Neutral-ground in Honda & Yamaha gennies?

[J. Morgan]

This simple illustration might help.

When the system is bonded, if a person touches the body of an Airstream (or anything conductive connected to it) and the black wire anywhere, a person will get shocked.

If running an unbonded generator, touching the shell of the Airstream and the black wire, this will NOT cause a shock, assuming that the trailer electric system is otherwise wired correctly.




Gradiens super tenui glacie.

[J. Morgan]

I am thinking that if electrical engineers had it to do over again with a strict "safety first" mindset, our power grid would not be designed with the neutral leg tied to an earth ground.

I think that was a compromise to the cost of copper right from the get go.


Gradiens super tenui glacie.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by DarrellT

Apologies if this has already been discussed, but do the recommended gennies need a N-G plug to be safe?

http://noshockzone.org/generator-gro...utral-bonding/

D

I found the video to be illuminating!
I'd like to hear from an electrician.
I decided to make one of those bonding plugs and add it to the gadget collection, JIK.
I can't imagine hooking up my surge protector to the generator but who knows? For a $5 plug and a few inches of wire, it might come in handy.
BTW, when we used Honda 3000's at work to power remote fiber systems we never used a bonded neutral. But then we never plugged a circuit tester in either.
My house and yours has a bonded neutral inside the breaker box.
I have all my electronics going through UPS backups. All the UPS's complain of "no ground" because my old house has half the outlets ungrounded. Adding an earth ground makes no difference. I wonder if adding a bonded neutral plug into the unused outlet would trick the fault into going away?

[A W Warn]

Originally Posted by Mollysdad

<<snip>>
My house and yours has a bonded neutral inside the breaker box.
I have all my electronics going through UPS backups. All the UPS's complain of "no ground" because my old house has half the outlets ungrounded. Adding an earth ground makes no difference. I wonder if adding a bonded neutral plug into the unused outlet would trick the fault into going away?

If you connect ground and neutral inside of a house, then the ground conductor has the ability to carry current equally to the neutral. There could be hot surfaces of equipment that could be shocking if a person provided a path through their body to earth ground by touching it.
I would not do this.

Also, national electrical code prohibits bonding ground and neutral together anywhere except at the main distribution panel. There are instances where additional/extra earth ground can be provided at pieces of equipment, but not bonded to neutral.

ps:
So you will know where I'm coming from;
I am not a licensed electrician. I was, before retiring, a licensed (mostly industrial/commercial/institutional buildings) general contractor. I have read a large portion of the national electric codes, enough to design, draw plans for, and install residential electrical system. I have personally designed and wired several houses for myself, family, and friends that have passed inspection.

[TG Twinkie]

I agree with A.W..
Everything down stream from the main panel is considered a SUB Panel. Where the neutral and ground are separate, not bonded.
The panel in your coach is considered a SUB Panel and should be wired as such.

[Mollysdad]

Originally Posted by A W Warn

If you connect ground and neutral inside of a house, then the ground conductor has the ability to carry current equally to the neutral. There could be hot surfaces of equipment that could be shocking if a person provided a path through their body to earth ground by touching it.
I would not do this.

Okay, you convinced me.