3000W Chinese Gensets Info.

MrWizard wrote:
neutral on these generators is NOT bonded to grd, and that is the way it is supposed to be ,'NOT bonded" is corect

. . .

there are several other threads devoted to that topic

This was a good suggestion, MrWizard. I put something like "neutral bonding" into TrailerLife's SEARCH feature. I found a lot of opinions (sometimes conflicting ones), but the best was a link to a site run by IMSA on when to ground and when to bond a portable generator's neutral to its frame. It's fairly long, but it has some nice easy-to-understand illustrations, NEC references, and is well worth reading. Here is the site link

http://www.imsasafety.org/journal/marapr/ma5.htm

or, hopefully, you can click HERE.

Here is a short excerpt:

"Caution--Generator Neutral Grounding
Generators will often have the neutral conductor bonded to the generator frame. This is commonly done on small portable generators supplied with receptacles.

Larger generators with a cord supplied pin and sleeve connector typically do not have the neutral grounded to the frame. There is no industry standard for when the neutral is or is not grounded, however it seems to be dependent on the generator having receptacles mounted on the frame, as then the neutral is grounded to the generator frame. The generator user needs to know if the neutral is grounded or not.

If the generator neutral is grounded, then the generator can only be used with a transfer switch that transfers the neutral, or as a stand-alone generator for a carnival or special even, and then ground rods are required."

Until I read this IMSA Journal article, I had no idea that there were two kinds of transfer switches and that the most common ones don't switch the neutral. It also appears to explain why our Canadian friend (CCTAU) had the neutral and frame bonded on his generator (and tagged as such) when he bought it. I bought my (unbonded) PowerPro to provide emergency power to my cabin's well pump, as well as to my motor home. I'll certainly keep this in mind when I wire up a transfer switch to the pump.

IMSA is a public-service safety group. Apparently, its members often find themselves powering traffic signals and disaster sites with portable generators when there are widespread outages.

BTW, I checked my motor home and found that there is no electrical connections between the neutral and the MH chassis. This may explain why I sometimes feel a slight, but nevertheless unnerving, tingling sensation when (depending upon the local hookup) I grab the door handle while standing outside.

--John