Portable Generator Grounding

OK Bobbo ... for this D A .. how do I make a plug? I have always just turned the switch off on the remote cuz that's what the Progressive guy told me to do.

if you wire the plug wrong you will fry the Honda

stick to turning off the the PI unit

Go to a big box hardware store and buy a replacement 3 prong plug. Get a small wire, it doesn't need to be big, you are only having it see a connection, not carrying current. A single strand off of a stranded wire is sufficient. Connect the NEUTRAL prong to the GROUND prong. DO NOT HOOK ANY WIRE TO THE HOT PRONG! Now, plug that into an outlet ON THE GENERATOR itself.

So what does the 100K resistor do?

If possible I'd modify the 30 amp outlet on the parallel cables..

Or use the bypass.. Question.. Will the bypass reset when power is removed (I believe it will)

The Power Gard (Surge guard) monitors frequency and voltage, So do the Honda inverter generators. if the frequency goes wonkey they tend to catch fire. thus they lock to each other and to the crystal controlled time base, They are, more "Paranoid" of frequency errors than your surge guard and for very good reason.

Likewise if the voltage drops it tends to drop all the way to ZERO, (or if it climbs) NOTE this is not true of some of the china knockoffs.. But it is for Honda (And, though not as well ONAN RV generators), they perform all the functions of the Surge Guard and do it well.

Most other brands I do not know about (I know one Chinese brand that had over voltage issues.. but I'll not name it).

Now: here is a question for folks: WHY do we use a safety ground (And yes, I know the answer).

wa8yxm wrote:
Or use the bypass.. Question.. Will the bypass reset when power is removed (I believe it will)

No, it doesn't reset itself. It is a slide switch that has to be slid back to its normal position. Once, I was testing my system, and slid the switch to bypass. It was 6 months before I noticed it was bypassed and not properly protecting my coach.

smkettner wrote:
For additional safety you can make the bond plug with a 100,000 ohm 1/2 watt resistor.

OK I wired a plug with the resistor and hooked a single generator to the fiver and got the no ground message. I doubt that using only a single gen should make a difference. I had a 98K reading between the ground and neutral plug. I've wired another plug without the resistor and will give that a try tomorrow. The generator was putting out 129V at 60 cycles. What voltage reading are others getting?

I am at a loss on why yours does not work. The resistor should pass enough to spoof the bond but provide high resistance to limit any fault current to a safe level. This method was suggested for charging an electric vehicle from a generator where the cord has a similar ground continuity check. It worked. Just for fun I tried it with my 30a hardwired PI EMS and it also worked.

Somebody post a picture of this plug...please.

A picture is at the bottom of this page of a thread from October 2012.

marspec wrote:

smkettner wrote:
For additional safety you can make the bond plug with a 100,000 ohm 1/2 watt resistor.

OK I wired a plug with the resistor and hooked a single generator to the fiver and got the no ground message. I doubt that using only a single gen should make a difference. I had a 98K reading between the ground and neutral plug. I've wired another plug without the resistor and will give that a try tomorrow. The generator was putting out 129V at 60 cycles. What voltage reading are others getting?

This may be a dumb question, but I've got to ask it: You did put the plug into a socket ON THE GENERATOR didn't you? Plugging it in inside the RV won't do anything.