Reddit mentions of ParkPower by Marinco 150BBI.RV 15A, 20A, 30A & 50A Power Inlets, Black

Inspired by this design with very few changes.

This is a wort/water pumping box that shields the pump from the elements/spills and allows you to use a simple switch button to turn the pump on and off instead of having to plug/unplug it to power cycle it. It also protects the pump head/pump body from getting damaged because I'm clumsy. It also provides 2 extra GFCI outlets for you to plug in a computer or anything else as needed.

Box/pump:

• Stainless head Center Inlet Pump 3/4" Inlet x 1/2" outlet - Chugger pumps - $160
  
• Toolbox Harbor Freight - $15
  
• 1-7/8" bi metal hole saw to make hole for charger inlet - Ace Hardware - $8
  
• 15-amp 125-vold black charger inlet - Amazon - $11 - this has gone up significantly since I bought it
  
• 15 amp weather resistant tamper resistant GFCI outlet - Amazon - $20
  
• Stainless Wall plate - Amazon - $4
  
• Illuminated Maintained Contact Pushbutton Switch, 22mm 120/240V- Auber Instruments - $12 - Light comes on when button is pressed & switches power to surge strip on. Shiny. Pretty. 600x better than a wall switch.
  
  
  Fittings for pump:
  
  
• 1/2" stainless hex nipple - Bargain Fittings
  
• 1/2" stainless NPT 90 degree elbow - Bargain Fittings
  
• 3/4" stainless NPT x 1/2" reducing coupling - Bargain Fittings
  
• 1/2" Stainless NPT 3 piece ball valve - Bargain Fittings
  
  Had on hand:
  
  
• Irwin 2078300 8-Inch Self-Adjusting Wire Stripper with ProTouch Grips - These things are awesome and if you do any wiring projects, they save tons of time
  
• Power strip - Looks like this one
  
• White, black, and green 14ga electrical wire
  
• Spade connectors
  
• Electrical Tape
  
• Linesmans pliers/Screwdrivers/adjustable wrenches/circuit tester/power drill/drill bits
  
• Step drill bits - Harbor Freight - Not sure how long these will last, but they've worked so far
  
• Teflon tape
  
• 1/4"x6"x10" scrap wood
  
• 3 Small bolts/3 nuts/6 washers - This part was a mess. First I tried wood screws, then the bolts I had were too long, then I cut those bolts down and I couldn't get the nut on the bolt, then the wood I mounted the pump on was full toolbox length & I couldn't get it back in the toolbox so I had to cut it, then the bolt heads on the underside of the board made the pump unstable.
  
  Hoses:
  
  
• 12' 1/2" ID Silicon tubing cut into 2 6' pieces
  
• 2xStainless Steel Male Disconnect
  
• 2xStainless Steel Female Disconnect - I've bought these from morebeer & midwestsupplies & while they are slightly different in appearance, they both work interchangeably.
  
• 4xHose clamps
  
• 4x1/2" NPT Female x 1/2" hose barb
  
  Build Steps:
  
  

1. Drill a hole using the bimetal hole saw where you want to run your plug from the wall to the toolbox.
   
2. Cut out a hole where you want your GFCI outlet to go. I used a dremel, it doesn't really matter what you use.
   
3. Line up your gfci outlet and plate how you want them & drill holes so you can screw the plate -> GFCI -> box to secure it.
   
4. Drill a 7/8"/22.5mm hole using a step bit or punch an appropriate size hole where you want your power switch to go.
   
5. Cut a small 1/4" x6"x whatever length you want bit of wood to mount the pump on.
   
6. Drill appropriate holes using a step bit where you want them for your pumps outlet/inlet.
   
7. Mount the top half of the switch. Make sure you line it up so it's easy to wire the bottom half & attach it to the mounted top part.
   
8. Remove back rubber piece from charger inlet. Cut 3 wires (one each: black, white, green) long enough to reach from your charger inlet to the line on the GFCI outlet. Strip ~1/2" off each end of the wire. Insert into appropriate colored hole on back of charger inlet and screw them in tight.
   
9. Unscrew metal band from back of charger inlet. Insert into hole you drilled in step 1, screw band on to tighten and feed all 3 wires through rubber piece & slide rubber piece on back of inlet.
   
10. Screw Hot (black) to line Hot side (Usually gold screws), screw Neutral (white) to line neutral side (Usually silver screws), and Ground (green) to ground screw on GFCI outlet.
    
11. Cut plug off of surge protector & strip back outer sheath to expose 3 wires inside. Now it's time to wire up your switch to provide power to the surge protector.
    
12. Cut a black wire long enough to go from the Hot Load side of the GFCI outlet to the bottom of the switch. Strip 1/2" of insulation off both ends. Crimp a spade terminal on one side, screw the other side into the Hot Load side of the GFCI. Hook the spade side into the post labeled 23 on the switch.
    
13. Now you'll need to do some splicing. I used compression sleeves, but feel free to do it however you want. The Neutral (white) wire from the surge strip needs to be split. Strip the end on the surge protector wire, cut and strip 2 white wires, long enough to reach the switch and GFCI outlet and splice them together with the surge strip wire. Crimp a spade terminal on one and hook it up to X1 on the switch. Hook the other wire up to the Neutral Load side of the GFCI outlet.
    
14. Cut 2 Hot (Black) wires long enough to be able to reach the switch from the end of the surge strip, strip the ends, and splice them together with the hot (black) wire coming from the surge strip. Crimp spade connectors on the ends of both wires. Hook one spade onto X2 on the switch & the other onto 24.
    
