Home Generator Hookup

is it right what i read a 6500kw or 6500 watts, 6500kw/6.5 mw can supply the whole county. anyway im not really sure about the Power supply in Canada as far as i know maybe....line to line + n (neutral) + ground so a total of (4 lines). so you got 4 prong outlet. If the situation like this way you can use your generator....2 line (line to line) + 1N (nuetral) + 1 connect a ground line in Genset with proper ground rod as well = 4 lines.......If you are not sure about the power supply and have a knowledge using multimeter set in AC Volt 250 check (line to line) must get 220vac, check (Line to Nuetral) must get 100vac, check (line to Ground) if you can get 110volts. In most cases Neutral & Ground are tied up together. You can check too using multimeter set in X1 OHMS for continuity both Neutral & Ground if tied up together. But be careful you might accidentally test the hot line and burn your multimeter. HOPE THIS WILL HELP YOU

Note: IM PRETTY SURE YOU CAN USE YOUR GENSET, BUT NOT SURE ABOUT THE CAPACITY OF GENERATOR AS WHAT YOU STATED.

lol, my mistake, overzealous typing, if I had that capacity I'd be making money with it....yes it's 6500w/6.5kw

also, yes, two hot (red, blk) one neutral (wht) and one ground on the house and 4 prong outlet

generator is 220 2 prong outlet that looks like this -.- not sure of meter readings across these, can check later today

so simply adding a ground wire (grounded to earth) and using the existing neutral on the generator as the wht neutral wire on the 4 prong will work OK? is it better to ground to the existing house ground, or a new rod?

thanks again!

The 220vac provides 220 volts or 120 volts. The voltage would be measured leg to leg or leg to ground. (neutral) The neutral and ground are a common point at the distribution. If the generator is used as an independant source, you need a ground rod. Follow the manufactures instructions. If you are using the system for emergency back-up, you hook it into the distribution panel. Tie-ins to the distribution require additional actions I am not including in this responce. It can be dangerous to the utility linemen if not done properly.

The manufacturer should provide information on the proper connection options. But to answer your question, they do make a multitude of connectors. Your safest solution is to contact technical support at each manufacturer so there is no confusion. A four prong plug has two hot legs, a neutral and ground. Three prong have two hots and a ground/neutral. There was a change to four plug appliance connections, verses three, years ago.

James

The transfer switch requires a center tap for the 110/220 system.

I would suspect, (but can't be sure) that the 110 V. option on the generator

would give you more than one outlet, and you might find the required

center tap by comparing the outputs in prongs of the 110 outlets.

If this is so theres probably a 'center tap bus` accessable in the

generator panel for hard wiring to the switch..

If you make the tests also determine where the generator ground is.

It might not be the center tap, which would mean you can't use it

as a grounded neutral.

Hi folks,

Everything that has been stated so far is pretty much on the mark but there are a couple of things that are probably worth clarifying.

In North America there are two main supply voltages a single phase 110 V 60 Hz AC system that is referenced to neutral or ground and a 220 V 60 Hz AC split phase AC system.

Ok, lets cover the simple single phase 110 V system first. This is basically a two wire system with a third earth wire thrown in. On the secondary side of the transformer that steps the 11 kV down to 110 V one of the legs it tied to earth. This is called the Main Earth Neutral (MEN) link. If you test the voltages of all three wires with respect to each other you will find that one has 110 V with respect to the other two which should both have close to zero between them. The line with the 110 V on it is the active line and the other two are the neutral and earth. The earth us usually the round pin in the middle.

Next up we have the 220 V split phase system. What we have here is two active lines that each have 110 V on them an neutral and an earth.. Now this is where it starts to get a little confusing but if you check each line with respect to each other you will have two that are close to 0 volts which are the neutral and earth while the other two will be at 110 V to the neutral and earth and 220 V to each other. What is going on here is that with AC voltages you need to treat them as vectors. In other words they have a magnitude and direction and in this case they have a magnitude of 110 V and a direction that is opposite or 180° out of phase with each other. As a result if you measure the voltage between the two active lines you will get 220 volts while each one separately only give you 110 volts to neutral or ground.

Ok, that's the background to the single and split phase system used in North America.

Now the problem with your generator is that I suspect you have two 110 V 60 Hz AC active lines that are 180° with each other (the two flat horizontal pins) and a neutral (the round one in the middle). The problem with this is that it will not be referenced to earth and if you check it with a multimeter you will have 110 V between each of the actives and the neutral and 220 between the two actives. However, if you check the voltage between the two actives and the neutral to earth there could be any sort of voltage present because there is no reference to earth or ground. This is because there is no MEN link.

