jazer
Senior Member
- Location
- Gibsonia, Pa
For the first time ever, I'm dealing with a portable generator that has a floating neutral and it's not modifiable. It's a small Honda with an inverter so I do not want to mess with the internal components. Home owner wants it for a single circuit to run a sump pump and maybe their furnace in an emergency if need be. I'm thinking of using a single pole, double throw toggle switch to control the dedicated outlet in the basement near the sump between the house/utility power and the generator. My concern comes in with bonding and connecting the generator neutral to the house/utility neutral. I feel like the generator floating neutral would send 60-65 volts (my meter reading from both hot and neutral to the unconnected ground prong on the generator) onto the house neutral and wreak havoc on everything else in the house. I understand this is how a floating neutral on a separately derived system should be bonded in order to provide a safe fault current path but I guess I've never actually come across it in the field and thinking through it has me concerned. Any advice or correction to my understanding? Thanks