What emergency generators involves

A generator is only worth what it does in the first ten seconds of an outage. The work starts with finding out what is actually there. With emergency generators, that means looking at the existing wiring, the panel capacity and whatever the last person left behind.

Honest answer first. If what you have is fine, we say it is fine. If it needs work, we tell you how much and why, with the urgent parts separated from the ones that can wait.

Where this comes up

Standby generators, automatic transfer switches and emergency power systems. Most of these calls come from Des Plaines and the surrounding suburbs, but we take them anywhere in our service area.

Older buildings in this part of Illinois were wired to a different standard. Aluminum branch circuits, knob-and-tube in the walls, panels that were full the day they were installed. Those turn up constantly and they change the job.

How we do it

Quik Wire Electric has 3 years in business and 10 years of electrical experience behind it. The work goes in to code, gets tested and comes with a 100% satisfaction guarantee.

Why it usually cannot wait

Electrical problems do not stay the same size. A loose connection heats up, the heat oxidizes the metal, the oxidized metal raises the resistance, and the resistance makes more heat. That loop runs in one direction only and it ends at a scorched box.

If something is tripping, buzzing, warm to the touch or smells like hot plastic, that is the system telling you where the problem is while it is still cheap to fix.

How we quote it

If somebody prices your job without seeing it, they are guessing, and the guess gets corrected later on your bill. We would rather come out, look at the actual equipment and quote from that.

Every quote lists the work line by line, so you can see what you are paying for, and it describes the scope in plain terms. If the job turns out bigger than that scope, we stop and talk to you first.

Code, permits and inspection

Code is a minimum, written so that the next person in the wall finds something safe. We build to it on every job, and where a permit applies, the inspection proves it. The paperwork stays with the building, which matters most when you sell.

We deal with whichever jurisdiction the job sits in. We pull the permit, we schedule the inspection, and we are there when the inspector walks it. You get the paperwork at the end, which matters when you sell the building or when an insurer asks.

Materials and why they matter

Devices are not all the same. A fifty-cent backstabbed outlet holds the conductor with a spring clip; a commercial-grade one clamps it under a screw plate. The second kind is a couple of dollars more and it is the reason the connection is still tight in fifteen years.

We use commercial-grade devices as standard. It is a small share of the job cost and it is the part most likely to fail if you go cheap on it.

What to do before we arrive

Leave the panel cover on. Flipping a breaker is fine. Taking the dead front off to look inside is not, because the service conductors at the top stay live even with the main off. We will open it when we get there.

Tell us what was plugged in when it happened and roughly what time it was. The more specific you are, the faster we find it.

The transfer switch is the system

People buy a generator and think of the engine as the product. The part that decides whether backup power actually works is the transfer switch, because it is what keeps generator power from backfeeding onto the utility line where it can kill a lineman.

Automatic switches sense the outage and start the unit without anybody being home. Manual switches cost less and need somebody present. Which one is right depends on what you are protecting.