How/where do you ground the generator? - Coleman Powermate Proforce 6,000 Watt 12 Hp Portable Generator #PM0106000

You need to have the wiring diagram for the generator but they didn't include one in the owners manual and nothing is shown the IPLs that I found.

DISCLAIMER NOTE: The following should be done only by knowledgeable service personal trained in area of servicing these portable generators. The information is what service personal needs to know in order to unbond the neutral and chassis ground. If done incorrectly you will put yourself and others in danger of electrocution.

To determine if your generator uses a floating or bonded neutral perform this simple test. With the engine off, use an ohm meter between the chassis ground and neutral conductors in the outlet. If it indicates open circuit, the neutral is floating. A short circuit will indicate neutral bonded to ground. I don't recommend doing this to household circuits due to the possibility of exposed AC and damage to the meter.

The jumper from ground to neutral, likely on one or both the 120VAC duplex outlets that needs to be removed. Connect ground connections on both outlets to the chassis ground and ground the generator chassis and frame to earth ground.

Please be careful, you need a neutral bond for the GFI outlets to work when you are using the generator as a mobile unit and grounding the generator with a ground rod or building. When you are merging with a building with a grounded system, simply remove the two neutral wires (White) at the generators internal terminals from the generator frame but keep them connected together and terminate connection.

Bonding on a generator questions

Q. If I was to keep the tie between ground and neutral in the generator during standby use, would I have to break the neutral tie coming into home from grid?



A. Never disconnect the neutral line as it enters your house. It is held very well at ground potential. Each transformer is grounded, and every home supplies ground as well. The neutral coming in is the reference to both live lines, and without it, anything connected to either live line could see up to 240VAC depending on what is across the other side. Install a proper transfer panel, and the neutral issue will be taken care of.

Q. Where would I ground the generator at this time in this situation?



A. The generator will be grounded through the extension cord plugging into the transfer panel. Your home should have one ground connection only, adding a ground rod at the generator could create other unwanted safety issues.

Q. At this time is it safe to run an extension cord off generator direct to power a drill for example?



A. Yes. The transfer panel will take care of any neutral and ground bonding issues, provided things are wired correctly.

Q. If I was to lift the neutral to ground in generator and tag generator as floating neutral, then would I leave neutral unbroken in service panel?



A. Yes. The common point for neutral and ground will be provided in the main electrical panel.

Q. Could I use the 15 amp outlets on generator safely in this position to run a drill outside? I see generators with floating neutral have a 15 amp duplex outlet on cabinet also. In this situation would I install a ground at the generator?



A. If you were connected to the house with the four conductor extension cord nothing else will be needed.

Q. If you have a floating neutral generator and use it in a stand alone mode, nothing to do with a home, do you place a ground rod down? What happens with the neutral and ground connections? What about a generator on a truck or trailer?



A. In stand alone use, you should connect to a ground rod. Neutral and ground should also be bonded in the generator. The easiest way to take care of this is with a dummy plug inserted into one of the duplex outlets or the twistlock outlet. Jumper ground and neutral in the plug. A generator on a truck or trailer will follow the same rules for neutral and ground bonding, ground rods, etc.

Q. If the generator is a grounded neutral type and you only run the two live lines to the house in an illegal back feed situation where main disconnect is off but neutral still connected will I have 120 volts available in house between each hot leg and the utility grid system neutral? Would someone get shocked if standing next to generator at that time and touched it creating a path from ground to the generator?



A. The only time I would consider backfeeding a house is if the main lines were torn down and laying on the ground. I did this once after Hurricane Juan caused a tree to tear the lines off a neighbors house. The lines were still connected at the pole and were live once commercial power was restored, but there was no possibility of the generator backfeeding to the street. It took almost two weeks before the power company could get them reconnected. We still turned off the main breaker and installed a padlock to prevent it from being turned back on. The house was totally isolated from the grid so I felt it safe to connect in this manner. The generator connected via a 20 amp two pole breaker in the main panel, and there was power available for everything in the house - well pump, electric stove, all lights, etc. Generator neutral was floating as described above. Power supply was limited, they were careful not to overload and trip the generator breaker.

Q. At the same time I went to a friends home and after killing the main breaker and all 240 breakers ran a 3 wire cord from the generator 240 volt outlet direct to his pump, now isolated from the house panel using both 120 volt lines and ground. I then ran a 12 gauge 20 amp extension cord from the generator duplex outlet to a double male pig tail and back fed a kitchen outlet so he could have lights in the house. 1/2 the house to be exact. This was also a grounded neutral generator but we didn't have a problem. I did however drive a ground rod at the generator.



A. I think you were lucky this time. Electricity can be potentially dangerous and can kill and burn if not used correctly. Double male plugs should never be used as invariably there is exposed 120V on one end. If you miswire one end you can send 120V onto the neutral. At best this will trip a circuit breaker, but not knowing what else is done, could easily create a lethal voltage on the chassis of certain equipment. It gets back to doing something properly or not doing it at all. Why run the risk of personal injury or death?

Ground the generated it's self. I had a similar problem after a storm once. First on the generater itself find a flat peice on the frame say by the motor. Sand in down to mettal. Put a self tapper screw in. Now get a 5' to 6' peice of 10 gauge bear copper wire. Attache it to the generator and shove the rest into the ground. Now it's grounded and It took care power surges when I did it. Hopefully this will help you.

You really need to use a 4 wire, one with red, black, white, and a ground. 10-2 will not work properly.

Hello, an interesting question. I am not sure what your local codes state, for myself to prevent any ground currents, I would pull a #6 ground as a minimum and not install a ground post. Like I mentioned above, your local codes may or may not require a post. Be sure that you connect the ground from the generator securely to the existing ground in your existing ground system.
joe

In any power generator installation it is always advisable to have a ground/earth rod (minimum 3 ft/1 metre long) attached to the frame of the generator, especially when connecting ancilliaries such as yuor transfer switch. The Earth and Neutral pins of the output sockets on the generator should also be interconnected. They are usually linked at the factory on assembly.

Page 39 of the current owners manual for the both EU6500 and the EM5000 generators indicate that there is not a neutral ground bond on these units.

Per the wiring diagram, the ground pin on the outlets is connected to the frame ground of the generators (on both generators). To have grounded electrical service, a bond wire would connect the generator frame to the ground terminal on the transfer switch. The ground system from the breaker / distribution box (usually to a ground rod) then serves as the electrical ground for the generator, as well as the balance of the rest of the system, satisfying NEC requirements.

See Page 39 in both manuals:
EU6500 EM5000

"The system ground is not connected to the AC neutral
wire. If the generator is tested with a receptacle tester, it will not show the same ground circuit condition as for a home receptacle."

ALL AC electric needs a ground for safety and somewhere for the excess power to go, you dont want to hook one into your house with out a ground it will just overload circuits and throw breakers with a possibility of damaging electrical appliances, all you really need for a good ground is a 2 foot rod driven into the ground about 14-16 inches, or you can just use the one already around your home

That sucks! Maybe it's because your a fireman! LOL

The L1420p is a common plug used for most all generators having 20amp outlet with ground. The markings on the plug are as follows; x,y, are hot connections 115v each; w connection is neutral; g is ground. You will need a four conductor cable to connect all the wires. In some cases, there is no need to connect the ground wire because on the generator, the ground is the frame. Check your manual for the proper method of attaching a ground to your generator. So unless you are grounding the frame to a ground rod or other method, the ground wire on the plug just goes to frame. If the heater is used on a jobsite, check local codes or OSHA requirements. You could also just ground the heater like many appliances in the home where there is an extra ground wire from the frame of the appliance to ground. Good Luck