mep 003a

[G Carttar]

Agree. The generator SILL BE the service. Yes, grounded "at the generator" can mean the generator frame ground tied to the ground stake at the house.

What I was trying to say is that the service ground for the house is at the meter panel, and therefore is part of the utility source because it is bonded to the house neutral at that point. That ground and the utility neutral comes from the utility company.

A generator installation should be isolated from the utility, including the hot legs and the neutral.

If there is a ground stake at the house, then that ground stake is useable.

The bugaboo is making sure that the utility neutral and the generator neutral are not tied together if the utility ground is used.

Thanks for quoting the manual entry for 1ph 120V operation, I did not have the manual at my fingertips.

I have several TCC-60 communications shelters. They are configured so that the neutral/ground bond is made in the shelter. If I power them from a GFI circuit it drives the GFI crazy because it sees two current paths to ground, one at the source panel, and another at the shelter itself.

The Military assumed that the shelters would be the "entrance" and that the generator would be the "service". And in their normal configuration, that would be the case. Ground, neutral, and hot run from a genny to the shelter, and the ground bond is made in the shelter.

When I use my shelters on GFI circuits supplied from a building, I often have to lift the ground bond in the shelter. If I run them from a genny, I have to use the ground bond in the shelter.

I was NOT suggesting that people power their houses by backfeeding a dryer outlet. I was cautioning NOT to do this under any circumstance, especially with one of these gennies.

Greg Carttar

 

[steelypip]

I was NOT suggesting that people power their houses by backfeeding a dryer outlet. I was cautioning NOT to do this under any circumstance, especially with one of these gennies.
Greg Carttar

Peace! I was just repeating you for emphasis. Lots of people skim and search these threads. I knew what you were saying. I just wanted to spell it out clearly and address the common complaint about doing it right (the whine about cost).

 

[G Carttar]

We're good!
To reduce confusion I was re-stating so that we could be on the same page to other readers.

Greg Carttar

 

[Isaac-1]

The thing I don't understand about people that backfeed is why don't they just go to Wal-Mart and buy half a dozen 50 ft outdoor extension cords and a few 3 way splitters, from a cost standpoint it is likely the cheaper option than buying a $30 dryer plug plus enough heavy SO cord to reach their generator which then (at least on civilian models) will need another L14-30 or similar $25 plug end.

Ike

 

[G Carttar]

Well, I use my 003 for a variety of things, so I installed a 30A 3ø 120/208 twist-lock outlet, a 30A 1ø 120/240 twist-lock outlet, and a 30A 1ø edison pigtail, all wired to the lugs on the panel of the genny.

I can also land a set of camlock tails to the lugs if I want to use the full 50A 1ø capacity of the genny.

Mine came with one of my AB-1309 mobile towers which require 3ø, and I modified the towers with a 30A 3ø recessed male as well and made up a 5-wire #8 SO cable.

I'm careful enough to not use the wrong outlet for the wrong phase switch setting.

For your basic house backup, I would think that the user would settle on a certain phase switch configuration and stay that way.

Lowe's has a 25-foot 30A twist lock Yellow Jacket cable on the shelf that is perfect to making a generator connection.

For the full 50A 1ø capacity you'd have to use a larger capacity connector, of course.

The problem with the MEPs is that unless you install some large capacity connector, you can't get full capacity from the convenience outlet. The layman would tend to overload that outlet by using a bunch of y's or splitters.

You would still need some kind of distro box to plug in a number of extension cords. (A bunch of extension cords is Not the best way to do things)

Greg Carttar

 

[mistaken1]

A

A generator installation should be isolated from the utility, including the hot legs and the neutral.

Greg Carttar

Not necessarily so. The phase conductors (hot legs) must be isolated but the grounded conductor (neutral) may or may not be isolated.

If you are using your generator to feed your house you can use the house neutral-ground bond but you have to remove the generator neutral-ground bond that is stock on these generators.

If you do NOT use the house neutral-ground bond you must use the generator neutral-ground bond that is stock on these generators (or create your own code compliant bond) AND have a means to disconnect the house neutral-ground bond when using the generator. In this separately derived system the generator is the utility and then we get into properly creating the grounding electrode system so we have something to bond to at the generator.


(see the attached document)


In simple terms there should only be one place where the grounded conductor (neutral) is bonded to the grounding conductor, either at the utility entrance or at the generator but not both.

 

[screejunk]

Hello...Make sure your phase selector switch is set to the desired output AND that your selector on the Control Box matches it...The switch on the control box tells the meters what it's reading (i.e. 3 phase or single phase, etc.)...Next issue is to get a good (or cheap) multimeter and test the output of Hz and Voltage at the 4 output terminals (ignore the meters to rule out meter mailfunction). If all of this is OK and you get wildly fluctuating voltage...I would suspect voltage regulator. I am assuming that you have cleaned and checked the entire fuel system/line. Have you also confirmed that all 4 cylinders have good compression by cracking each line while unit is running. Just make sure that you are firing on all cylinders...That could cause the engine to bog down under load prematurely...

 

[Gnoz]

My generator bugs down under 70% of its load capacity. Any idea of what I should do to figure out the issue?

 

[wciguy]

My generator bugs down under 70% of its load capacity. Any idea of what I should do to figure out the issue?

Check that all cylinders are firing by cracking the injector lines one at a time. You will hear the sound change as that cylinder quits firing. No sound change means that cylinder is not firing. If this is the case you need to determine if it is a compression issue or an injector issue. If all cylinders are firing, I would check fuel filters, including the screens located in the bottom of the pumps. Make sure there is adequate fuel supply to the injector pump.

Check the air filter.

Check the throttle linkage. Sometimes the vertical link binds against the sheet metal housing or against the fuel pump cutoff solenoid body and prevents full travel. I have seen this many times.

Has the problem suddenly appeared on a unit that was working fine before? If not, maybe you have a fuel pump that is timed incorrectly. The timing pointer on the engine must be aligned with the PC mark on the flywheel when mounting the pump. If it is aligned with the TC mark by mistake, the engine will be hard to start and will not develop full power.

Is the engine rpm correct? Confirm that the hertz meter is reading correctly. Engine should be turning 1800 rpm to make 60hz power. If the panel hz meter is reading way high and you are only turning the engine say at 1500 rpm to get an indicated 60hz, you will not be developing enough horsepower to carry the full load.

If you eliminate all the other possibilities, the injector pump has to be the problem.

Good luck.

 

[BadBrad1]

Well can you manually give it more throttle to get it back up to speed ? If you can then it could be a governor issue. If you cannot manually add throttle with the cable and get it up to speed then it could be a linkage adjustment issue, can the governor or cable pull the throttle to the full open position? If not check length of adjustable link and the max speed adjustment screw. If the engines throttle cannot be pulled open it cannot get fuel to meet the load.

If it is being opened all the way and the engine simply cannot pull the load it could be, restricted air flow, restricted fuel flow due to failed pumps or clogged filters, Injection pump wear, or restricted/worn fuel injectors or a worn engine with compression issues (rings, valves etc) Diesel engines of this type are pretty much compression, air and fuel.