Should You Disconnect the Neutral Wire on Generators

Doc explains in simple terms whether or not you should disconnect the neutral wire on a generator. In simple terms, each SYSTEM should only have on point that the two wires meet.  Most generators ship with a neutral bonded system. That is how most people will run them using extension cords. However, if you connect your generator to your home main panel, then you should disconnect the neutral wire since there already is a MEETING POINT in the home's panel.
Before trying this make sure you go to your generators website and most will have more information on how to do this based on your model.

[raygarafano]

A champion Gen ! good gen w great customer service.
What u do is make a jumper plug short wire from ground pin to wide or neutral slot. Unplug and u have a floating neutral. Plug it in and u have a bonded neutral.

[samballard]

You explained it the best way I personally have witnessed. Excellent job keep it up DOC .

[robturner]

Back to A type Video that I 1st watched about pressure washers from Doc!!! Had no idea you did lawn stuff too!!!! yrs have passed since and Still relevant content!! Thx Brother...

[ViciousXUSMC]

The better term to use is "bonded" vs "unbonded" or floating, and yes for home backup you need to have it unbonded as it uses the houses ground/neutral.
What I recommend is configure any generator as unbonded and just keep a bonding plug handy so you can re-bond just by plugging it in when you run it stand alone.

As it is much easier to bond a generator on the fly with a plug, than to do the entire process to unbond it.

What I got from this video is using one of those plastic storage bins for the generator, I thought about doing something like that for my solar inverter and it will be placed the same spot, right outside the house where my 50a generator hookup is.

Was affraid it would not be good enough to keep it weather safe but if your generator is doing ok the inverter should be ok too. (only to be used during once a week or so to dump power from batteries unless hurrican blackout the generator hooks to the inverter to charge the batteries instead of run the house directly.

As you said fuel, I take that into mind so I run eco mode and do not run hot water or hvan on long term blackout.

Now that I have a hybrid hot water heater might run water, and just window units for AC.

But my theory besides any power I get from soloar (right now about 20, 000kWh with my small DIY setup) and I made sure I have an efficent inverter generator (nice and quiet, efficent) but even in this situation I have to imagine running the generator 80% for a few hours to charge my batteries will save me more fuel than running 2000w 24/7 in eco mode.

[paultice]

Excellent point great video. I have two smaller inverter generators. I have a 3500 w fully enclosed. I also have a 4550 open frame the open frame was neutral bonded I put in a toggle switch so I can bond it at the flip of a switch. If I’m using it not tied to the house I have an interlock. I just don’t run my 240 devices since it’s 120 but I can parallel them together and get 6000 W if I need to, which is more than enough to run the refrigerators heat and microwave or hot plate to cook on most the time. I just run one my 3500. I average around 12 hours on about 2 gallons of gas the 4550 holds about 3 1/2 gallons says it can do 18 hours at a quarter load haven’t tested that yet but I have a conventional 7000 W generator and it definitely uses lot more gas than the invertergenerators.

[TheRobWay]

This is a great explanation! I agree with the other commenters that there should be a neutral disconnect on portable generators. It could be an issue depending on how the system is connected to your house. Any bonded metal along the way will have the potential to carry some current

[anthonyelectric]

Good explanation of the two different systems and the way you can use them. Especially dealing with GFCI stuff.

[OUFan]

It would be nice if the manufacture would put a switch on the generator, that you could switch from bonded to non-bonded. I know people would mess up when using this switch, but it would be nice. Since I was an electrical contractor for 45 years, I think I will do this myself. Good video.

[DLong-wpsu]

Thanks for clarification bonded vs float neutral. It seems the easy way would be add an ON/OFF switch (ON=bonded, OFF=float).

