On a portable generator used in a residential application. The manufacture sends the units out with the neutral bonded to the enclosure. If so, this is a separately derived system. Therefore at the service disconnect enclosure in the structure were the neutral ( grounded conductor ) is bonded to the enclosure through the main bonding jumper the system bonding jumper in the portable generator should be removed or a transfer switch be installed to isolate the two bonding jumpers and a grounding electrode installed at the portable generators location to be code compliant. Am I correct in this??????
Portable Generators
- Thread starter rblaney
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- Placerville, CA, USA
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- Retired PV System Designer
Yes. The ground-to-(grounded conductor) bond would be on the POCO side of the transfer switch with no bond in any distribution panel downstream of the TS.
But if is is a separately derived system, and treated as such, you may not be allowed to use a transfer switch which does not break all current carrying conductors even if you remove the bonding at the generator. If it is a portable generator with a manufacturer-installed bond, in theory you maynot have the option of treating it as a non-SDS.
AllCircuitsElectrical
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- S.E. PA
the exact manufacture and model number of the generator would be helpful ...
each have their own way of doing things ....ie ...
C/P from Reliance Site
Does it matter if the generator is GFCI (ground fault) protected, and what is the difference between a ?bonded-neutral? portable generator and a ?floating-neutral? portable generator?
Most portable generators will come in 2 primary types, defined by the internal wiring of the generator related to the neutral and ground. The neutral and ground are either tied together, or separated, inside the generator. A generator with the neutral and ground tied together is referred to as a "bonded-neutral" generator. It might also be described as "neutral bonded to frame". A generator with the neutral and ground isolated and separated from each other, is referred to as a "floating-neutral" generator.
Certain industrial/commercial generators must be ?bonded-neutral? to pass OSHA inspection on job sites, which is why there are many generators with this bonded-neutral attribute. Some of these bonded-neutral generators also might have GFCI protection built-in, due to another requirement on job sites related to ground fault protection. It?s important to identify these generator attributes at the time of selecting a generator and transfer switch, because it?s possible that some job site generators with GFCI protection will require a special type of transfer switch installation.
Please contact the generator manufacturer to confirm if the generator is bonded-neutral and if the receptacle being used is GFCI protected. The Reliance X-series neutral switching panels are ideal for use with certain job site generators that use GFCI protection. Note: Any Reliance manual transfer switch will work with any floating neutral type of generator sized appropriately.
See this thread, and additional link therein...http://forums.mikeholt.com/showthread.php?t=152226&highlight=
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