The problem with this is that you must only have one MEN point and unless you have the appropriate circuit diagram for the generator it's difficult to know where the MEN link needs to be installed. You also need to ensure that the power from your generator doesn't get back onto the mains distribution system so you need some sort of change over system that disconnects whatever you are trying to run from the mains prior to connecting it to your generator.

I realize this may be somewhat confusing but unfortunately the power supply in North America is different from almost everywhere else in the world and is a system that has come about over nearly a century and consists of modifications on top of modifications.

The upshot of all this is that if you don't know exactly what you are doing then don't mess with it and get somebody that understands the system and can ensure the system is connected in a proper and safe way.

In the US, residential power is 240 VAC, of which you get two 120 VAC legs. The busbars in the breaker panel separate the 240. The transformer from the utility company is three wire. Two 120VAC legs to neutral/ground or 240 VAC leg to leg.

The actual utility lines are two hots and a Ground/neutral.

James

What you have said is true but you have left out some very important information.

The power distribution system in North America is pretty much the same as the rest of the world is a three phase system with each phase being 120° out of phase with respect to the others. If you measure the voltage between each phase and ground you will get the single phase voltage while the voltages from phase to phase will be the phase to neutral voltage multiplied by the square root of three.

Ok, so far so good where the system in North America goes off the rails is the final distribution system. The normal line to neutral voltage is 110-120 V phase to neutral 60 Hz. However if you were to measure the phase to phase voltage you would get 190-208 V which is inconsistent with the 220 to 240 V that is available in the normal domestic environment. What happens here is the last step down transformer steps down from 11,000 V to 220 V except the secondary winding has a centre tap that is used as the neutral line and is referenced to ground by tying it to the earth and the MEN point. This is often called a split phase system as you have two active lines that have a wave form that is 180° out of phase with each other rather than the 120° of the three phase system used nearly everywhere else.

The rest of the world does not use a split phase system to supply 220-240 V but rather three phases each of which is 220-240V above ground and neutral and 120° out of phase with each other.

The system in North America is a left over from the battle of the voltages between Edison and Tesla which you are unfortunately stuck with. The three phase 220-240 V system has several advantages but probably the biggest one is the distance it can be transmitted. Basically if you double the voltage you cut the line losses by 75% so you can transfer 220-240 v four times as far as you can with 110-120 and that means you can get by with around one sixteenth the number of 11 kV to domestic voltage transformers. You can also use cables that are only half the diameter and than means a 75% in the amount of conductor required.

Hey Masu,

Thats very good theory but thre caribbean is wired just like North america.

Works fine !!!!!!!

One word of caution , when connecting standby generators to domestic distribution boards and wiring :

ENSURE THAT THE MAIN SUPPLY GETS DISCONNECTED BEFORE THE GENERATOR GETS CONNECTED TO THE DISTRIBUTION BOARD.

THE TRANSFER SWITCH ACCOMPLISHES THIS.USE A BREAK MEFORE MAKE TRANSFER SWITCH .IF YOU USE THE THERMAL CIRUIT BREAKERS IN THE DISTRIBUTION BOARD ENSURE THAT SOME TYPE OF MECHANICAL INTERLOCK IS INSTALLED SUCH AS A SLIDING BARS ETC.

DO NOT JUST PLUG IN THE GENERATOR TO THE HOUSE .THIS CAN RESULT IN 120/240 VOLTS BEING BACK FED TO THE DISTRIBUTION TRANSFORMER AND TRANSFORMED TO 11 OR 12 KV OR WHATEVER THE DISTRIBUTION VOLTAGE IS.

MANY LINESMEN HAS BEEN KILLED BY NEGLIGENT DIYers.

I agree absolutely. It is manditory that the generator powered circuits be isolated from the mains input so that you are not putting a voltage on the mains. If you don't use this precaution the result could be the death or injury of a linesman. In the USA this will have you up for involuntary manslaughter charges and then the civil lawsuit. You really don't want to mess with this unless you know what you are doing.

A good Linesman (at least a live one!) checks for voltage first and puts a shorting strap on the wire while working I believe.......I saw a US program of hi voltage repairs on lines from a 'copter......

yeah, but there is a scenario where the linesman checks for voltage, finds none, starts work and then you switch on the generator. I know, it's far fetched, but it has happened.

