Portable generators do not generate a filtered current suitable for electronics. They can and will fry tv's and furnace controllers. Lights aren't an issue of a sump pump.
A surge suppressor will do nothing to help as they will not convert the current. The automatic whole house systems do generate the type of current needed for electronic usage.

Any home found to be backfeeding current improperly up here has their home removed from the grip. Then they get reconnected is anyone's guess but it will usually be the last one. A proper traqnsfer box is not that expensive.;

 

There is nothing wrong with hard wiring a generator to your electrical panel....IF you have enough sense to switch off the MAIN.

 

I have seen it happen already with a tender on a lawn tractor. Maybe your grid is in better shape than ours up here. We have the old worn out grid equipment that started on fire and shut down the whole East coast 8 years ago. I have APC back up anti surge equipment on my server at the offfice that records power surges by date & time. On average we get 475 surges and 320 sags each year. We have had surges here from Tstorms that have started the APC boxes on fire. The power grid is so old here that when it blows off line they have to have linemen go re-set it manually on the line poles. When that happens you are talking major surging over and over and over as they go down the line turning all of the connections back on.

 

If you don't have a transfer switch you can go to jail around here for doing that. Very dangerous.

 

Not sure of the specifics but he mentioned he installed something to prevent his generator from feeding the grid.

Sammi

 

I just spent 4 days without "utility" power during the snow storm that hit the Northeast. After the last power outage three months ago, I went out and bought a generator and a hard wired transfer switch that has 10 breakers for 10 circuits. I spent the 4 days running the generator around the clock to power my furnace, lights, refrig, basically my whole house. I have 3 battery tenders hooked up to my Road king and to my 2 hot rods and not a problem with any of them. I simply followed my electrician friends advice on starting the generator and letting it run a few minutes before I switch the house, one circuit at a time to generator power. When the power came back on I shut down the generator and switch the 10 breakers on the transfer switch back to "utility company" power pausing at the "off" position on each breaker switch while doing so. Never a problem. The tenders (and my TV's) are all fine. If there is a surge the transfer switch takes it and each circuit breaker is protected with a push to reset circuit protector.

 

Oh, I was only saying that surges wouldn't hurt the ECM as the tender will still only let out 12v no matter how much voltage is coming into the tender. The event than happened to me was a diesel generator temp power unit that was used every day for power on a construction site and the laborer that rolled out the spider boxes everyday made a mistake and the whole project was hooked up to 220, skil saws, hand drills and electric tools just spin faster but electronic stuff had issues as you know. They didn't correct it until my power supply had exploded, that took about 30 minutes I think. I had to pirate my car battery to power up my laser after that.

 

I agree, it's actually illegal in NJ to direct feed like that as you can kill someone!

 

I will agree no. In fact the new electronic will not even show voltage unless hooked to a load. They will not drain battery.

 

Wow, you are lucky. I had a lightning strike on the next block take out my APC 1400XL and my internet modem and my 10/100 switch once late at night. Luckily, I had my servers plugged into an APC Pro 1000 which was plugged into the 1400XL and stopped the surge (which it recorded over 400v . That surge took out the furnace and a/c controls and all of the computers in the accounting office next door plus blew the night lights on the building and melted a lot of wiring. My office smelled like a burning tire for about 3 days.

Since then, I have everything I own plugged into a surge protector.