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My inverter is NOT tied to my home wiring. It is only to be used for power outages to supply power to a couple of dedicated outlets in the home and used for basic television, internet and device charging during these outage times. It will NOT send any power to the normal AC powered parts of my home or service panel. My inverter (Power TechON PS1002 Pure Sine Wave Inverter 1000W) has a chassis ground lug on the outside and the instructions just say to attach a grounding wire. My question is whether this "chassis ground" can/should be connected to the existing GEC of my home that connects to the ground rod(s) of my home's AC electrical system. It travels through the attic just above my inverter location and would be easy to bond to with a #4 bare wire and a split bolt connector, but I don't know if it's proper to bond to it. Thanks for any advice...
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It depends if those "dedicated outlets" are using the home grounding system or if they have their own grounding network that is tied back to the inverter.
Simple solution would be to keep the power that is generated from your inverter separate in every way from the power being supplied by your main house panel. -
Thanks. The dedicated outlets are grounded back to the inverter only. All 3 wires to those outlets (hot, neutral and ground) are separate from the house power system and go back only to the inverter.Comment
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What is your Ground wire from your inverter referenced to? The chassis of your inverter? If you have a inverter hot wire come in contact with a home circuit ground how would your inverter circuit know to clear the fault without proper bonding? Highly unlikely but possible.Last edited by Saggys; 10-27-2017, 09:17 AM.Comment
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Ignore it, you have no use for it.
You have a mobile Inverter that uses GFCI, no ground required or needed. Just a waste of time and money.
Ground does not do anything. It is only there to facilitate operation of Overcurrent Protection Devices like fusses and breakers. A 1000 watt Inverter does not have enough power to make a 10, 15, or 20 amps fuse or breaker to operate silly. 1000 watts @ 120 volts is 8 amps of current. Please tell me what 8 amps is going to do to a 10, 15 or 20 amp breaker of fuse?
Can you say absolutely NOTHING, and that 8 amps on a 10, 15 or 20 amp breaker is NORMAL LOAD CURRENT. Fuses and breakers are there to protect the wiring form too much current and over heating catching on fire. They are not there to protect you from electrocution as that is what the GFCI is for.
So forget the Ground Stub and go back to your daily routine.Last edited by Sunking; 10-27-2017, 10:33 AM.MSEE, PEComment
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Then why does the manufacturer offer a chassis ground on the inverter? CYA? Article 690.47 of the NEC refers you to 250.50 through 250.60. 250.64 tells you how to do it. Might as well run a two wire circuit, who needs a ground, we got by for years without one.Comment
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Does not matter, it is a Mobile Inverter, and cannot be used in any code compliant manner in a home. Any other answer is incorrect and dangerous. Look at the picture. There is no hard wire terminals for house or premises wiring. Just three NEMA 5-15 receptacles for plug and cord. The Inverter has all the protection built inside. You can add a Ground Wire if you want, but it does nothing but create a parallel path for the DC negative current return. Assuming his battery circuit is properly bonded, the Inverter is grounded as intended . It is made for something like a work truck, RV, or boat. The Instructions are bogus CYA legal mumbo jumbo.
FWIW without GFCI, it cannot be UL listed even as a mobile Inverter. Look on-line for the Inverter. Very easy to find on Amazon and Flea-Bay. No listings except ETL which is not worth the paper it is printed on. There is no possible way to give any advice, nor any good way to use it in a home wiring system. Just connecting to this house wiring will compromise the integrity.
Stop and think about it Sensij and SE. That Inverter's Negative Battery Term Post, Chassis, Neutral, and ACEG are all bonded together. What is wrong with that picture? I know DIY's cannot answer, but you two should know better. .So be my guest tell him how to do it, but it will be the wrong answer and dangerous. The Lessor Evil is no ground added.
My answer is get rid of that Inverter and get one listed and made to do what he wants. Then close the thread explaining we cannot help him. He cannot do what he wants in any code compliant manner.
EDIT NOTE: Forum software no longer allows pics?
Last edited by Sunking; 10-29-2017, 11:57 AM.MSEE, PEComment
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