>>hi voltage repairs on lines from a 'copter......

I don't want to know what their life insurance premiums are. Assuming they can get it.

The US residential system is a SINGLE PHASE 240 VAC from the power pole. It is NOT SPLIT phase.

James

Now where did I get the idea it was 115VAC or thereabouts?

The voltage can vary due to voltage drop, age of the distribution equipment and so forth. If you complain to the power company they will change the taps on the transformer and provide a higher voltage. The standard is normally 115 to 125 Volts or 220 to 240 volts single phase. Howstuffworks.com/power.htm gives a good idea of how power in the US is distributed. But the power arrives at your home as a single phase @240VAC source. People need to remember the secondary is taped to give you a neutral. Which gives you @120VAC legs. Yes you will get two traces on a scope, but this is not split Phase Power.

James

If two 120V lines with opposite phases to ground, adding to 240V, isn't split phase, then please educate me what is...

Thanks

Old Chinese saying.......

James

Gee! How helpful!!!!

I believe all Old Chinese Sayings predate AC electricity. I have no idea which Old Chinese saying you might be referring to.

I did Google 'split phase', and from what I read, 'split phase' simply refers to AC power coming from a center-tapped transformer, which I understand is on that pole outside my home.

Obviously, if you place one probe of the 'scope between any two AC wires, you are going to see a single sine wave, and if it is between the two hot wires, it will measure around 240V RMS. So yes, there is only one phase of 240V. But is the wiring system single phase? NO! There are two phases of 120V, which add to the 240V. I think we are discussing differences in semantics.

Once again, I am quite willing to be educated if I have some misunderstanding. Please educate me!

Dick

I liked it, I would try it out but I cannot find someone with a Defibrillator!!

Thanks to all for you input, it's looking good at this point, just wanted to clarify...yes by all means, I have a transfer switch in place to prevent feeding voltage back to the main line...the switch breaks the connection to the street, and feeds from the generator directly. I need to feed it with 240 (two 120 legs, one to each side of the panel) in a manner that will support a 240v appliance as well as the 120 appliances. A newer generator usually has the appropriate NEMA 20 or 30a outlet (with 2 hot 120 legs, a neutral, and a ground), this one unfortunately doesn't, it just has the -.- style 240 outlet with two hot wires anad a ground/neutral. I'll put the meter on it today if need be to check some of the voltages in question above if that helps.

The house is obviously grounded, the generator is grounded as well (to earth), but not bonded to the house (although they are ground in extremely close proximity) if that makes a difference...so the big question is...where can I get the additional ground or neutral from?

You folks are great...thanks for all your input so far!

It appears that this genset will not feed both 120 and 240 volt loads at the same time. If you elect to install it, you need to get a qualified electrician to do the job for you.

Depending upon what jurisdiction you are in in Canada, installing this device yourself could be illegal and you might void any insurance coverage in place on the property.

On my generator there is the option to use 120v single phase or 240v two phase, but there is a switch so both can't be used at the same time.

If you want to feed the house mains with the two phase this can be done using the 240v feed into the main with a transfer switch between the electric meter and the main breaker panel. With only 6.5kW you'll have to be a little careful which circuits you leave on.

The discussion on phases of the power won't matter much if your only 220v appliance is the electric stove. Motors on 220v (e.g. my well pump) might not be so happy, but they might work if they start.

You do have to properly ground the generator to earth as well.

Bottom line is that there is more to using the 220v option on the generator than just running an extension cord to the fridge. And yeah, I do have an isolation pigtail in the furnace power line. It's not perfect but it works safely for everybody concerned.

My generator also has both options, though I'm unsure of the phasing for 240, I would presume it 2 phase since there are two hot wires, but that not perfectly clear to me at the moment...if I feed the transfer panel 240, it provides the 240 120 split in the same manner as the main distribution panel splits the feed from the line to the house

The appliances aren't as big a deal (dryer, etc), but the water pump is the biggest thing I'd like to power, the furnace and fridge are both 110/120 an not an issue as such...all I really need to run are the lights/fridge and the water, the fireplace can heat the house sufficiently most nights and I jump at any chance to bbq so the stove is optional for these periods as well generally.

It sounds rude, but it appears that you are guessing at the various loads......you should not guess, but identify exactly the load requirements for each item.

A dryer has usually the highest electrical load of all in a house, whereas a pump can quite often have an almost insignificant load, depending upon its size of course!! That is basically the opposite of what you wrote!!

