Could It Be This Easy?? Generator Bonding Plug - Nope!

[imnuts]

The fact remains that your statement is false. This could be as simple as undoing a screw that connects the two circuits. What I'd like to see is Ford release a procedure enabling people to power their home. Also, recall the ice storm down in Texas where Ford dealers let people use Powerboosts to power homes. It was as if it was as simple as driving up and plugging in your house... Really?

I did a quick look of several inverter style, portable generators. I didn't find any that stated they were floating neutral. If I had to guess, the neutral/ground bond is inside whatever inverter Ford spec'd and short of ripping apart your truck, it's never going to be floating.

As mentioned, you've posted several times about this complaint saying it's easy to do. If it's so easy, and such a pain point, then why haven't you just made the change yourself? Ford never advertised it as a full home backup solution. I'm fairly certain their TX PR stunt was just dropping trucks off and having extension cords everywhere. Given the cost of the truck and a house, I'm also not sure why the cost of the proper transfer switch is such a pain point for you to accomplish something that was never advertised as possible. Ignoring the cost of the home, it's maybe 5% of the truck cost to get the proper transfer switch install. Factoring in home cost and return on investment when you go to sell the house, end cost is probably close to nothing.

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[HammaMan]

Consider your truck the utility, remove the ground from the incoming cord at the box it plugs into (on the home, leaving in-tact the ground in the cord connected to the truck) and you're off to the races. The last thing I'd do is play with your liquid cooled inverter that last I checked, is back ordered. This has been discussed many times.

This leaves all other outlets on the truck GFCI protected while reverting your home's panel to the same as utility operation. If your home is to code, it's already got a proper earth ground bond and as such your GFI and AFI (if equipped) breakers will function as they should @Porpoise Hork

My truck's pronouns are utility / the utility and if any disagrees they get the woke mob brought unto them.

And for reference, the truck's frame is bonded to the ground and by extension, the neutral.

 

[jcaspar]

Given the cost of the truck and a house, I'm also not sure why the cost of the proper transfer switch is such a pain point for you to accomplish something that was never advertised as possible. Ignoring the cost of the home, it's maybe 5% of the truck cost to get the proper transfer switch install. Factoring in home cost and return on investment when you go to sell the house, end cost is probably close to nothing.

For me, it is not the cost of the transfer switch but that half our house is feed from a 200A sub panel, and my workshop by another 90A sub panel off that. No way to put this on the transfer switch so would not be able to power most of the house in an outage.

We lost out power on New Year's Eve and finally got it back yesterday around noon. The truck was a lifesaver powering our house for most of that time (turned it off over night) and burning very little fuel in the process. Would have had to move out (temperatures would have been in the 40's inside) and would have lost both refrigerators full of food without it.

 

[HammaMan]

The PPOB is a tremendous benefit. Everywhere your truck goes you've got a 7.5kW hybrid inverter generator that's the most efficient on the market (granted I've yet to see any portable hybrid generator units, they'd need to add ~3kWh worth of batteries on it to gain such function -- aka welcome to 200lb genny).

I keep a 25' and 50' cord in the truck, as well as various dog bones to convert the 240v outlet for various things. I'll charge the EV off it sometimes when a situation warrants it. I'll even use the truck vs pulling a cord for some things, the tailgate makes for a quick and easy workbench with clamp recesses built in. If you look for ways to use it, you'll find it that much more useful. Some jobs can be done w/ out the engine ever starting relying solely on battery power (sub 1.6kW loads roughly).

 

[Hullguy]

Consider your truck the utility, remove the ground from the incoming cord at the box it plugs into (on the home, leaving in-tact the ground in the cord connected to the truck) and you're off to the races. The last thing I'd do is play with your liquid cooled inverter that last I checked, is back ordered. This has been discussed many times.

This leaves all other outlets on the truck GFCI protected while reverting your home's panel to the same as utility operation. If your home is to code, it's already got a proper earth ground bond and as such your GFI and AFI (if equipped) breakers will function as they should @Porpoise Hork

My truck's pronouns are utility / the utility and if any disagrees they get the woke mob brought unto them.

