Trying to use Hybrid 240V to run house during power outage

[jjblas]

In Sacramento, we had a major storm that toppled a lot of trees and caused power outages all over the county. in our area our power just came on after a 42hr. outage.

I spent a good deal of time going back and forth to a local commercial electrical supply store. I made a 25 foot 10 gauge 4 wire extension cord by use a Leviton L14-30P (male connector) and L14-30R (female connector). The tricky part was making a 6ft. male male pigtail to hook to my dryer outlet (idea was to power both sides of the main). Unfortunately, the dryer outlet is 3 wire so I tied both ground and neutral of the four wire to the dryer neutral.

The Pro Power gave me a ground fault when I first tried to hook up (yes, I made sure to turn the main circuit breaker to the power company off). So, I unplugged the extension and reset what I assume is the circuit light on the truck bed panel (and from the instrument display). I ran the circuit test on all the outlets in the truck with nothing on any of the circuits but still got a ground fault. Since I haven't used any of the circuits at the time, I proceeded to test each circuit by plugging in a cell phone with AC adapter. All A and B circuits worked. I still got a ground fault when testing the circuits.

While the truck may not like what I have done with the pigtail, I could try to not attach the ground and just use the neutral. However, I suspect something amiss with the truck wiring/electronics. I will schedule an appointment with the dealer service.

Any thoughts or advice out there?

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[Orlando150]

I am not an electrician but per the owners manual:

Grounding Types
HEV Neutral bonded: The neutral of the inverter generator is bonded to system ground. Connecting loads that also have neutral bonded to ground will cause the ground fault detection to trip.
Note: If additional grounding measures are required, consult with a qualified electrician.

Is your home electrical panel ground disconnected? This may not be the same as disconnecting from the main.
https://generatorbible.com/blog/bonded-neutral-vs-floating-neutral/

 

[first f-150]

In Sacramento, we had a major storm that toppled a lot of trees and caused power outages all over the county. in our area our power just came on after a 42hr. outage.

I spent a good deal of time going back and forth to a local commercial electrical supply store. I made a 25 foot 10 gauge 4 wire extension cord by use a Leviton L14-30P (male connector) and L14-30R (female connector). The tricky part was making a 6ft. male male pigtail to hook to my dryer outlet (idea was to power both sides of the main). Unfortunately, the dryer outlet is 3 wire so I tied both ground and neutral of the four wire to the dryer neutral.

The Pro Power gave me a ground fault when I first tried to hook up (yes, I made sure to turn the main circuit breaker to the power company off). So, I unplugged the extension and reset what I assume is the circuit light on the truck bed panel (and from the instrument display). I ran the circuit test on all the outlets in the truck with nothing on any of the circuits but still got a ground fault. Since I haven't used any of the circuits at the time, I proceeded to test each circuit by plugging in a cell phone with AC adapter. All A and B circuits worked. I still got a ground fault when testing the circuits.

While the truck may not like what I have done with the pigtail, I could try to not attach the ground and just use the neutral. However, I suspect something amiss with the truck wiring/electronics. I will schedule an appointment with the dealer service.

Any thoughts or advice out there?

I'm curious of how many amp are available and how many are being drawn, it may trip and not offer real reason.

 

[jjblas]

I am not an electrician but per the owners manual:

Grounding Types
HEV Neutral bonded: The neutral of the inverter generator is bonded to system ground. Connecting loads that also have neutral bonded to ground will cause the ground fault detection to trip.
Note: If additional grounding measures are required, consult with a qualified electrician.

Is your home electrical panel ground disconnected? This may not be the same as disconnecting from the main.
https://generatorbible.com/blog/bonded-neutral-vs-floating-neutral/

If I read this article correctly, I think by lifting the ground wire at the connector to the dryer, the truck will act as an isolated generator. That makes sense that the truck is neutral bonded as it is designed to power equipment and not houses. ? I will try that sometime when I turn off the main breaker.

My house electrical panel is grounded.

It still bothers me that I get grounding warnings when testing the outlets on the truck with nothing plugged in.

Thanks very much for your insight.

 

[jjblas]

I'm curious of how many amp are available and how many are being drawn, it may trip and not offer real reason.

My intention was only to power my refrigerator, freezer and some lights. I would turn off non essential units. I would try to draw much less than 30 amps.

 

[Tireman]

In Sacramento, we had a major storm that toppled a lot of trees and caused power outages all over the county. in our area our power just came on after a 42hr. outage.

I spent a good deal of time going back and forth to a local commercial electrical supply store. I made a 25 foot 10 gauge 4 wire extension cord by use a Leviton L14-30P (male connector) and L14-30R (female connector). The tricky part was making a 6ft. male male pigtail to hook to my dryer outlet (idea was to power both sides of the main). Unfortunately, the dryer outlet is 3 wire so I tied both ground and neutral of the four wire to the dryer neutral.

The Pro Power gave me a ground fault when I first tried to hook up (yes, I made sure to turn the main circuit breaker to the power company off). So, I unplugged the extension and reset what I assume is the circuit light on the truck bed panel (and from the instrument display). I ran the circuit test on all the outlets in the truck with nothing on any of the circuits but still got a ground fault. Since I haven't used any of the circuits at the time, I proceeded to test each circuit by plugging in a cell phone with AC adapter. All A and B circuits worked. I still got a ground fault when testing the circuits.

