Polarity testers disagree.

[Phoenix]

Honda owners manual and generator discussions on other sites seem to indicate that grounding to "earth ground" is unnecessary for portable/temporary use, like in RVs. We have never had a grounding issue with ours, even when using in the rain and snow.

[TG Twinkie]

Generators are considered to be an isolated power source. The shock risk is not as great unless somehow you were to get between the hot leg and neutral. Without a return path (ie the neutral) there is no path for current to flow. Thus no shock.
Electric power systems from a power company have a ground path (earth) whereby current can flow between the hot side to ground. If you get in the middle. Zap
Electrical systems on ships are also isolated from the metal hull. Much like the generator and your A$.

[ROBERT CROSS]

TG,

A$

I love it......that was on purpose, right?

Bob

[TG Twinkie]

Yes!

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by perryg114

Did you try the plug in circuit tester directly in the wall instead of through the watt meter?

Perry

Hi, Perry. I had both testers in a separate receptacle and they were the same as when plugged into my Kill-A-Watt; I just showed them in the Kill-A-Watt for purposes of taking the pictures.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Originally Posted by pmclemore

What do you think of running a ground wire to earth from the generator grounding screw? Is the absence of that ever an issue?

Pat

Originally Posted by ROBERT CROSS

Pat,

I do just that, you can see the two copper straps, washer and spike in the photo.

Don't know if it does much as the spike is only 12" long, but it makes me feel better and the terminal's there, might as well use it.

Bob

Hi, on my Yamaha 2400, there is a place to install or connect a ground wire. It is located on the control panel, above the Yamaha name, and to the left of the 12 volt charge connector.

[ROBERT CROSS]

Originally Posted by ROBERTSUNRUS

Hi, on my Yamaha 2400, there is a place to install or connect a ground wire. It is located on the control panel, above the Yamaha name, and to the left of the 12 volt charge connector.

Bob

Very similar to what's on our Honda.
When we first used the 2000i I did the same as you have done, and had the same results.
Called Honda CS and they explained it as "normal" because of how the units are wired, no shock danger or damage. They explained that the easiest way to get the polarity meter working properly was to get a 30a pigtale,(dogbone) and jump ground to neutral.
It works well and I only use it with the Honda.

Bob

[bryanl]

re: "You have to have the ground and neutral tied together on the hot side (upstream side) of the GFI for it work correctly."

If you have a household GFI expecting grid connected power, it may indeed depend upon the service entrance connections. The Honda and other portable inverter gensets have their own GFI protections. All a GFI is doing is looking for a very small mismatch between the currents on the power leads.

As to why small portable gensets have a floating neutral - it can be safer that way as it requires two faults rather than one to present a safety hazard. The idea isn't to make test equipment for grid connected devices happy, it is to be able to provide safe, portable power.

I don't think it a good idea to try to force portable equipment to fit into a grid connected mentality unless you really have to and really understand the issues and what you are doing.