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The Water Cooler
General Discussion
My New Generator Setup
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<blockquote data-quote="JamestheJust" data-source="post: 2031478" data-attributes="member: 12923"><p>OkCobra has a good point above. When he says that the interlock kit will not open the neutral he is right. You can get voltage coming back to your panel from the neutral line overhead. I dont know how much of an issue this is though because in theory your grounded conductor (neutral) is bonded to your equipment ground at your panel or meter. The neutral is also bonded up at the pole to a ground rod driven at each power pole ( at least round here). So your unbalanced load will eventually go to ground. You won't have any more of a problem with rogue neutral current entering your house wiring when using your generator than any other time. </p><p></p><p>On the other hand what is a bit concerning is that your unbalanced load could go to the overhead lines and through the neighborhood and God forbid to a lineman working. Again, it's bonded to ground at your service but in an outage the lineman assumes that everything is dead. Ground rods are dependent upon many variables including moisture content. </p><p></p><p>A transfer switch when installed correctly should open the neutral so that the load doesn't go back to the overhead lines. </p><p></p><p>If your generator has its neutral bonded to the frame and you are using an interlock kit you should remove that bond to ground in the generator and "float" the neutral since your main panel is now a "subpanel." The reason for this is that you will get GFI's tripping because they sense an imbalance in neutral current due to being bonded twice. You shouldn't use this generator for anything else but for emergency power. If you take it camping or to work you should rebond the neutral to ground. </p><p></p><p>I am an electical contractor and if I was installing an interlock kit at my house this is how I would do it. Although as cobra said a bonafide transfer switch is the best route.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="JamestheJust, post: 2031478, member: 12923"] OkCobra has a good point above. When he says that the interlock kit will not open the neutral he is right. You can get voltage coming back to your panel from the neutral line overhead. I dont know how much of an issue this is though because in theory your grounded conductor (neutral) is bonded to your equipment ground at your panel or meter. The neutral is also bonded up at the pole to a ground rod driven at each power pole ( at least round here). So your unbalanced load will eventually go to ground. You won't have any more of a problem with rogue neutral current entering your house wiring when using your generator than any other time. On the other hand what is a bit concerning is that your unbalanced load could go to the overhead lines and through the neighborhood and God forbid to a lineman working. Again, it's bonded to ground at your service but in an outage the lineman assumes that everything is dead. Ground rods are dependent upon many variables including moisture content. A transfer switch when installed correctly should open the neutral so that the load doesn't go back to the overhead lines. If your generator has its neutral bonded to the frame and you are using an interlock kit you should remove that bond to ground in the generator and "float" the neutral since your main panel is now a "subpanel." The reason for this is that you will get GFI's tripping because they sense an imbalance in neutral current due to being bonded twice. You shouldn't use this generator for anything else but for emergency power. If you take it camping or to work you should rebond the neutral to ground. I am an electical contractor and if I was installing an interlock kit at my house this is how I would do it. Although as cobra said a bonafide transfer switch is the best route. [/QUOTE]
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