OT: Attn Electrical/Generator Experts-Advice Needed

[PooPopsBaldHead]

I have a 4500w inverter generator with a 30amp RV outlet on it. It has a floating neutral.

I am using the generator to power my 50 amp RV. I use a dogbone adapter to plug the 50amp RV cord into the 30 amp outlet on the generator. I ran it without issue a week or so ago. Today I was messing around and I connected my RV, but this time I had my 50amp surge protector between the dogbone and the RV power cord.

It was running everything fine and I noticed it flagged an error of L1 and L2 neutral reversed. Is this something to do with the dogbone splitting the single hot conductor in the 30 amp outlet into the 2 hots on the 50amp? Does it potentially have something to do with the floating neutral?

I plugged the RV back into my 50 amp outlet on my house with the surge protector and the indicators are all back to normal. Any advice, thoughts, or ideas?

 

[Dawgbite]

Google “ Generator Bonding Plug” and yes it’s the floating neutral.

 

[PooPopsBaldHead]

Google “ Generator Bonding Plug” and yes it’s the floating neutral.

Thanks. So if it's operating fine would you even mess with the bonding plug? I just didn't want to touch the frame of the RV and melt my pecker off because of a reversed polarity or something.

 

[Dawgbite]

I depends on the RV. My old RV it didn’t matter but the EMS in my current RV won’t even think about letting the transfer switch engage from a remote generator without a bonding plug. An in-line surge protector should not let power through either if it working properly The only way you’ll get a shock from this is if you have a short somewhere. You’re not damaging anything by using a bonding plug nor are you hurting anything if your RV will operate without one. You didn’t mention whether your generator is an inverter type or just a regular generator. An inverter type will run at a constant frequency but your regular generator will not. It requires running at a specific engine rpm to achieve the required frequency, I think 60 hertz is the correct frequency but you better look it up to be sure. Some equipment is very sensitive and can be damaged by powering at a low frequency.

 

[PooPopsBaldHead]

I depends on the RV. My old RV it didn’t matter but the EMS in my current RV won’t even think about letting the transfer switch engage from a remote generator without a bonding plug. An in-line surge protector should not let power through either if it working properly The only way you’ll get a shock from this is if you have a short somewhere. You’re not damaging anything by using a bonding plug nor are you hurting anything if your RV will operate without one. You didn’t mention whether your generator is an inverter type or just a regular generator. An inverter type will run at a constant frequency but your regular generator will not. It requires running at a specific engine rpm to achieve the required frequency, I think 60 hertz is the correct frequency but you better look it up to be sure. Some equipment is very sensitive and can be damaged by powering at a low frequency.

It's an inverter. No inline EMS. Opted out of it because it would be a ***** to get to. Just an external/optional EMS.

I will just skip the EMS until I happen across the bonding plug. I'm not really concerned about an inverter generator spiking voltage or nuking my RV like a pedestal at a campground.

Thanks for the input. I searched for hours and it never turned up anything about the bonding plug. I was down a deep rabbit hole about how 30amp power is converted to 50amp and was a çunt hair away from tearing my generator apart. But yes, one search of bonding plug was all I needed to feel better about life.

 

[The Peeper]

 

[Dawgbite]

You can build a bonding plug easily with a male replacement plug and a short piece of wire for just a few dollars. Just search how to build one, mine is homemade.

 

[ZombieKissinger]

Previously owning a floating neutral, my thought is a dangling gerund is better

 

[WrapItDog]