15. Screw the ground (green) wire from the surge strip onto the ground post on the GFCI (You have 2 wires on the ground on the GFCI now, right?).
    
16. Attach the bottom half of the switch to the top half. It just snaps in place.
    
17. Put your fittings on your pump & mount it and the wood it's sitting on to the toolbox by drilling holes through the wood/bottom of the toolbox & using bolts/nuts. In mine, I only used 2 of the 4 bolts on the pump base & 1 additional one to secure it to the bottom of the box.
    
18. Screw the GFCI/outlet cover into the box.
    
19. Plug your pump into the surge protector.
    
20. Close everything up, apply electrical tape where appropriate. The light on the switch will come on when pressed & anything plugged into the surge strip will get powered (the pump will start). The GFCI outlet has power with a small indicator light that tells you it's properly grounded as soon as the box is plugged in.
    
    Switch overview in brief:
    
    

• X1 - Neutral load from GFCI -> X1 & surge protector
  
• X2 & 24 - Hot from surge protector
  
• 23 - Hot load from GFCI
  
  Note about using step bit: It kicks out pretty hard when you move between steps. My wrist hurts today from it binding up a bit between steps and torquing my wrist.
  
  I did submit this yesterday, but the link that imgur provided was giving 404 errors when you viewed it, so I deleted that post & resubmitted.

> Speaking as an electrician

Thanks very much! That is good to hear coming from a professional. I was proud of my little workaround hack, but I have never read about it anywhere else so I wondered if I was missing something important... but it really does work (I've used it during a couple of outages now). One useful thing to do is to use a little label maker to label the relevant outlets inside the house with "GENERATOR", just to make clear that they aren't usually going to be working. It's also good to make sure that whatever extension cords you get for coming from the generator to the house inlets has a round end for where it's going into the inlet. Some extension cords have the additional tab sticking up which makes it hard or impossible to fit into the inlet socket. Kind of hard to describe, but you'd know exactly what I mean if you see the inlet. Unfortunately the ones I got don't seem to be available any more on Amazon, the product page has gone away, but they looked a lot like these:

https://www.amazon.com/ParkPower-Marinco-150BBI-RV-Charger-125-Volt/dp/B000NV0V8C/

And the extension cords for generator to inlet are these:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0009IAXSW/

Notice the female end of the extension cord is round, so it'll fit inside the inlet socket. I think I have the 100 foot and another 50 foot of the 10 ga, for getting from the generator on the rear deck to the two different inlets on the house. The garage one is a bit further away, toward the front of the house, so I need the 100' for that. Usually I'd try not to run so long, but when running the generator in an emergency I'd much prefer for it to be hidden in the rear of the house, not visible to the road. Being 10 ga gives me a bit more room to play with 100' length without losing too much power to the cord.

Other than those, it's a pretty standard job that anybody who's a little bit handy can do - you might also need a 1 7/8" hole saw for the inlet, assuming you have wood walls (we have cedar siding). I used something like 10 or 12 ga house wiring between the wall - I think it might be 10 ga since I remember hemming and hawing on which to use, I believe I went heavier just to be on the safe side. It's a bit intimidating for a non-professional to work with wiring stuff up, but since it's not connected to the actual house wiring, that takes some of the fear out. Just have to make sure you get all the right wires in the right places (not too difficult) and tighten everything up. Also a little bit stressful hacking holes in your exterior house wall, but once it's all sealed up again it's pretty cool knowing you can now get power inside without having to leave the window or door open.

I also have a Kryptonite Stronghold anchor in the back yard next to the deck, for chaining the generators up while they are running, so nobody can just pick them up and run off (a downside of having portable generators is that they are, well, portable):

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000LF903M/

I dug a hole and then filled it with high stress concrete, then left it to dry for a week or two, then drilled the holes for the bolts and installed the anchor. For chain, I used the strongest stuff I could find at Home Depot. The padlock likewise - just the most beefy, secure one I could find. On the generators themselves, I have installed the security addition to the handle:

https://www.amazon.com/Honda-63230-Z07-010AH-EU2000i-Generator-Deterrent/dp/B004DQY6B6/

This doesn't make it 100% secure, but it's better than just having the plastic handle which is easily broken. Security is a matter of layers - you don't depend on anything being 100%, but you hope that everything will serve to either deter or else slow the thieves down enough so that either they don't try, or else you will be alerted in time to stop them.

Finally, I have a couple of failed circuit alarms, which go off when power is lost:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0077Q9NC6/

I figure these could be on the extension bar inside the house while the generator is in use, then if it goes off or is being stolen then I will get an alert when they unplug the extension cord. I am using one of these alarms in the garage now, for the chest freezer so I'll know if that circuit trips out for whatever reason (avoid thawed out freezer, never fun).

Anyway, hope that helps anyone else who might be thinking about a similar setup - the Honda EU2000i is a great little generator (I also have the Companion), and with a little forethought you can make it much easier to use in your house in emergencies. Oh, and one last thing - I also have a large folding plastic table, which can be used to put over the generator if it's raining outside when you need to use it. Obviously the generator can't be too near the house, because of risk of carbon monoxide, so being outside puts the generator at risk of exposure to the elements. One of those folding tables, you can get from any department store, is useful for putting the generator under something. If the rain is especially heavy, I can put an additional tarp over the table, which can also cover two sides, and a couple of cinder blocks makes it ok in the wind.

Incidentally, this is a good battery powered CO detector, great for emergencies if you need to run a Buddy heater inside the house, or make sure the generator exhaust isn't blowing inside:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004Y6V5CI/