We have a 5000 watt Coleman generator. When the house was built, the electrician placed a 100 amp doublepole breaker at the base of our panel and from that ran wires to a subpanel that powers the circuits which can be fed by the generator. There is a three position transfer switch (positions are: electrical utility(normal)/off/generator). All the neutral wires are screwed to a bar in this transfer box(it appears that only the hot wires are switched). The ground wires are all screwed to a separate grounding lug in the transfer box.
So much for the background info. Now here's the basis of my 4 questions:
In the garage, the electrician installed a twist-lock plug that has separate neutral and ground(4 prongs). The generator outlet has only 3 connectors. It is 220v and looks somewhat like a duplex outlet.
1: I was told to just connect the neutral and ground wires in my cable that goes from the generator to the house together at the ground pin on the plug that inserts into the generator. Is this correct?
2: The generator also has an internal wire that bonds the neutral to the case/frame of the generator. Should that be disconnected so that the neutral is no longer bonded to the case.
3: Do I need to hook this the external grounding lug of the generator to a ground rod if the neutral is no longer bonded to the case?
4: If the neutral is no longer bonded to the case and I want to run a tool appliance directly by plugging into the 110v oulet on the generator, do I have to do anything special?
Thanks very much,
Dave
