up, I will be disconnecting and testing wires this weekend. I suspect when I pull the gen panel that I will find a splice somewhere in the wall...

Click to expand...

Oregon when you turn off the
60 amp from your shop panel and you say the shop looses power. When that happens you turn the breaker for the house panel and the generator breaker turns on, so they are mechanically connected. The rod at the building needs to go it is not required. They should be 4 wires pulled from panel to panel. What I seen was looked like # 6 or # 8 which is legal because # 6 is good for 65 amps and # 8 is good for 55 amps using copper wire.
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oregon1991 said:

Hi all, first post but have been a long time lurker...

Have a few questions regarding my home panel/shop.
Below I will post a photo of how I believe everything is ran.
Previous owner I believe installed the generator panel after the house was built, it looks like it was ran by an amateur.

Our home has two 200 amp panels, next to that is a generator panel that is fed by a 60amp breaker from one of the main panels. In the generator panel there are a few house lights, water heater etc. The shop is tied in there somehow as well which is where our water well is powered from (only reason the whole shop panel would be in the gen panel i assume). So when that 60amp breaker in the main panel is shut off that feeds the gen panel, the whole shop and anything else in the gen panel is shut off.

My first question is, do you think he wired the shop sub to the lugs in the generator panel as seen in photo?
And if thats the case the gauge of wire seems much smaller than whats coming into the shop panel which I believe is a copper 2 (and original to when the house was built), and is not color wire. The wire in the gen panel is colored (not taped although the red does look taped...) From the looks of it the ground is also ran in the gen panel, the shop panel being detached has its own ground rod. Its about a 140ft run from the shop to house including elevation etc. Im thinking maybe the shop was on a 100-120amp originally when the house/shop were wired and then after the fact the home owner added the gen panel and had to extend the wire going to the house panel and maybe spliced it behind the wall with something smaller, which would be awful...




View attachment 53385View attachment 53386View attachment 53387

Click to expand...

Oregon when you take out the ground rod you need to ground the garage with a #6 copper out of your panel
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oregon1991 said:

Yes, you can see the 8/3 power cable wrapped around the box, so when the power goes out generator gets hooked up, started and then the 60amp gets switched, which simultaneously switches the other grid power 60amp off. So then that small generator panel gets back fed power I believe.

Yes the house has 2 200amp panels and then a gen panel right next to them surface mounted to the drywall. Shop has its own 200 amp as well but is being treated as a sub panel Coming from the gen panel. Because our shop has the water well circuit on it.

Like mentioned above I believe he may have spliced the shop main feed with a smaller wire up at the gen panel (in wall) and used a smaller breaker accordingly. Meaning at some point when it was originally wired and the shop was being run off the house panels it may of had a bigger breaker (because of the copper 2 wire in the shop panel)

Hope it makes sense. It’s super confusing whatever original owner did and I’m just trying to clean the mess up, I will be disconnecting and testing wires this weekend. I suspect when I pull the gen panel that I will find a splice somewhere in the wall...

Click to expand...

That generator is feeding your garage panel because of the well, but the wire with different colors is coming straight from the generator to the generator panel which in turn feed your garage and a few critical loads for the house which the breakers have been relocated to the generator panel. There’s no way they are splices in the wall