Hello, all. First post here, and thanks in advance for your help.
My home was set up for emergency power when I moved in. A 3-wire cable ran from a double-pole, double-throw manual transfer switch to an L-14 20 120/240 plug on a Generac 5000-watt portable generator. The "non-hot" (you'll see why I use that term) wire passes intact through the transfer switch box and connects to the neutral/ground bus in the main CB box. The system appears to have been installed around the time the house was built in 1998 and has gotten us through a number of power outages over the past several years without issue. The only real downsides to the setup were the generator's balky, hard-pull cord starting and its ungodly noise level, which finally prompted me to pick up a used-but-newer Honda EM5000SX, a major improvement in both those areas.
In place of the 20 amp 120/240 outlet, though, the Honda has a 30 amp L-14 outlet, so I had to change the plug on the cable. In disassembling the original plug, I failed to notice whether the 3rd wire was connected to the ground prong or neutral prong. I had thought it was connected to ground, and some online research pointed me in that direction as well (neutral prong unwired). Everything worked fine when I started a trial run on generator power, but then fairly quickly it didn't. I had started with breakers for the larger draws turned off -- fridge, freezer, boiler, well pump. Boiler seemed to be working fine when I added the garage circuit with the freezer, but after the fridge went live, the boiler started cycling on/off, as did garage lights. My multimeter showed 150 voltage on a garage outlet. I quickly got the genny disconnected and everything was back to normal when returned to grid power.
L-L voltage on the generator outlet is 247, same at the transfer switch poles. L-N on the outlet 120 each for each leg.
I'm guessing I made the wrong call on the third wire, that it should have been connected to the neutral prong. Aside from wondering if that's right, I want to ask if it's legit to run this system without a ground wire between the generator (where outlets are grounded to the frame) and the house (itself grounded, of course). The Honda's manual says its ground and neutral are not connected; I don't know whether they were on the old Generac. Is the 4th wire a must-have? Could the power fluctuation have been due to something other than miswiring, a problem with the generator?
My home was set up for emergency power when I moved in. A 3-wire cable ran from a double-pole, double-throw manual transfer switch to an L-14 20 120/240 plug on a Generac 5000-watt portable generator. The "non-hot" (you'll see why I use that term) wire passes intact through the transfer switch box and connects to the neutral/ground bus in the main CB box. The system appears to have been installed around the time the house was built in 1998 and has gotten us through a number of power outages over the past several years without issue. The only real downsides to the setup were the generator's balky, hard-pull cord starting and its ungodly noise level, which finally prompted me to pick up a used-but-newer Honda EM5000SX, a major improvement in both those areas.
In place of the 20 amp 120/240 outlet, though, the Honda has a 30 amp L-14 outlet, so I had to change the plug on the cable. In disassembling the original plug, I failed to notice whether the 3rd wire was connected to the ground prong or neutral prong. I had thought it was connected to ground, and some online research pointed me in that direction as well (neutral prong unwired). Everything worked fine when I started a trial run on generator power, but then fairly quickly it didn't. I had started with breakers for the larger draws turned off -- fridge, freezer, boiler, well pump. Boiler seemed to be working fine when I added the garage circuit with the freezer, but after the fridge went live, the boiler started cycling on/off, as did garage lights. My multimeter showed 150 voltage on a garage outlet. I quickly got the genny disconnected and everything was back to normal when returned to grid power.
L-L voltage on the generator outlet is 247, same at the transfer switch poles. L-N on the outlet 120 each for each leg.
I'm guessing I made the wrong call on the third wire, that it should have been connected to the neutral prong. Aside from wondering if that's right, I want to ask if it's legit to run this system without a ground wire between the generator (where outlets are grounded to the frame) and the house (itself grounded, of course). The Honda's manual says its ground and neutral are not connected; I don't know whether they were on the old Generac. Is the 4th wire a must-have? Could the power fluctuation have been due to something other than miswiring, a problem with the generator?