I am getting a new Generac XG8000E generator, it will have a grounded Neutral. I will be using it in a 4 wire 30A unswitched ground and neutral circuit to my house panel through a disconnect switch. I need to know how to make it a floating neutral Generator. I have no wiring schematic for the winding.

check unit for short

The four wire 220 twist lock receptacle Two hot wires, one neutral, and a safety ground. Depending on your generators setup the neutral and ground are bonded as one; unless, it setup for a floating neutral.
You would normally connect the two hots and neutral. and leave the ground open on the four prong twist lock plug. Just make sure the compressor is earth grounded on its end.

You need to have the wiring diagram for the generator but they didn't include one in the owners manual and nothing is shown the IPLs that I found.

DISCLAIMER NOTE: The following should be done only by knowledgeable service personal trained in area of servicing these portable generators. The information is what service personal needs to know in order to unbond the neutral and chassis ground. If done incorrectly you will put yourself and others in danger of electrocution.

To determine if your generator uses a floating or bonded neutral perform this simple test. With the engine off, use an ohm meter between the chassis ground and neutral conductors in the outlet. If it indicates open circuit, the neutral is floating. A short circuit will indicate neutral bonded to ground. I don't recommend doing this to household circuits due to the possibility of exposed AC and damage to the meter.

The jumper from ground to neutral, likely on one or both the 120VAC duplex outlets that needs to be removed. Connect ground connections on both outlets to the chassis ground and ground the generator chassis and frame to earth ground.

Please be careful, you need a neutral bond for the GFI outlets to work when you are using the generator as a mobile unit and grounding the generator with a ground rod or building. When you are merging with a building with a grounded system, simply remove the two neutral wires (White) at the generators internal terminals from the generator frame but keep them connected together and terminate connection.

Bonding on a generator questions

Q. If I was to keep the tie between ground and neutral in the generator during standby use, would I have to break the neutral tie coming into home from grid?



A. Never disconnect the neutral line as it enters your house. It is held very well at ground potential. Each transformer is grounded, and every home supplies ground as well. The neutral coming in is the reference to both live lines, and without it, anything connected to either live line could see up to 240VAC depending on what is across the other side. Install a proper transfer panel, and the neutral issue will be taken care of.

Q. Where would I ground the generator at this time in this situation?



A. The generator will be grounded through the extension cord plugging into the transfer panel. Your home should have one ground connection only, adding a ground rod at the generator could create other unwanted safety issues.

Q. At this time is it safe to run an extension cord off generator direct to power a drill for example?



A. Yes. The transfer panel will take care of any neutral and ground bonding issues, provided things are wired correctly.

Q. If I was to lift the neutral to ground in generator and tag generator as floating neutral, then would I leave neutral unbroken in service panel?



A. Yes. The common point for neutral and ground will be provided in the main electrical panel.

Q. Could I use the 15 amp outlets on generator safely in this position to run a drill outside? I see generators with floating neutral have a 15 amp duplex outlet on cabinet also. In this situation would I install a ground at the generator?



A. If you were connected to the house with the four conductor extension cord nothing else will be needed.

Q. If you have a floating neutral generator and use it in a stand alone mode, nothing to do with a home, do you place a ground rod down? What happens with the neutral and ground connections? What about a generator on a truck or trailer?



A. In stand alone use, you should connect to a ground rod. Neutral and ground should also be bonded in the generator. The easiest way to take care of this is with a dummy plug inserted into one of the duplex outlets or the twistlock outlet. Jumper ground and neutral in the plug. A generator on a truck or trailer will follow the same rules for neutral and ground bonding, ground rods, etc.

Q. If the generator is a grounded neutral type and you only run the two live lines to the house in an illegal back feed situation where main disconnect is off but neutral still connected will I have 120 volts available in house between each hot leg and the utility grid system neutral? Would someone get shocked if standing next to generator at that time and touched it creating a path from ground to the generator?



A. The only time I would consider backfeeding a house is if the main lines were torn down and laying on the ground. I did this once after Hurricane Juan caused a tree to tear the lines off a neighbors house. The lines were still connected at the pole and were live once commercial power was restored, but there was no possibility of the generator backfeeding to the street. It took almost two weeks before the power company could get them reconnected. We still turned off the main breaker and installed a padlock to prevent it from being turned back on. The house was totally isolated from the grid so I felt it safe to connect in this manner. The generator connected via a 20 amp two pole breaker in the main panel, and there was power available for everything in the house - well pump, electric stove, all lights, etc. Generator neutral was floating as described above. Power supply was limited, they were careful not to overload and trip the generator breaker.

Q. At the same time I went to a friends home and after killing the main breaker and all 240 breakers ran a 3 wire cord from the generator 240 volt outlet direct to his pump, now isolated from the house panel using both 120 volt lines and ground. I then ran a 12 gauge 20 amp extension cord from the generator duplex outlet to a double male pig tail and back fed a kitchen outlet so he could have lights in the house. 1/2 the house to be exact. This was also a grounded neutral generator but we didn't have a problem. I did however drive a ground rod at the generator.