Lights, if of a modern type, LED or CFL need relatively little current, but incandescents need a lot more power (between 5 to 10 more) for a similar light output!!

Running an electric stove would need quite a large generator indeed!!!

You must add up the loads, say in watts or amps, not both. remember that non resistive loads (transformers & motors for example) have mostly large "inrush" currents, this can knock a small generator silly, even though the running current is well within its capabilities!!

lol, not rude, good observation...

What I meant by heavy was 240 volt, not in terms of amperage or wattage...sorry

my estimated running wattage is 5450 and the estimated surge is 6300 a heavy load for the generator, but it should be able to carry it for the time being...that includes some frills that aren't likely to be used as well...ie TV...

It really is surprising how many people do not get the nature of a residential 120/240 volt split phase service. There is no 180 degree phase differential involved on this system! It only appears like there is when referenced to the neutral. An appearance of something being there does not make it in fact be there.

If you stand in front of a mirror and wink your left eye, your image in the mirror appears to have winked your right eye. Does it mean you did wink your right eye? No... it means that the frame of reference was reversed by the mirror. This is what happens with a 240 volt source when we reference it from the neutral. We reverse our frame of reference when we look from the neutral to either end of the source.

Lets get simplistic... take two 1.5 volt batteries, connect them in series with the positive of one battery connected to the negative of the other. We now have 3 volts across the pair.

If what Masu is saying about the phase difference in a 120/240 volt service was true. We would have had to connect the batteries positive to positive or negative to negative in order to get the three volts, and we all know this is not true.

Scope a 240 volt source and you will see...

Again, if what Masu said was correct, you would see...

Rick...

You said:

Scope a 240 volt source and you will see...

Again, if what Masu said was correct, you would see...

I just 'scoped my 240V source to be sure I wasn't missing something (Tektronix 2-channel, Ch A on one wire and Ch B on the other, 'scope ground the same as 240V ground). MASU is correct, as usual. Your A/B diagram is exactly what I saw; with 120V between each hot and ground, 240V between the two hot wires. You have to have 180° between the two 120s in order for them to add to 240! I didn't bother to take a photo, since that could easily be faked...

Dick

Single phase 240 VAC RMS.

James

Yes of course that is what you saw. You used a two channel scope and had the reference on the neutral. You scoped it wrong. What you were looking at were the two sources when referenced from the neutral and they would appear out of phase to each other.

To scope the 240 volt source, place the A channel tip on L1 and the A channel shield on L2. The input impedance of the scope will prevent a short.

Do that, then tell me what you saw...

Please see my post #28

Dick

While taking the time to write all of this down would be worthwhile, I do not have the time to spend to essentially duplicate what is already written by others. For a full and detailed text, go look at...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Single-phase_electric_power

The crux of the issue is... to create a 3 wire 120/240 volt system you do it in one of two ways...

1) With a 240 volt single phase source chopped in half with a neutral brought out from the middle. In this situation, there is no phase shift involved in any way what so ever. This is the ubiquitous 120/240 volt 3 wire residential service in use in North America.

2) With two 120 volt sources, connected negative to negative, that are 180 degrees out of phase to each other, with a neutral brought out from where the two sources connect. This is not the common residential service in use in North America.

IMHO... When a teacher explains that a 180 degree phase shift is present in the nature of the common residential 120/240 volt 3 wire service in use in North America, that teacher is not describing the true nature of this system and is doing a disservice to their students.

I studied both of your sources, and quote from the first:

"Power systems in American households and light industry are most often of the split-phase variety, providing so-called 120/240 VAC power. The term "split-phase" merely refers to the split-voltage supply in such a system. In a more general sense, this kind of AC power supply is called single phase because both voltage waveforms are in phase, or in step, with each other." This last sentence is only true if you measure both voltages using L1 or L2 as zero volts.

All the sources I've found agree that the standard household AC in North America is produced by a center-tapped transformer, with the center tap grounded. Ground is zero volts by definition! Measured with respect to that zero, the two 'hot' lines have 120V RMS each and are 180° out of phase, exactly as observed on a dual-trace 'scope. At any given instant other than zero crossing, one of the two 'hot' lines is positive and the other is negative with respect to the ground zero. If that isn't a phase shift, then what is? That phase difference must be there for the 2-120V sources to add to 240V single phase.

Would you describe the two voltages feeding a 2-diode full-wave rectifier from a center-tapped transformer as being in phase with each other? I think (and hope) not!