[StirlingBanfield]

great explanation, my transfer switch uses 2 triple pole breakers to also break neutral, so i didnt have to modify my generator

[stevecardow]

First I want to say Nice video and information!
Comments for those who need to know:
The system you explain well is called a: Separately Derived System” in the NEC code.
I watched another video that was well explained. In it, he ran into a problem and burned up his electronics. He then goes on to explain what happened blaming himself for not doing it right. Checking all the connections in his panel, transfer switch, and then the problem. He isolated the ground and the neutral at the generator properly.
Found that his 20-year-old extension cord, which he used without fail until he read about the neutral and ground requirement to be separated when connecting to a “Separately Derived System”.
So might I further suggest to do before, what you said to do was to test the outlets within the house and to hopefully avoid his dilemma?
His extension cord had a bad connection in the cord cap loose screw from the factory he claims.
1. First, check your extension cord terminations, and the continuity, should be done periodically.
2. Use your tester to confirm that there are 120 volts at each outlet on the generator.
3. Next, using a multimeter to check the voltage at your twist-lock outlet on the generator, plug before plugging in the cord at the outlet.
4. Plug the cord into the generator twist-lock outlet, before plugging it into your inlet box to the house. Check for proper voltage at the Cord Cap.

[larrybenson]

Thank you for this video. I have a Honda EU2200i and we had no power for 4 days and ran fridge, freezer and central gas heat no problem. It struggled a bit running the coffee maker. After this event I've added an option for LP gas on the Honda. LP gas will last a lot longer than gas and won't gum up the carb. Also adding a cut over panel for 6 circuits on the main panel. My EU2200i comes with a floating neutral.

[AlbertoRancel]

You’re the man thank you for getting to the point so fast

[srqTactical]

Jesus, about time someone can explain this topic to me. You are a saint!

[silverspork]

I floated my neutral because I hook it up to house via 50A inlet and interlock. I made a 30A bonding plug so I can revert back to bonded neutral easily if I want to plug appliances directly into my generator, like when I do the monthly exercising of it.

[ripmaster]

Hey doc lawnmaster here hey what does your old Bermuda lawn house look like now I would love to see you do a short video on it if you could. You should make another chipping green at the farm property it would be awesome.🏆

[jean-guybernier]

First of all. you are an excellent presentator. Very beautiful voice . Secondly. I am an electrician. These days, generator are the same with neutral bonded to its chassis. There are no problem so far if you use it as a standalone unit and not hooked to your house's main panel. If you buy a brand new generator from a store and you separate neutral from ground while the unit is still under warranty and, for example, the engine has a problem, be sure the company will most likely refuse to pay because it has been modified. The NEC/CEC says the neutral should be connected to ONLY ONE POINT and that point is in your main breaker panel powerd by the service provider. I'm near to the point !!! As the presentator said, you can remove the bond between the neutral and ground at generator and there is no benefit but you need to connect a ground from your house main panel or the main water pipe to the generator to be part of the house system as told. That way, the code is respected. If you keep the bond intact or not at the generator, never connect the generator to your main panel by feeding back a breaker such as the dryer to power your panel after having the main breaker off. To be very secure for every one, leave the generator as it is and install a 3 poles transfert switch witch will separate the house neutral and both 120 volts lines from your house to the generator and put a grounding rod or plate in earth to ground the generator. Anyways, install a transfer switch whatever the method you choose is the only way to respect the electric code, linesman and yourself. As the man said, get an electrician !

[avflyguy]

My only issue with this endless debate of Bonded neutral and Floating Neutral just won't ever go away. I have a 2500 watt inverter generator with a *_floating neutral_* that I use to run my natural gas furnace via an extension cord in emergencies. Have seen numerous videos on this topic. Consensus says a gas furnace will do a partial startup until and/or before the hot ignitor comes on. If it does *not* see a case grounded wire from furnace to generator, the gas valve will *not* turn on until it sees a ground (forget neutral wire- all must see the neutral). I used a three prong plug where the round ground terminal and the Neutral terminal are tied together. Thus, in essence, I've just created a 'bond' with ground and neutral. Then, plug that into any 120v socket on the generator and the furnace kicks on immediately. First comes the inducer fan, followed 10 seconds or so later the Ignitor comes on, and lastly the buners ignite and circulation fans several seonds later. SO, saying a neutral wire isn't needed isn't true.

[josealvarez]

I agree that fuel consumption should be a big factor in the purchase of a generator. Having the biggest and baddest generator on the block doesn’t mean a thing if you can’t keep it fueled during a disruption.

[MichaelP-ns]

I added a label to the generator to indicate it's been changed to a floating neutral in case I die so the next user knows. And I have a plug that I can plug into one of the generator's power outlets that "re-bonds" it if I need to use it standalone