And for reference, the truck's frame is bonded to the ground and by extension, the neutral.

This advice is just wrong!!!
anyone Reading this response don’t do this! It’s against the National Electrical Code! I’m a licensed Master Electrician with close to 50 years of experience

 

[HammaMan]

This advice is just wrong!!!
anyone Reading this response don’t do this! It’s against the National Electrical Code! I’m a licensed Master Electrician with close to 50 years of experience

But it's safe. I was waiting for you to chime in, tried to prime the post for it

To think, there used to be live conductors strung in the attic between porcelain insulators. Now there's a code book with 'rules for thee, but not for me' approach. My truck is my utility.

 

[Jglew82]

commercial was with the lightining. Not on a ICE truck. Ford has only advertised the pro power as a work site power option.

Yep. Lightning has available bi-directional charging for the extended range battery. However, it ALSO is not just a "plug-and-play" system. You have to have the interface installed by someone such as from SunRun, which is basically a high tech transfer switch.

 

[jcaspar]

We finally got power back again today. My PowerBoost has been powering our house for 5 of the last 9 days. It is now on an humanitarian mission over at a friends house who has been out of power for 3 days. Powered by FORD!

 

[HammaMan]

We finally got power back again today. My PowerBoost has been powering our house for 5 of the last 9 days. It is now on an humanitarian mission over at a friends house who has been out of power for 3 days. Powered by FORD!

Awesome to hear it. These trucks are quite handy to have.

 

[Davexxxx]

OK, I've read a number of the threads on this subject and just got off the phone with Reliance.

I did not tell him it was for a powerboost but I did explain it was for a bonded neutral inverter generator, with the 240 receptacle, GFCI protected.

I mentioned that I'd read that their Reliance X series transfer switch was designed to deal with this condition but he said it has been discontinued, because the vender who furnished the part to deal with neutral bonding is unavailable and they are engineering a new part in house and may take a yr. or longer (Their words).

We talked about the neutral bond / GFCI complication and his advice was a bonded neutral plug, plugged into the generator. There are several companies, in the electronics / electrical supply business, making and marketing such things, so I don't think this workaround could really be dangerous, we all know how liability shy most have to be.

That is not to say that at this time, I can tell you it will work for our situation, as I've just ordered my truck but there a number of vids of people using this workaround for portable generator models. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I'm not an electrician but not a total novice either. While I do value expert opinions and qualified experience, (I have some of my own ) there can be a certain rigidity at times that can be difficult to understand. That doesn't mean it isn't warranted and we need to remember that codes, are minimum standards, not to be ignored cavalierly.

That said, push come to shove, I am leaning towards considering the truck's generator as a utility.

 

[Gros Ventre]

For those who understand electronics... the act of opening the Neutral-Ground bond is quite simple. For those who have the green screw that bonds the neutral to the ground in your breaker panel, removing that will get you where you need to be. But at the end of the day the emotional hype about whether you can open the neutral-ground bond is just that. Ford knows exactly how to do this, some of their vehicles are set up as floating neutrals. They could at least be courteous and tell us where it is and if it requires major opening up of something, just say so. Ford's silence is deafening.

 

[imnuts]

Ford has two vehicles with sufficiently sized AC generation capability to power a home, and unless I missed something, both are bonded neutral. The 2kW system is on a completely different inverter setup, so I'm not sure why you think that it is an equivalent system.

 

[Snakebitten]

People who really want to power their house from a Powerboost seem to have done so. Perhaps not as conveniently as they might wish. But it's a First World inconvenience.

 

[EricR]

I've probed the system via my dealership and Ford just ignores the question. A real disappointment, Ford's better than this, they're just lazy.

Or, maybe you are one of 2-3 people asking Ford for this.

Besides, what engineering manager is going to OK documenting a user hack that has to do with ANYTHING remotely close to the high voltage system?

If the legal department found out they would probably lose there job.

 

[Gros Ventre]

Or, maybe you are one of 2-3 people asking Ford for this.

Besides, what engineering manager is going to OK documenting a user hack that has to do with ANYTHING remotely close to the high voltage system?

If the legal department found out they would probably lose there job.

Thank you for your opinion on National Defense...

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