Need a little electrical understanding

[JackE]

Originally Posted by Booyah45828

Most of your 6500 watt generator heads have 2 coils in it, so it has two seperate legs. How they have the leads from those legs connected determines what phase/voltage they're in.

You can run the coils parallel, and have the phases parallel creating 50 some odd amps of 120v.

OR

You could run the coils in series and have a little more then 25 amps of 120/240v.

Either way, each coil has a capacity of 25 amps.

Your ac units require around 20 amps a piece to run. A 30 amp rv plug has around 3600 watts, and can't provide the power to run both units. Your 6500 watt generator can provide the power to run both units.

50 amp shore power has 2 legs that are out of phase, each leg provides 50 amps. So you can have 50 amps of 120 on one leg, 50 amps of 120 on another, or 50 amps of 240.

Ok, I think I understand that part now. So, 2 questions still remain.

1. How do I test to see if this is run in parallel or series? Or is that determined on how I wire the two leads?

2. How does this translate to wiring it up to the ATS with 50 amp shore power?

(I know, that was 3 questions)

I linked the wrong one last time, this is the one I am planning on using.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VAWNVK...v_ov_lig_dp_it

[Native]

Originally Posted by JackE

Ok, I think I understand that part now. So, 2 questions still remain.

1. How do I test to see if this is run in parallel or series? Or is that determined on how I wire the two leads?

2. How does this translate to wiring it up to the ATS with 50 amp shore power?

(I know, that was 3 questions)

I linked the wrong one last time, this is the one I am planning on using.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B003VAWNVK...v_ov_lig_dp_it

That unit should serve your purposes well. Here is the link to the Progressive Dynamics downloads page for the unit.


1) Put a voltmeter on >250V AC setting. Connect across the two hot leads while the genertor is running. If it shows 240V, they are 180 degrees out of phase. If there is negligible voltage, they are the same phase.


2) See the installation instructions for the transfer switcch. There are diagrams that explain how to hook it up. See the link above.

[JackE]

Thank you! You guys are awesome! I have some weekend work cut out for me, I will report back on this Monday.

Ya know, my wife likes to give me a ribbing every time I start talking about what I learned on this site. (Which is often!) The knowledge I have gained just in this thread alone will likely save me hundreds, if not thousands, by not having to contact the local electrician. Hopefully someday she'll get it......

[Booyah45828]

Without being there, I can't tell you for certain. With the 4 coils, you should have 4 wires coming out of the generator.

With only 2, what they could have done was connected the coil ends inside the generator and you would then have 120v power on one wire with the other as a neutral. But to have 50 amps of 120vac you'd have to have a minimum of 6 gauge wire for it.

I'll let a better expert then me comment on the transfer switch. I don't run one in my bus so I'm not certain on their operation. I'd hate to give you the wrong advise and mess something up or worse. So you should probably be consulting someone local that can look the stuff over for you.

And what I said about wire requirements is negating the ground. IMO I think you should have the generator chassis grounded, as well as a ground rod into the dirt anytime you run the generator to prevent a hot skin condition. That may be wrong, but it's what I've always done.

[john61ct]

Actual Earth Ground hardly ever is relevant in systems designed for mobile consumer use.

Chassis "ground" yes, usually tied into Negative Return on the DC side, but usually floating wrt Earth.

For the AC side, be very careful that you don't end up with more than one true Earth Ground.

If any uncertainty, get a pro sparky in to verify safety.

[Booyah45828]

Originally Posted by john61ct

Actual Earth Ground hardly ever is relevant in systems designed for mobile consumer use.

Could be. I just know that I have a buddy whose camper would have hot skin that would give you a little tickle when you touched the door to enter if the ground stud on the generator wasn't connected to an earth ground.

No idea if the water heater was giving the stray voltage, or if it was a bad wire somewhere. The latter would be pretty likely because it was a shoddy camper to begin with.

And it's that experience that I've used to always have the ground stud on the generator connected to a grounding rod in the earth. Not sure if it's necessary, but it always felt like good practice, and I don't think it would hurt anything.

[john61ct]

Depends on circumstances, too many variables, not something to advise about over the internet IMO.

Any "hot skin" situation like that, would be foolish not to **immediately** get attended to, by a pro.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

working on military bases any welder or generator has to be grounded regardless of if it is on a trailer in a truck or setting on the ground.
even in a building on concrete you have to run a ground back out to the dirt.