Love your content. I own a business called www.portlandrvsolar.com and I am a licensed solar electrician in Oregon. I install solar on homes and now rvs. I've been working with some local rv installers and some distributors and this doesn't seem to be a topic that is addressed enough especially with all these new solar battery generators. There are also alot of diyers that don't quite understand this issue as well.
Seems like the neutral to ground plug would work to fix the issue of a floating neutral battery generator as then there is a pathway for the fault current and be able to trip any breakers that are associated with it. Anyways thanks for all this information. I hope people are safe, but I am afraid with all these diyers putting in systems that more accidents will happen. As a business I am doing my due diligence and installing systems that are electrically sound, but I am unsure if others in the industry are not...
Here is what I heard from one local off grid distributor is that they don't recommend grounding inverters to the chassis... cause its causes too many issues on GFCI's. Which I replied that means your system isn't working properly then... their liability I guess, but very concerning that people without electrical training are recommending certain products and installation methods that are not sound electrically.
Another issue I see is that chassis of the battery generator is not grounded itself. But I guess in this scenario the ground would then be connected to EGC of the RV panel which then has a reference to chassis. Which I believe it will make it a safer install, but just don't like the fact that I can't ground these battery generators.
I typically like to install an inverter with a chassis ground and choose inverters that have the ability to automatically bond the neutral and ground when it goes into off grid mode.
2- 4500's in Parallell? One 4500 should run 2- AC units. And easily run them if Soft Starts are added. This scenario could overload your 50 amp Neutral unless the setup is providing true 240V output.
Note that this generator is rated for just 30.8 watts continuous, so the 4500 watt rating is actually peak starting watts, not continuous power. While a single generator this size should be able to start a pair of SoftStartRV equipped air conditioners, you might not be able to run other high-current electric appliances at the same time such as a convection microwave oven, air fryer or hair dryer. While this seems like a lot of power, many RVing families don’t like to do load shedding. I try to accommodate whatever amount of power they need.
Hey Mike,
Love your content. I own a business called www.portlandrvsolar.com and I am a licensed solar electrician in Oregon. I install solar on homes and now rvs. I've been working with some local rv installers and some distributors and this doesn't seem to be a topic that is addressed enough especially with all these new solar battery generators. There are also alot of diyers that don't quite understand this issue as well.
Seems like the neutral to ground plug would work to fix the issue of a floating neutral battery generator as then there is a pathway for the fault current and be able to trip any breakers that are associated with it. Anyways thanks for all this information. I hope people are safe, but I am afraid with all these diyers putting in systems that more accidents will happen. As a business I am doing my due diligence and installing systems that are electrically sound, but I am unsure if others in the industry are not...
Here is what I heard from one local off grid distributor is that they don't recommend grounding inverters to the chassis... cause its causes too many issues on GFCI's. Which I replied that means your system isn't working properly then... their liability I guess, but very concerning that people without electrical training are recommending certain products and installation methods that are not sound electrically.
Another issue I see is that chassis of the battery generator is not grounded itself. But I guess in this scenario the ground would then be connected to EGC of the RV panel which then has a reference to chassis. Which I believe it will make it a safer install, but just don't like the fact that I can't ground these battery generators.
I typically like to install an inverter with a chassis ground and choose inverters that have the ability to automatically bond the neutral and ground when it goes into off grid mode.
2- 4500's in Parallell? One 4500 should run 2- AC units. And easily run them if Soft Starts are added. This scenario could overload your 50 amp Neutral unless the setup is providing true 240V output.
Note that this generator is rated for just 30.8 watts continuous, so the 4500 watt rating is actually peak starting watts, not continuous power. While a single generator this size should be able to start a pair of SoftStartRV equipped air conditioners, you might not be able to run other high-current electric appliances at the same time such as a convection microwave oven, air fryer or hair dryer. While this seems like a lot of power, many RVing families don’t like to do load shedding. I try to accommodate whatever amount of power they need.
Specifications
Model Number: P4500i
Gasoline Peak Watts: 4500
Gasoline Running Watts: 3700
Peak Amps at 120V: 37.5 amps
Running Amps at 120V: 30.8 amps
AC Voltage: 120 Volts
DC Voltage: 5 Volts
AC Frequency: 60 Hz
Parallel Capable: Yes
Engine Horse Power: 7.3 HP
Total Harmonic Distortion (THD): <3%
Automatic Voltage Regulator (AVR): Yes