While the truck may not like what I have done with the pigtail, I could try to not attach the ground and just use the neutral. However, I suspect something amiss with the truck wiring/electronics. I will schedule an appointment with the dealer service.

Any thoughts or advice out there?

mine is doing the same thing, ground fault detected even when nothing is plugged in. Keep us updated

 

[daemonic3]

So in your adapter, you didn't take the neutral-neutral, ground-ground, and one of the truck's hots to the hot on the dryer? I believe that should have worked without a ground fault...

And yeah that wind was CRAZY we almost lost our gazebo and my backyard is littered with crap from neighboring pines. Luckily we only lost internet a few times but kept power! What neighborhood had no power for 42hrs and was it SMUD or PG&E?

 

[daemonic3]

My intention was only to power my refrigerator, freezer and some lights. I would turn off non essential units. I would try to draw much less than 30 amps.

Basically you wanted to backpower your panel via the dryer 30A wiring and breaker, then enable breakers to the essential other outlets? It sounds completely doable if the 3 propower wires are fed to the dryer outlet (one hot line not connected).

 

[SJLCJL]

Need to break it down a little.. Does the truck complain with just

So in your adapter, you didn't take the neutral-neutral, ground-ground, and one of the truck's hots to the hot on the dryer? I believe that should have worked without a ground fault...

And yeah that wind was CRAZY we almost lost our gazebo and my backyard is littered with crap from neighboring pines. Luckily we only lost internet a few times but kept power! What neighborhood had no power for 42hrs and was it SMUD or PG&E?

I'm pretty sure he has a 3 prong plug for his dryer which would mean 2 hot plus the neutral and ground are tied together.. The new standard is 4 wire with the neutral and ground separate. Them being grouped together I believe is your GF issue.. Do you get the same GF issue without the adapter plugged in to the cord you made?

 

[jjblas]

Need to break it down a little.. Does the truck complain with just

I'm pretty sure he has a 3 prong plug for his dryer which would mean 2 hot plus the neutral and ground are tied together.. The new standard is 4 wire with the neutral and ground separate. Them being grouped together I believe is your GF issue.. Do you get the same GF issue without the adapter plugged in to the cord you made?

No ground fault with just the 4 wire extension but ground fault with pigtail 4 wire to 3 wire (ground and neutral tied together). I am going to try lifting the ground on the dryer end but need a few days to enjoy having our power back. I definitely need to wait until the wife is out of the house before I give it a go! ?

 

[jjblas]

So in your adapter, you didn't take the neutral-neutral, ground-ground, and one of the truck's hots to the hot on the dryer? I believe that should have worked without a ground fault...

And yeah that wind was CRAZY we almost lost our gazebo and my backyard is littered with crap from neighboring pines. Luckily we only lost internet a few times but kept power! What neighborhood had no power for 42hrs and was it SMUD or PG&E?

We have SMUD

We live in Del Paso Manor area near Watt and El Camino. The neighborhood was built up in the 1950s and has lots of trees, many getting kinda long in the tooth. Trees were falling everywhere.

 

[daemonic3]

No ground fault with just the 4 wire extension but ground fault with pigtail 4 wire to 3 wire (ground and neutral tied together). I am going to try lifting the ground on the dryer end but need a few days to enjoy having our power back. I definitely need to wait until the wife is out of the house before I give it a go! ?

I hear that!

And my bad on the wiring, I have been laser focused on travel trailer 30A plugs and forgot dryer plugs have 2 hots to get 240V.

Bummer about the power lines and trees! My hood in gold river was built in the early 90's and we have ginormous trees but all lines are underground. But we (Sac) are very lucky to have SMUD, other counties have to deal with PG&E and its a nightmare.

 

[jjblas]

mine is doing the same thing, ground fault detected even when nothing is plugged in. Keep us updated

I just spent time with the electrician at the dealership. His opinion at this time is that the ground fault test requires a connection at the 240. Everything checks out at the truck now, ie all outlets have power. There were a couple of error codes associated with AC DC converter that have been sent to Ford engineers. All codes cleared.

As Orlando150 sent me, the truck has a bonded neutral and therefore acts as an isolated generator. It does not want to see a separate ground. However, the technician said they usually run the ground to the lithium battery and not usually to the truck frame.

That is all I have for now. I will not experiment with powering my house via the dryer outlet until the next power outage gives me the luxury of "playing" around. ??

 

[jjblas]

I just spent time with the electrician at the dealership. His opinion at this time is that the ground fault test requires a connection at the 240. Everything checks out at the truck now, ie all outlets have power. There were a couple of error codes associated with AC DC converter that have been sent to Ford engineers. All codes cleared.

As Orlando150 sent me, the truck has a bonded neutral and therefore acts as an isolated generator. It does not want to see a separate ground. However, the technician said they usually run the ground to the lithium battery and not usually to the truck frame.

That is all I have for now. I will not experiment with powering my house via the dryer outlet until the next power outage gives me the luxury of "playing" around. ??

BTW The truck has 5 separate networks and well over 40 microprocessors! I 'didn't have time to count them all.

 

[daemonic3]

BTW The truck has 5 separate networks and well over 40 microprocessors! I 'didn't have time to count them all.

Was this in an article? I'd be interested in that...

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