Ready_ToRoll
Explorer
Joined 22 years ago
User Profile
User Widgets
All Activity
Re: Dometic Refer Recall - Possible Fire Hazard -Update 2/13/07
I wouldn't necessarily count on Camping World. My local CW told me in mid April that they had ordered 40 kits and put me on the list as number 16. The last week in April they got in 10 kits, and told me they would call me when more came in. No word yet. Bruce434Views0likes0CommentsRe: 3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
I have a PowerWise 3000 that I got from Costco about 7 months ago. About 5 months ago, on this thread, "cloudswrest" pointed out that this model had a grounded neutral in the generator and the 240V outlet had no neutral wire connected. It was pointed out by "professor95" that the grounded neutral was dangerous and the missing neutral on the 240V would not allow use of 120V from this outlet. See professor95 answer here I am going to install a transfer switch in my basement for power outages and I wanted to use a 240V switch for greatest flexibility in the future. So, I needed to fix both problems. It was pretty easy. I removed the wire connecting the neutral to the Y/G ground wire in the generator end. By installing a smaller connector on one end of the removed wire, I was able to use it to connect the neutral connection of the 240V outlet to the center connection of the 240V side of the voltage switch. (This made the wiring identical to the Champion RV ready model wiring diagram.) The generator runs fine and I now have 120V between each hot and the neutral on the 240V outlet. Photos and revised wiring diagram available here. Bruce316Views0likes0CommentsRe: 3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
O.K., I just went out and tested the 120v outlets on my (Costco) PowerWise 3000w. Not running, voltage switch to 120v. Meter on 200 ohm range: ground to chassis 0.8 ohm neutral to chassis 0.8 ohm hot to chassis 1.0 ohm Not running, voltage switch to OFF. Meter on 200K ohm range: ground to chassis 0.0 ohm neutral to chassis >200K ohm hot to chassis >200K ohm Running, voltage switch to 120v. Meter on 200 vac range: ground to chassis 0 v neutral to chassis varies 0 to 3 v hot to chassis 122.5 v So, it looks like the grounded neutral is a design flaw in the PowerWise generator, and not just a problem with Cloudswrest's unit. If someone does a fix on their Powerwise, please post a description here so that I might do the same. Also, sorry for previously posting a link to a document that may have been mis-leading. I (should) know better than to cite a single sentence without checking the actual codes. Bruce Edit: When I use the word "chassis" I mean the generator frame. I am not connected to the trailer.333Views0likes0CommentsRe: 3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
cloudswrest wrote: professor95 wrote: cloudswrest wrote: One thing I noticed, and it is not shown in the schematic, is the bottom terminal of the top winding (white wire) is wired to chassis ground in the generator (not in the switch panel.) So neutral on the 120V outlets is shorted to chassis GND. I hope this is not true and you are looking at a wire for the 12 volt winding or the regulator control winding. Have you made some resistance measurments with an ohm meter to be sure? If it is true, it should be disconnected and allowed to float. Only the green or green/yellow wire should be attached to the chassi. Having the white wire (AKA neutral) on the chassi is a dangerous situation. Is true. Measured with an ohmmeter as well as saw it visually. For the 120V outlet the GND terminal measures shorted to the neutral terminal. When the generator is on the meter measures 120VAC from Hot to GND (and chassis). I plan to get out there and rewire it when the weather cools off, although the cheesy schematic doesn't show the field cicuitry, only the armature circuit, so I don't yet know if the field circuit relies on the neutral to chassis connection. Cloudswrest Cloudswrest, You may want to look at this OSHA Fact Sheet Grounding Requirements for Portable Generators If I read it correctly (that's a risky bet :) ), the last paragraph on pg.2 calls for the neutral to be bonded to the generator frame. I found this link in a reply from "vermilye" in another thread Generator Grounding Thread I'm interested because I have the PowerWise also. Bruce333Views0likes0CommentsRe: 3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
Ugly Dwarf, Before you give up, have you tried using a different 15A-30A adapter? I don't have any reason to think that this is the problem, except that it is a inexpensive possibility to try. Maybe it acts differently with the house plugs because of a different type of ground. Good luck! I bought the same exact generator a couple of months ago. Even joined Costco just bacause of their return policy. Lucky me, mine works perfectly. Runs A/C and microwave at the same time. Bruce264Views0likes0Comments
Groups