"IMHO... When a teacher explains that a 180 degree phase shift is present in the nature of the common residential 120/240 volt 3 wire service in use in North America, that teacher is not describing the true nature of this system and is doing a disservice to their students."

I was one of those teachers of physics and electronics for 32 years, and In My Humble Opinion I was and remain correct teaching 2-120V lines @180°. It seems to me you are thinking only of the 240V source, ignoring the 120V. The vast majority of that 240V is used for cooking, water heating, and air conditioning. Anyone who has to deal with real machinery will have to learn about three-phase systems, and that's a whole different ball game.

....I would imagine that a short will occur if the probe shield is anywhere internally connected to ground....removing the power ground (to stop the possible short) could mean that the case of the scope goes to a value of L2, that is 120volts relative to the house ground......

It all sounds quite dangerous to me personally, I hope that I have seriously misunderstood the situation....... perhaps someone else could comment asap......I have to admit that I have never measured grounds etc on a scope using another meter....so it is possible that I am the problem!But at least I was trying to err on the side of safety.....

Hi Andy

It bothered me all night, so the first thing I did this morning was to measure the resistance between probe tip and chassis (see my post#32). I did that and wrote post #32 before I saw your post. Now I disconnected the 'scope from the power so I could measure the resistance between the 'scope's power socket and chassis. My handheld DMM isn't as precise as the 'scope's unit, but the resistance is definitely under an Ohm, so my post #32 stands as written.

Dick

Great and many thanks....

"To scope the 240 volt source, place the A channel tip on L1 and the A channel shield on L2. The input impedance of the scope will prevent a short."

NO! The shield is directly connected to the chassis, which is directly connected to the powerline ground. I measure 0.15 Ω (0.15 Ohms, in case the Ω does not appear as omega on all computers) ohmmeter lead resistance, and 0.40 Ω Shield-to-Chassis, so the actual Shield-to-Chassis resistance is 0.25 Ω. If I were to connect the shield to L2, I would have a large hole in the end of my probe, a blown probe cable, probable burns, and a blown circuit breaker, or some combination of the above.

Dick

Yes, I agree, I keep forgetting that the scope that I used for this purpose had isolated inputs.

FYI... here is the device I am talking about with the isolated inputs.

http://ca.fluke.com/caen/products/features.htm?cs_id=8221(FlukeProducts)&category=SCM(FlukeProducts)

Thanks. I hope to get something like that before I'm too old to use it! If things continue on the current path, I should be able to get one in a year or so. Are the two Shields isolated from each other?

Good question, I'll check. I think they will be, but I'll verify.

Just as I expected, but I was not 100% certain....that other Guy is REALLY DANGEROUS!!!!

Many thanks, I will rate your post as positive....and that other Guys as negative!!!

I had an electrician build me a 25 foot cord to connect my 6500 watter to my transfer switch, works like a champ and did not cost a fortune.

ahem...I'm actually quite enjoying the conversation on the phase and shift issues, but am still curious if I can fix my problem,

what I was hoping was that I could connect the generator with it set to 220, and lead it to the distribution/transfer panel at which point it would be split to 120 in the same fasion as the power from the street is ditributed in the main panel...the panel is set up correctly to do this, but the generator only having one ground / neutral is my problem....while I think I caught a glimpse of how to up there someplace to look into...I'm hoping I can draw you back to the original problem for a moment...any takers?

I don't know whether it is acceptable to run the genset with no load, but I would think so. If so, then simply start it up and measure the voltages between the various pairs of pins or between single pins and ground (chassis). I suspect you will find that there are two pins at zero volts (Ground and neutral), and two that measure 120V above ground.

You may also be able to measure (genset shut down) the resistance between pairs of pins. Use the lowest resistance scale on your meter. I suspect that you will find two pins that indicate close to zero resistance. If so those should be ground and neutral. The ground pin is usually longer than the others on the male plug, but you would not be able to tell that on the female socket. The ground is commonly wider and/or a different shape than the other pins, and that you should be able to see on the female.

If my assumptions are correct, then you can simply buy a length of appropriately sized 3- or 4-conductor cable, a 3 pin female connector to match the house, and a 4 pin male connector to match the genset. If you use a 3-wire cable, the ground conductor would connect to both neutral and ground at the genset plug (these are the two pins that measure close to zero resistance to each other on the genset, or measure close to zero volts to chassis when the genset is running). If you use a 4-wire cable, then both the ground and the neutral conductors should connect to ground at the house socket. Again, all this is IF you have previously verified voltages and/or resistances, preferably both, as described above. And of course assuming, as you have stated, that you have a break-before-make switch at the house.

