Generator Hookup to House ?

[panjumbie]

Originally Posted by Rusty

Thank you for the well written response.

My generator does have an internal bonded-neutral but does not have any GFCI protected outlets which would trip once I plug it into the transfer switch. I could unbond the neutral in the generator but I use it at construction sites which could be dangerous to me and my help. I guess I could buy a generator where the neutral isn't bonded to the ground and use it just for my house but I don't think it is necessary. For the amount of time I use it to power my house I think I'll take a chance with this setup..

I am not sure, and this is not professional consultation, but you may likely find that OSHA requires generators on construction sites to now have GCFI. At the minimum you should consider using portable cords that have GCFI included for all portable connections to the generator.

I suspect there have been more electrocutions on construction sites than from backfed utility services.

I would also think twice before modifying the wiring in the generator. The cure could be worse than the disease, particularly once the generator is unplugged from your house. If you modified the wiring, and then someone got hurt using the generator, even though it had nothing to do with the modification, you might be in a bad position.

One thing you might consider at home is to leave the generator unplugged from the transfer switch except when it is switched to generator. That does limit the possibility of issues from the parallel bonding to only when the generator is running. Since the generator is "small" and doesn't have GCFI's, you are less likely to have (non-regulatory) issues. Since I assume your transfer switch is manual, this doesn't add much effort to switching sources.

You should probably verify that the safety ground for the generator is at least as heavy as the neutral, because some or all of the neutral current is probably flowing through the safety ground when the generator is powering your house.