When an outage hit, a man living in a house he had bought as a fixer-upper tried to use the property's generator connection and got nothing. He plugged in the generator, started it, flipped breakers, and still could not get electricity anywhere in the home.
Here's what to know
Writing in a post on Reddit, he said, "My house has a 240a input outside for a generator and a manual transfer switch in the basement." He added that the generator's 30-amp breaker was switched on, and the manual transfer switch had been thrown. Even so, the machine showed just 0.1 amps, and "nothing was running off the panel."
During the outage, he said he moved the transfer switch over and then tried breakers without success. He also said that after moving in, he found a breaker-like device with what looked like four breakers and cut wires on the basement floor, near where it may once have been installed.
The replies largely pushed him away from trying to solve it casually himself. One commenter wrote, "Call an electrician. You don't have a 240a inlet — it's either 30a or 50a and 240v. This right here tells me you probably don't have the necessary skills to safely diagnose and fix the issue. I'm not being mean, but looking out for your safety."
The OP replied, "Yeah it's 30 lol 240 service on the house I am just tired." He also explained why he was looking for advice before paying for help: "Yeah will probably call an electrician just a s****y timing as my wife is on maternity leave with our 11-week-old and cash is a little tighter."
He said he was "just trying to save a few bucks if its something easy or procedural on my part," but most commenters treated the safety concern as more important than avoiding a service visit.
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More background
Because the hookup came with a home that had already needed heavy renovation, the loose breaker-like device with cut wires added uncertainty about what had been removed, changed, or left incomplete before he moved in.
Other commenters said the photos did not provide enough to identify the problem. One commenter said, "Unfortunately, there is not enough info here to properly diagnose," and added that if the transfer switch found on the floor had actually been replaced by the box in the photos, "this would actually raise a lot of questions."
A separate commenter focused on whether the system had ever been checked under normal conditions, writing, "Was it ever tested before an outage or just assumed it would work?" The original poster replied that he had attempted to use it but "honestly just kinda gave up" during "a whole house reno."
He later gave more of the life context behind that abandoned test, writing, "Newborn baby and whole house renos, in school part time and work full time. Has my head spinning 24 7 lol."
The failed outage test came at exactly the worst possible moment for a young family already stretched for both time and money.
What can be done?
He said a professional was already scheduled. For a setup involving a 30-amp generator connection, a transfer switch, and possibly altered wiring near the panel, commenters viewed that as the safest next step.
One commenter suggested a simpler fallback: "For now, run some extension cords." That would not solve the transfer-switch question, but it did offer a way to use limited generator power without energizing the home's panel.
The lesson from the thread was that a generator hookup inherited with a house should be tested before an outage, so you can confirm the inlet, transfer gear, and panel wiring instead of troubleshooting during an emergency while "trying to save a few bucks."
One commenter wrote: "Well, you've learned one thing. The time to test your generator setup is not after the power goes out."
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