ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Generator low voltage controls

I recently wired a 7 KW gas stand by generator. The flex that came with the generator had the low voltage control wiring running with the high voltage wiring. When I wired the disconnect for it I had to run the wiring in the same conduit also. Does generator wiring differ from normal wiring? I have another generator I am wiring up, and if permisable, it would be a whole lot more convenient to run it in the same conduit also. The control voltage on this one is 240 volt also, but there are two "remote status" leads that are 12 volt dc. The terminals for thes are also located in the disconnect with the 240 volt connections. I'm sorta confused here Thanks Steve...

As long as you make it class 1 compliant the "low voltage" can be there. basically you need to treat that LV as line voltage everywhere it goes.

I've been confused by that also on several installations.....

Anybody got a code reference?

I've done it by the book (GeneratorRAC supplied), but checked my insurance and proceeded......

Grov

725.26(B)?

We have a similar situation with the British "code." Low-voltage control wires can be pulled into the same conduit as 240V so long as they are insulated to the higher voltage.

The other important consideration is the low voltage must be associated with controlling the line voltage equipment it shares a raceway with. This becomes a class 1 which basically follows all the chapter 3 rules.

You only get away with the relatively casual "low voltage" rules when this is class 2 and 3, current limited and effectively separated from line voltage conductors.