It seems like a lot of Lightning owners are interested in using their trucks for home backup power lately, so I thought I’d share my recent setup to give you an idea of how simple or challenging it might be. Just a heads-up—I’m not an electrician, but I used to work as a Professional Engineer back in my factory-building days (when factories were still being built in the ‘80s). So, I’m pretty familiar with the basics of electrical work.
My son and I both bought Lightnings (Lariat and Flash models) with ProPower before the end of the year. We both found the Ford/Sunrun system to be expensive and glitchy, so we decided to go with a cheaper, manual generator transfer switch. We chose the Reliance 10-circuit 30-amp kit (part number 310CRK), which includes almost everything you need—except for the 10 AWG wire to connect the outlet to the switch.
Here’s how we did it: we ran 50 feet of 10/3 MC cable (10-gauge with an aluminum armored conduit) through the ceiling and basement walls to an L14-30 outlet outside. Then we connected the 10 sets of two wires (red and black) to the circuits in the main panel we wanted to back up. The Reliance instructions were okay, but YouTube was a lifesaver for figuring some things out.
Here’s the crucial part: the Lightning’s outlet is neutral-bonded (neutral and ground are tied together) and GFCI-protected. If you connect the truck’s output directly to a device, panel, or switch where the neutral and ground are also bonded, the GFCI on the truck will trip. This happens because current flows back through the ground pin or wire. Some people pull the ground pin on their plug or cable, but we didn’t like that idea since it weakens the physical connection.
What we did instead was not connect the ground wire between the outside outlet and the transfer switch. To explain: the 10/3 cable has four wires, and all four connect to the Lightning and the outside outlet. However, the ground wire stops at the outlet box—it doesn’t go any further. This means only three wires (red hot, black hot, and white neutral) connect from the truck to the outlet and then to the transfer switch, while the ground wire only grounds the outlet box itself.
It took us about eight hours to get everything set up (it was freezing outside, so that slowed us down), and the kit costs around $450. Pulling the wires wasn’t easy, especially since not all the circuits we were backing up were in the main panel. If you’re hiring an electrician and they charge $2,000 or less, I’d say that’s a pretty fair price. Good luck with your setup!