ECN Forum Forums General Topics of the Trade General Discussion Area Neutral on back up generator

Hi my trade is HVAC.One of my heating customers has the following senario.
5,000 watt generator.
Unused welder feed in his garage, 2 hots and a ground.The generator has a NEMA round 4 conductor 220 output.He wired the generator
to the old welder feed which now feeds the
transfer switch panel breakers. He did not hook up the neutral because there was only the ground. Customer turns off main to house
starts generator, has 220 volts across 30 amp
breaker, 120 to ground off both legs.
Turns on breaker to living room and the TV
smoked. Why? Isnt the ground and neutral one and the same at the generator. I told him he needs a seperate neutral at the generator too.(yes or no) He is calling an electrican
and learned his lesson on wiring generators.
Thanks for your explanations.

Lot's of code violations but someone else will go into those i'm certain.
Unless he had a double 30 amp breaker he fed his tv with 240 volts.

Rob: Could you supply us with any links to an HVAC forum like this one?

Thanks

WWW.HVAC-TALK.COM
Good web site for all your HVAC needs.
Commercial and Residential forums.