Distribution panels from 30 A to 1,200 A, automatic and manual transfer switches, and the cable to join them up — rented on their own or quoted with the generator they feed.
Every rental enquiry starts with kilowatts, and then the set arrives and the real question turns out to be how power gets from its terminals to twelve different things across the site. That is distribution: the panel, the breakers, the cable, and the switch that picks between the generator and the utility.
It is the half of a temporary power setup that is easiest to underestimate. A panel too small caps what the generator can actually deliver. A run of cable sized for the current but not the distance drops enough voltage to trouble motors at the far end. A missing transfer switch turns a planned changeover into an outage with an electrician standing in front of it.
None of it is difficult to get right — it just has to be part of the same conversation as the generator, which is why it is quoted together.
Read live from the rental fleet, with ratings and enclosure details on each unit page. Cable and transformers are matched to the job rather than listed here — say what the run looks like and they are quoted with the rest.
Need the source as well as the distribution? Generator rentals covers the gas and diesel fleet these panels are usually sized against.
Generator packages are commonly 480 V, site services are often 600 V, and trailers and tools want 120/208 or 120/240. Distribution either matches what is there or a transformer sits in between. It is a two-minute question at quote time and an expensive one on delivery day.
An automatic switch brings the generator on by itself when the utility drops, which is the point of standby. A manual switch is for a changeover somebody is standing there to perform. The fleet rents a 1,000 A automatic and a 400 A manual unit, so the honest answer is whichever the duty calls for.
Ampacity decides the conductor size; distance decides whether that size is still enough. Long runs on a big site are where voltage drop quietly starts tripping equipment nobody thought was marginal. Give the rough distances with the load list.
Gear that lives outdoors through an Alberta winter needs the enclosure rating to match — the manual switch in the fleet is EEMAC 3R for exactly that reason. Indoors in a plant is a different specification, and so is a dusty yard.
One set feeding trailers, tools and a crane means the panel does the work of splitting it up — and the split changes as the project moves through its phases.
Construction rentals →A plant or a building that cannot ride out an outage wants the transfer to happen without anyone attending it, which is the automatic switch's whole purpose.
Power systems →Planned work where the supply comes off deliberately and a rental carries the load in the meantime. Manual transfer, decided in advance, performed by someone on site.
Oilfield production →Proving a permanent installation before it is relied on. Distribution feeds the load bank, and the test tells you what the set really does under load.
Load banks →Everything between the generator and the things drawing power. In practice that is the panel the feeders land on, the breakers protecting each circuit, the cable itself, and — where the site also has a utility supply — the switch that decides which source is live. A generator on its own only produces power at one set of terminals.
It follows the generator's output and the circuits you are feeding, not the total connected load. The rental panels run from 30 A up to 1,200 A, so the question is usually which of those sizes matches the set and how many circuits come off it. Send the load list and the panel gets picked with the generator rather than after it.
Automatic if the site has to come back on its own — standby duty for a facility that cannot wait for someone to drive out, or anything where an outage carries real cost. Manual is cheaper and perfectly sound where a person is on site anyway and a planned changeover is the whole job, such as a shutdown or a service swap. The fleet rents both.
Yes — the panels and transfer switches are rental items in their own right, and sometimes what a site is missing is the gear to split or switch power it already has. Most go out with a set, which is also when the voltage and connection details are easiest to get right.
Tying temporary distribution into a building or a site service is electrical work, and it is worth settling at quote time rather than on delivery day: on some jobs the site's own electrical contractor terminates and permits it, on others it is arranged as part of the package. Ask when you call and it will be written into the quote.
It is quoted per job, alongside whatever it is feeding. Rating, term, cable lengths and how much switching the site needs all move the number. Sizing advice costs nothing, and the quote comes in writing.
Voltages, circuit count and rough cable distances are enough to spec the distribution properly. You get it quoted in writing with whatever it is feeding.
