| Author |
Message |
Philip Curtis (205.188.197.167)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 9:47 am: | |
Hi Got an old question thats probably been ansured a thousand times? I'v run my wiers and am ready to tie it all together do I ground to the bus frame as well as to the supply line that uses the camp ground grounding.It is a 30 amp system.Thanks in advance for any help on this. |
Scott Whitney (63.151.69.220)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 1:32 pm: | |
Hi Phillip,
I think this issue is fairly complex and the people who can help you will need more info to be of any assistance. I am not qualified to explain the whole bonded vs. unbonded thing (I think that is what you are asking about), but am anxious to learn what others here have to say. Maybe explain more about your system, i.e.: genset, inverter, shore power, auto-transfer switch, converter etc., and then frame a specific question?
Scott |
Jerry H. (Coachconversion) (65.2.65.246)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 7:38 pm: | |
Phillip:
Your neutral must be "floating" (isolated from your ground), unlike in your home which will be connected to the grounding conductor. If your neutral (in your coach) wasn't isolated, your metal coach parts would be electrically charged. Worse yet if the campground were poorly wired and they mixed up the hot and neutral, you'd risk someone being fried when they touched your coach.
Your incoming shore-power cable is grounded to your distribution panels ground; all of your home-run circuits from within the coach are also grounded on the gounding bus bar; then use at least 8 ga. copper wire to ground your electrical system to the chassis.
Have a local certified electrician do the installation or verify your completed work before introducing power to it. I'd probably also suggest continuity tests along the way before you close everything up (just in case).
Jerry |
Philip Curtis (152.163.207.177)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 7:44 pm: | |
I am trying to keep things as simple as posable.The gen set does not come into play unless I unplug the land line to camp power and plug in the gen set. The 12 volt system is also seperate with a converter for charging only.No inverters or other converters.Hope this helps some |
Jim Stacy (12.87.110.66)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2001 - 8:56 pm: | |
Phillip,
The 120 volt ac supply coming in on the land line has a black (hot), white (neutral), and green (ground) wire. The most confusion comes from the function of the ground and neutral. Many use the two terms interchangeabily.
The green wire is connected to earth ground and to the neutral wire at the source. In the case of the power company this occurs at the first breaker box at the campground and NEVER after that. At your coach breaker box you must keep them separate. The green wire is connected to the chassis but the white wire is not.
The green and white should be tied together at the gen set so when you are plugged into it and it becomes the "source", they are properly hooked up. Be sure this connection occurs on the gen set side of the outlet, not on the coach breaker box side.
Most inverters have a relay which connects the green and white together only when the inverter is acting as the "source", not when the inverter is only charging.
The 12 volt negative can be tied to the chassis also, but you will have less problems if you also run a separate 12 volt ground wire to each load, thus not depending on the electrical conduction of the various body parts. (The "home run" style that Jerry was referring to.) Your voltage regulator will work much more dependably, for instance, if you hard wire the ground terminal of the regulator directly to the frame of the alternator or generator. Many of the 12 volt problems are caused by poor grounds.
Hope this is what you wanted. If not, feel free to email me with any questions.
Jim Stacy |
David Anderson (168.215.176.160)
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Tuesday, November 13, 2001 - 12:02 am: | |
Go to www.traceengineering.com and download their installation manual. It talks about neutral to ground bonding and switching.
David Anderson |