Portable Generator open ground

[185EZ]

nothing to see here

[road-runner]

Teamfour wrote:

road-runner wrote:
The "open ground" diagnosis is not correct.

The open ground diagnosis is correct. Straight from the folks who make the EMS:

I'm curious if you read the rest of my post where I explained why it wasn't correct? If the EMS doesn't have its own independent connection to ground (which it doesn't), it cannot positively diagnose an open ground. The EMS is sensing the lack of a neural-ground bond, and if it's not present, it assumes the fault is an open ground, when it in fact has no way of determining if that assumption is correct or not. In the floating output generator situation, you could drive the world's best ground rod, positively connect it to the EMS, and it will still say "open ground".

[bob213]

Make one cheap! looks like this:

[MrWizard]

make a bonding plug

to put in one of the outlets on the generator

grounding the generator frame to earth ground, does nothing for the EMS which is looking for a bond between the neutral wire and the ground wire/lug of the power source

[185EZ]

You guys are awesome!
Thanks for the help.:)
I thought i was going to have to return a generator

[enblethen]

You can buy a standard three wire cord body. Open it up as to install a cord. Get a short piece of 12 or 14 gauge wire, about two inches will be plenty. Strip the wire ends about 1/2 inch. Connect one end to the green screw, connect the other end to the silver screw. Re-assemble. Plug it into one of the receptacle on the genset.
That is all there is to do.

[agesilaus]

The bonding plug idea is interesting, I'll be trying that asap.

[Teamfour]

road-runner wrote:
The "open ground" diagnosis is not correct.

The open ground diagnosis is correct. Straight from the folks who make the EMS:
Open Ground Protection:

If AC power has an open ground condition, the EMS will read an error code of E-2 and power will not be allowed to the RV.

[road-runner]

The "open ground" diagnosis is not correct. It's the most likely guess by the EMS based on what it can discern from the two hot wires plus the safety ground wire. When you're on shore power the open ground diagnosis has a high probability of being correct. When being powered by an unbonded generator, it's an incorrect diagnosis. Shore power has what's called a "neutral-ground bond", where the neutral conductor and ground conductor are connected upstream of the power output. The majority of portable generators do not have this neutral-ground bond, and the EMS wrongly diagnoses it as an open ground. To make the EMS happy you need to add this neutral-ground bond. Many people think the simplest way is to take a standard plug and wire the neutral (wide blade) and ground pins together, then plug it into the same generator outlet that you plug the RV into. There have been pictures posted, but with the forum requiring pictures to be hosted on an outside web site, all the ones I know about are gone. Take a look here for more info: http://noshockzone.org/generator-ground-neutral-bonding/ . To read more, search for "generator bonding plug" and you'll find lots to read, videos, and even pre-made ones to purchase.

[Teamfour]

Yep, you just need a bonding plug. I made my own ($4) to get rid of the E2 code on the EMS. Here's one already made if you don't want to try it yourself.

Bonding plug

[185EZ]

wnjj wrote:

185EZ wrote:
I wanted a generator so I wouldn't have to run my 7000kw in the rv just to charge the batteries and run a few things.
Amazing what you can get for $250 these days

I have a Durastar 4400 generator but the hz would vary too much and it would trip error codes on my Progressive EMS and i couldn't just plug it into the rv since it would give a fault code on my inverter.

So I bought a dual fuel Sportsman
https://www.amazon.com/Sportsman-GEN4000DF-SS-Sandstorm-4000-Generator/dp/B079RBD936http://www.amazon.com/Sportsman-GEN4000DF-SS-Sandstorm-4000-Generator/dp/B079RBD936

Works great on propane and the hz only varies from 61 to 62 hz
But the EMS shows an error code of open ground.
I even tried grounding the terminal lug into the ground and nothing changed
Everything works fine if I bypass the EMS

What else can I do to fix the open ground?

You need to connect the ground pin to the neutral pin using a bonding plug at the generator or bypass your EMS when on generator power. You can probably bond one of the 20A outlets and it will suffice.

I know enough to get by but I have no idea what you just said lol
I'm fine knowing the EMS is within range and unplugging it to use the generator.
Is the open ground anything to really be worried about?
I don't want to be connecting pins and bonding things at this time unless it isn't a big deal.
appreciate the help.

[agesilaus]

You may need to get an inverter genset that puts out true sine wave output. I cannot run my UPS, printer or several other bits of gear on my Champion 3500/4000 dual fuel non-inverter, but it works fine on my Champion 3500/4000 inverter. I doubt grounding it will correct the wave form. But I'm not an electrician or electrical engineer.

[wnjj]

185EZ wrote:
I wanted a generator so I wouldn't have to run my 7000kw in the rv just to charge the batteries and run a few things.
Amazing what you can get for $250 these days

I have a Durastar 4400 generator but the hz would vary too much and it would trip error codes on my Progressive EMS and i couldn't just plug it into the rv since it would give a fault code on my inverter.

So I bought a dual fuel Sportsman
https://www.amazon.com/Sportsman-GEN4000DF-SS-Sandstorm-4000-Generator/dp/B079RBD936http://www.amazon.com/Sportsman-GEN4000DF-SS-Sandstorm-4000-Generator/dp/B079RBD936

Works great on propane and the hz only varies from 61 to 62 hz
But the EMS shows an error code of open ground.
I even tried grounding the terminal lug into the ground and nothing changed
Everything works fine if I bypass the EMS

What else can I do to fix the open ground?

You need to connect the ground pin to the neutral pin using a bonding plug at the generator or bypass your EMS when on generator power. You can probably bond one of the 20A outlets and it will suffice.