Generator

[kenandjudy]

Hooked 2 Honda 2000ie with parallel cable to Monty, started units and check my Prog. Ind. EMS it showed error code E2 (open ground)
is this normal. Shutdown units before EMS pulled in.
Thanks Ken

[H. John Kohl]

Yes it is normal. I talked to the Prog Ind. tech about my 50A surge guard and he said you have to make a special jumper cable between generator and normal power plug to tie the common and ground together to cure the E2 error code. He also said this jumper should ONLY be used when you are powering with a generator.
Hope this helps. If you have questions I suggest calling Prog Ind. They were very helpful.
If you are not comfortable with AC voltage and wiring I suggest getting a certified electrician to do it because if it is wrong it could have sever effects.
Good luck.

[Art-n-Marge]

For more information on this do an internet search of "bonding". This is a common problem (and hazard?) with RV generators. Most professional RV generator installations have taken care of this, but I think this is rarely done by us add-on generator users so we must create a bonded cable. I've heard there are some generators that take care of this but I do know portable Hondas aren't on that list. It's best to check with the manufacturer if you can.

What many have done is buy parts to create an adapter to do this for when using a generator. DO NOT MODIFY YOUR BIG CABLE because it is important that there is only one point of this bonding to occur and when you are connected to shore power, the bonding is already taken care of at the shore power connection and I've read you shouldn't have more than one bonding connection in a circuit. Like H John hints you should be very comfortable with the requirements to do this yourself.

While some have gotten away with not having a bonded cable when using a generator a smart power monitoring device like your EMS will detect this and prevent power being applied.

I hope I've explained this correctly. This has been posted several times and it doesn't hurt to have a reminder posted topic.

[snfexpress]

A floating neutral can be solved by plugging in a 15 amp male plug into the receptacle on the Honda. The male plug should have the neutral wired to the ground. Only one plug is necessary in our setup.

[CBTraveler]

Michael,
Nice fix. Do you know why the generators do not have the N-G bond? Also, it seems that if you have parallel generators that you would neet an adapter for each generator

[Art-n-Marge]

The adapter is at the place you plug the RV cord for the generator. The parallel cable plugs the two generators to increase the capacity to the one generator connected by the cord to the RV. For this reason only the one adapter is needed.

I can only guess since generators can be used for many uses besides an RV that needs a bonded cord, the bond is left off so the owner can determine when and if a bonded adapter or cord is being used.

[William H. Collier]

Are you saying that if you have two Hondas hooked in parallel you only need to use a bonding plug on one generator?

[bighornram]

quote:Originally posted by William H. Collier

Are you saying that if you have two Hondas hooked in parallel you only need to use a bonding plug on one generator?

http://www.beamalarm.com/Documents/1...n_your_rv.html

"In essence, when you plug in an RV, you are really just plugging in an extension cord and the things in the RV (at the end of that cord) are the equivalent of plugging an appliance into an extension cord in a house (electrically, no more than plugging a microwave in a wall socket).
As above then, there should be only ONE connection where neutral and ground are bonded. And that is at the house or RV park hook-up, and BEFORE it ever gets to the RV (unless you want to pound in an eight foot ground rod every time you park)"

[bncinwv]

[/quote]
http://www.beamalarm.com/Documents/1...n_your_rv.html


As above then, there should be only ONE connection where neutral and ground are bonded. And that is at the house or RV park hook-up, and BEFORE it ever gets to the RV (unless you want to pound in an eight foot ground rod every time you park)"

[/quote]

This may well be true, but there are some situations where the bonding can indeed be accomplished inside the rig. On our old rig, I had a dedicated front receptacle that I only used for the generator hookup. This enabled me to do the bonding of the neutral and ground inside the automatic transfer switch on the side dedicated to the generator. There are probably similar installations so a "before the rig" assertion may not necessarily be true all of the time.
Bingo

[William H. Collier]

I was looking for a yes or no answer, what happened?
Bill

[bighornram]

quote:Originally posted by William H. Collier

I was looking for a yes or no answer, what happened?
Bill

Bill, I have read in several places that 2 Honda generators in parallel should have only one of them bonded.

This is such a C R A Z Y topic! There are intense discussions on this all over the net with varying beliefs. I'm still trying to figure out whether or not it is a good idea to bond my inverter. I currently have it bonded in it's own breaker box. It is installed but not the load wire (heavy duty extension cord) still has the plug on the end. I think I want to tie it into the pre-wired genset line for now until I get the Onan installed. I've kept it separate because I can't find definitive info about bonding. Best I can tell rule of thumb (Bingo I think you are right there are exceptions) is to bond at the source. Maybe that is simply to keep things simple and not bond in more than one location. Scary since this stuff can KILL you!!

[snfexpress]

Bill,

quote:A floating neutral can be solved by plugging in a 15 amp male plug into the receptacle on the Honda. The male plug should have the neutral wired to the ground. Only one plug is necessary in our setup.

[William H. Collier]

Thanks guys, it makes sense that only one would be needed as the 2 Hondas are hooked together.
Bill