A. I think you were lucky this time. Electricity can be potentially dangerous and can kill and burn if not used correctly. Double male plugs should never be used as invariably there is exposed 120V on one end. If you miswire one end you can send 120V onto the neutral. At best this will trip a circuit breaker, but not knowing what else is done, could easily create a lethal voltage on the chassis of certain equipment. It gets back to doing something properly or not doing it at all. Why run the risk of personal injury or death?

It is your responsibility

To contact a qualified electrical installer.

To be sure that the electrical connection is adequate and in
conformance with the National Electrical Code, ANSI/NFPA
70-latest edition and all local codes and ordinances.
The National Electric Code requires a 4-wire supply
connection for homes built after 1996, dryer circuits involved
in remodeling after 1996, and all mobile home installations.
A copy of the above code standards can be obtained from:
National Fire Protection Association, One Batterymarch Park,
Quincy, MA 02269.

To supply the required 3 or 4 wire, single phase, 120/240 volt,
60 Hz., AC only electrical supply (or 3 or 4 wire, 120/208 volt
electrical supply, if specified on the serial/rating plate) on a
separate 30-amp circuit, fused on both sides of the line. A
time-delay fuse or circuit breaker is recommended. Connect
to an individual branch circuit. Do not have a fuse in the
neutral or grounding circuit.

Do not use an extension cord.

If codes permit and a separate ground wire is used, it is
recommended that a qualified electrician determine that the
ground path is adequate.
Electrical Connection
To properly install your dryer, you must determine the type of
electrical connection you will be using and follow the instructions
provided for it here.

If local codes do not permit the connection of a neutral ground
wire to the neutral wire, see "Optional 3-wire connection"
section.

This dryer is manufactured ready to install with a 3-wire
electrical supply connection. The neutral ground wire is
permanently connected to the neutral conductor (white wire)
within the dryer. If the dryer is installed with a 4-wire electrical
supply connection, the neutral ground wire must be removed
from the external ground conductor screw (green screw), and
secured under the neutral terminal (center or white wire) of the
terminal block. When the neutral ground wire is secured under
the neutral terminal (center or white wire) of the terminal block,
the dryer cabinet is isolated from the neutral conductor.

A 4-wire power supply connection must be used when the
appliance is installed in a location where grounding through
the neutral conductor is prohibited. Grounding through the
neutral is prohibited for (1) new branch-circuit installations,
(2) mobile homes, (3) recreational vehicles, and (4) areas
where local codes prohibit grounding through the neutral
conductors.

The reason for the 4-wire plug/socket system is that in the older 3-wire units, cabinet 'ground' was actually 'neutral' carrying current for the 115 volt parts of the dryer, while the two 'hots' were supplying 230 volt power for the heater and motor. This allowed a voltage difference between the dryer cabinet and true ground. How did you wire 3-wires (coming from the apartment electrical panel) into the 4-wire dryer socket? Dryer cabinet ground should go to true ground at the electrical panel, and dryer neutral should go to electrical panel neutral. Did Whirlpool violate the separation of 'neutral' and 'ground' when the machine was made (did the timer neutral connection go to cabinet ground instead of machine neutral or is the timer motor stuck)? Your dilemma would be answered by having the apartment owner hire a licensed electrician to upgrade the dryer service to 4-wire specifications. The ground to neutral connection you mentioned may make it work, but you will wind up with the 'hot' cabinet condition that the 4-wire setup was supposed to alleviate. Hope some of this helps!

Most paddle fans that come with a light kit (or provisions to add one via plug / jack later) provide at least 3 wires (most times 4 though) that will need to be connected to the house wiring. Those wires are:

1) Green, or Green with a Yellow stripe - this is the grounding wire and is connected to the grounded metal junction box or other ground wires.
2)White - this is the neutral wire and is connected to both the fan motor and light fixture.
3)Black - this wire connects to the fan motor. This wire along with the white wire completes a circuit for the fan.
4)Blue - this wire connects to the light fixture. This wire along with the white wire complete a circuit for the light fixture.

Ideally, the junction box in the ceiling has a neutral, ground and both an unswitched power source *and* a switched power source. An unswitched source is always on (regardless of any switch's position) while the switched source is controlled by one or more switch(es) near a door(s). Use a meter or tester to determine which wires are switched (probably black or red) and unswitched (probably black but may be red, too). Label them or orient them in such a way that you'll remember which is which. Turn the power off.

Connect the paddle fan's blue wire to the switched wire, the black wire to the unswitched wire(s), the white wire to the other neutral (most likely white wire(s) and finally, the ground wire to the rest of the ground wire(s). Turn power back on.

Wiring in this way allows the light fixture to be controlled by the wall switch(es) and the fan by the pull chain on the fixture. Turn the wall switch on and pull the chain until the light turns on. You can remove the long chain once the switch turns the light on and off so it is not accidentally shut off at the paddle fan later. Change the fan speed from high to low and eventually off with the chain.

If you only have a switched or unswitched power source in the ceiling, you'll have to connect both the black and blue paddle fan wires to whichever type power you have in the ceiling (switched or unswitched). If you're using a switched sourced, that switch will have to be left on in order for the fan or light to work.

If you have wired in any of these methods already, it could be that the switch for the fixture has failed, and should be replaced with a like-type switch.

I hope this helps!

The white wire is your ground / neutral

The ground bar is tied directly to the box and the neutral bar is insulated from the box.

white is neutral black is hot and green is ground