Inverter Problem

[Route_66_Travel]

I just purchased a 3500 Watt Inverter Generator to use while dry camping. When connecting it to my Progressive EMS-PT50X Surge Protector I get the code for an Open Ground and the unit will not energize my RV. The instructions for the Inverter say to connect the ground lug to a grounding rod driven into the Earth for proper grounding. This weekend we were parked on blacktop with no way to connect to ground as stated above.

Is there any easy way to remedy this situation? Can I just connect the RV to the Inverter, bypassing the surge protector? Any help is much appreciated!

[Route_66_Travel]

Thanks s for the help guys. I am just going to connect directly to the generator, which I did this morning and everything is working fine. Sorry for the confusion in the title...I am well aware of the differences between an Inverter and an Inverter Generator.

I haven't heard back from Progessive yet. If they do respond I will post their comments here.

Lee

[DrewE]

3 tons wrote:
Yep, my surge protector was not happy when trying to run the air cond from the Honda 2000i (voltage sag at high altitudes with high ambient temps) so I spliced in a seperate dedicated cord just after the surge protector but before the main panel...

3 tons

You need a switch of some sort to go between the two cords; otherwise, you can have both be live and connected to the circuit at the same time. This has many problems: it's not correct per code, it would lead to a safety issue with a live male connector, and if you ever happened to have the generator and the shore power connected together at the same time you would very likely, at a minimum, destroy the generator...hopefully in a rather sedate manner, but the possibility certainly exists to do so in a very energetic fashion (i.e. parts literally flying off in various directions).

[MrWizard]

like everybody is saying
you have a 'bonding' issue with a portable generator
(it just happens to be an inverter type generator)

this is NOT an 'inverter' problem

[SoundGuy]

pianotuna wrote:
I would leave the PT50X unit out of the circuit. The PI folks may not honor the warranty if you connect it to a generator.

Route 66 Traveler wrote:
I have also sent this problem to Progressive to see what they suggest, but you are probably correct in saying it will void the warranty if I use a bonding plug.

Not true - Progressive themselves for awhile even sold their own generator bonding plug.

[3_tons]

Yep, my surge protector was not happy when trying to run the air cond from the Honda 2000i (voltage sag at high altitudes with high ambient temps) so I spliced in a seperate dedicated cord just after the surge protector but before the main panel...

3 tons

[bikendan]

2oldman wrote:
It's extremely unlikely you'd ever need a surge protector with a generator.

x2!

[time2roll]

pianotuna wrote:
I would leave the PT50X unit out of the circuit. The PI folks may not honor the warranty if you connect it to a generator.

That is a disclaimer for the Yamaha EF2000iS only.

http://www.progressiveindustries.net/disclaimer

[wa8yxm]

Portable generators do not.. Normally, Connect the ground. THe modified plug above is the solution.

[2oldman]

It's extremely unlikely you'd ever need a surge protector with a generator.

[Route_66_Travel]

pianotuna wrote:
I would leave the PT50X unit out of the circuit. The PI folks may not honor the warranty if you connect it to a generator.

Thanks for the suggestions! I have also sent this problem to Progressive to see what they suggest, but you are probably correct in saying it will void the warranty if I use a bonding plug.

Sorry for the confusing Thread title. And the EMS surge protector I am using is the portable unit, not hardwired. I also failed to mention that my RV is 50Amps, so I am using a 30 to 50 converter adapter connected to the generator.

[pianotuna]

I would leave the PT50X unit out of the circuit. The PI folks may not honor the warranty if you connect it to a generator.

[Old-Biscuit]

[SoundGuy]

DrewE wrote:
Portable generators generally have floating outputs, with the ground not being bonded to neutral. Time2roll said it well; you can either bypass the surge protector with its little switch on the remote (and trust the generator to put out decent power), or else make a bonding plug to also plug into the generator and bond neutral to ground.

Of the two choices I preferred to leave my EMS in the system and simply bonded my EU2000i output with a G-N bonding plug which solves this issue entirely but still allows the EMS to protect the trailer's electrical system.

To the OP - the title of your thread is confusing in that what you're talking about is an inverter generator, not an inverter. If it were in inverter the advice to use a G-N bonding plug wouldn't be so definitive as some inverters specifically warn against bonding, depending on the internal design of the inverter.

[DrewE]

When the EMS says bad ground, what it really means is that ground is not bonded to neutral. It has no way of determining if the ground (and bonded neutral) are at earth potential or not.

Portable generators generally have floating outputs, with the ground not being bonded to neutral. Time2roll said it well; you can either bypass the surge protector with its little switch on the remote (and trust the generator to put out decent power), or else make a bonding plug to also plug into the generator and bond neutral to ground.