Recent content by jmsokol

You are correct that many cheap inverters do this with a 60+60 output. But none of the mainstream generators (Honda, Yamaha, etc..) that I've ever tried act that way. Remember, my G-N cheater plug is for portable generators, NOT inverters.

Below is the official definition of a ground plane. It simply means a large electrical surface that provides the return path for various currents. For instance, your own car chassis forms the ground plane for the 12-volt starter battery since the negative terminal is connected to the chassis...

That sounds scary, but it's not really dangerous since there's no secondary path for fault currents to flow. And even if a secondary path does exist, your GFCI outlet on the trailer should open up, thus protecting you.

But make sure you don't do this as a permanent jumper in your shore power cord. It's a code violation (and bad idea) to connect a ground-neutral bonded extension cord plug to a home outlet/receptacle or pedestal. There can be only ONE ground-neutral bond in any system, so that's why I like the...

That is correct, and exactly how we do it for big sound system concert generators (my day gig). But actual earth grounding isn't required for portable generators running non-distributed power (what you're doing with a trailer or RV). However, bonding the generator's neutral to the local ground...

There's an exception in the UL Listing and NEC that allows manufacturers of generators under 5KW to avoid having to use a GFCI outlet as long as the neutral is floated. But yes, many manufacturers are confused by this an produce bonded neutral generators that would normally be used to power...

I'm Mike Sokol, author of the Generator Neutral Bonding article linked above. Thanks for posting it here. As far as neutral bonded generators, you'll find that most generators UNDER 5KW will have a floated neutral. That includes all of the small and medium inverter generators from Honda and...