If you don't have or don't know how to use a multimeter, then I suggest you find someone who does, and don't try to do it yourself.

Good luck

Thanks dk...

I'm the other way around though, 3pin on the genset and 4 on the house...same apply in reverse?

Oops - sorry I got it backwards.

Yes, it does apply in reverse, except that you can't do any voltage checks at the house. At the genset, the ground pin should have close to zero resistance to the chassis. The resistance check and the pin size/shape should identify ground and neutral at the house. Most likely the odd pin will be ground and a somewhat centered pin will be neutral, with the two side pins being the two phases of 120V. Measure resistance between a metal water pipe and the supposed ground, if you can't see an obvious ground connection. You might have to temporarily run a wire from the water pipe to make your leads reach. Hold the wire to the pipe with a C-clamp. The ground and neutral should have connection to earth ground in either position of the break-before-make switch (it should be a two-pole switch, not 3-or 4-pole).

Dick

You need to ignore dkwarmer and call an electrician.

James

Hiring an electrician is certainly not a bad idea, as I implied, especially if he does not at least know how to use a DMM.

If there is something wrong with the directions I gave, other than getting the 3-and 4-wire locations backward the first time, please point out my error(s).

Since there was no response to my post #48, I believe my directions remain valid.

One other thing I should have mentioned: before you power up the genset connected to the house electrical system, first make sure you know what outlets and other devices are controlled by at least one breaker (I have made a diagram of my electrical system, so I know which breaker controls every single light, outlet, etc. in my home). Then turn off all breakers other than that one, and unplug, unscrew, or otherwise disconnect everything except one small, preferably incandescent, lamp on the known breaker. Then power up the genset. In the remote chance that either my directions or your understanding of them are wrong, the most damage you would do would be to blow out that one lamp. If that should occur, then for sure it's time to call an electrician!

Ideally, you would do the same with a single lamp on each of the two 120V phases, but without taking the cover off your breaker panel, I couldn't advise you which breakers are on which phase, and I can't recommend doing that. If the first lamp operates normally, then the probability is very high that it is all connected correctly.

Dick

Thanks again folks for all you input...

Finally had a chance to meter the thing, and as expected its 2 separate 120v hot wires and a common neutral, 240 across the 120 pins...

So the trick is to add the second ground to the system, I understand that eventually they're all grounding to the same thing, but am I best to use the existing neutral/ground wire from the genset (3 wire) as the isolated neutral wire, and run the additional ground (from the 4 wire house side) to the generator chasis (which is grounded to earth), or is there a better way to wire that?

The box in the house is definately set up properly to handle the separate 120 to each bank, and feed the 240 appliances in the normal fashion...no problem there...

Go back and look at my instructions for 3- or 4-wire cable. it's still correct, except swap male and female.

Dick

whoops, sorry missed that.

OK 4 pin outlet at house (to cutoff/transfer switch box internally), 4 wire cble to 3 pin outlet at genset. Genset grounded to earth, neutral and ground from 4 wire cable to the common neutral/ground on the generator (3 pin) end...did I miss anything?

When I power up the generator at my house, it doesn't hurt to run with no load. I crank it several times each winter for twenty minutes to circulate the oil. When I hook mine up to the house I use a spare double pole breaker in the service panel and back feed the house. But, I know to disconnect from the grid. You have a disconnect for this as stated earlier. If the generator has a four prong plug it has the neutral and ground separated. That is the only difference from a three prong. The three prong has only a neutral/ground depending on your circuit. The neutral and ground are bonded together at the distribution (breaker panel) in your home. Any sub-panels are required to have an isolated neutral. This will keep neutral currents off the ground. Simple solution is to call All Phase electric, Consolidated Electrical Distributors, Grainger or a local electrical supply house. They will get something that matches your generator.

James

James, (if I understood you post correctly) you don't have the correct isolating/switch over system that I believe the law requires in your country in your house?

Even if you "know what you are doing" it could be possible that you accidentally forget or get distracted etc.....or ill and your wife tries to do it and then wrongly!!

Would it not be better to be correct and legal before someone gets hurt? Especially as you appear to be "in the industry" from your logon name.......

Do not do what I do, do as I say???

Please clear up the situation asap.

Yes, I tie in, turn the main breaker off, and chill.

James

...and that is legal in your home country?

It's legal on my farm. Nobody has the balls to knock on the door and tell me no.

James