Generator Interlock Kit for GE Panels

Find out which GE panel you have

Open the door and look for the label. You want three things:

• The model or series. PowerMark Gold panels say so on the label, and the THQLLX1 instructions are written for Model 6 PowerMark Gold load centers.
• The main breaker's amp rating and how it's mounted (a top main that switches side to side, a vertical-throw main that switches up and down, or a main at the bottom).
• Whether the panel is an indoor load center or an outdoor meter-main combo.

Photograph the label and the main breaker together. You'll need the photo whether you buy GE's kit or an aftermarket one.

GE THQLLX1 for PowerMark Gold

The THQLLX1 is a sliding interlock plus a breaker retainer. Here's how GE's instructions describe the setup:

• It's for Model 6 PowerMark Gold GE load centers, with the instructions listing a 150 A minimum rating.
• The utility main is a four-pole main breaker.
• The generator breaker is a two-pole back-fed breaker installed only in positions 2 and 4, held by the supplied retainer.
• The interlock slides between the handle of the main and the back-fed breaker so only one can be on.
• The cover gets two mounting holes, drilled from a template in the kit.

The switch-over sequence in GE's instructions is worth copying onto a card by the panel. For generator power: main off, branch breakers off, slide the interlock toward the main, generator breaker on, then the critical branch breakers on one at a time. To go back, reverse it.

Other GE panels

If your GE panel isn't a Model 6 PowerMark Gold, the THQLLX1 instructions don't cover it. Aftermarket makers cover a wide spread of GE layouts. GenInterlock, for example, lists separate kits for:

• GE 100 amp panels.
• 200 amp GE panels fitted with a 100 amp main.
• 150 and 200 amp panels, standard and bottom-feed.
• Older and newer vertical-throw mains.
• Outdoor panels and meter mains, including one listed for the TQDL21200 main breaker.
• A 400 amp outdoor panel with two 200 amp mains.

Those kits are told apart by the gap between the main and the breaker below it, which GenInterlock lists in fractions of an inch for most of them. So measure it. Interlock Technologies asks for a panel photo and the main-to-breaker gap to pick a kit, too.

Stick with a kit that's listed by a testing lab and ships with instructions. Interlock Technologies says its kits are MET listed to UL standards.

What else you'll buy

The kit doesn't power anything by itself. Add a two-pole back-fed GE breaker that matches the panel (Interlock Technologies says the breaker style must match the panel), an outdoor inlet box and a cord. Interlock Technologies pairs a 30 amp back-feed breaker with generators up to 8,000 watts and a 50 amp one with larger units.