I should have included that "Open ground" is also an option... It may depend (in part) on the size of the rig. I won't go into all the details here but what can happen is that enough current to light the indicator can be coupled to the ground wires IN SOME CASES. Plus there are different types of generators
Nothin adds excitment like something that is none of your business John is Near Kenwood TS-2000 housed in a 2005 Damon Intruder 377
The Coachman Mirada should have an Onan genset, and the neutral is connected to ground in the genset. I am assuming that you are exercising that genset.
The tester should function normally on this installed unit.
There is almost nothing that won't work normally with reversal of the hot and neutral. vermilye's post is correct.
Following Wayne's post...
Test the tester in several household outlets and see if it works correctly (some have found incorrectly wired outlets in their homes when they tried out the tester). Check one where you can plug in the MH to be sure it is wired correctly, then check the outlets in the MH.
Let us know what you find with those tests.
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90 Champion LaSalle MH 29 ft P30 (89 Chassis)
Ok this post seems to have died but I'll resurrect it since I don't see a definite answer and I seem to have the exact same issue.While I'm sure things are OK, I'd like someone with a true knowledge of RV electrical to agree or provide guidance.
Just completed the PDI and picked up the RV mere hours ago. During the PDI it was hooked to shore power and I tested every outlet with a tester and got two yellow/amber indicators (good). Came home and plugged into my portable Honda 6500 generator I use as back up for the house. Connecter through a homemade twistlock to 30A pigtail. Plug tester in to 5er outlet just to verify first time on generator is good and I get Red and Center Amber lights (Hot and Neutral switched). Disconnect everything and continuity test the pigtail again, it's good. Fire up the generator and plug the tester into the generator and it reads Center Amber only (open ground) hummmmm. Without digging out the manual and schematic of the generator I seem to recall the neutral and ground are separate and without sitting down and drawing out a simplified circuit to nuke it out, that seems like it would be the cause. log in to the forum and do a search and viola seems like I'm not the only one.
So this thread didn't seem to come to a conclusion but correct me if I'm wrong:
Since the generator does not bond ground and neutral together, the handheld circuit tester may not give a correct reading since it assumes the ground and neutral will be bonded together?
As long as the tester showed correct readings on shore power, the trailer wiring is correct? (since shore power does bond GND and NEU)
There is nothing we can or should do when running on generator power to correct this?
Retired,
You answered your own question. It is not the fact that Neut and ground aren't bonded, Its the fact that the gen is not grounded. If you take a section of wire and hook it to the ground lug on the generator ans stick it in the ground you will see the mis wire condition go away.
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There is nothing we can or should do when running on generator power to correct this?
I'm responding with the assumption that the genset is an eu6500is. As noted in the "System Ground" section of the Owner's Manual, a receptacle tester "will not show the same ground circuit condition as for a home receptacle." Could you do something to correct this? Yes, you could connect one of the AC output lines to the generator case ground to create a grounded conductor, commonly called a bonded neutral. Being a 120/240 volt genset complicates doing this. Should you do something to correct this? IMO, no. There's a valid safety argument either way. I'd personally leave it the way it is. If you want to verify that the ground wire is properly connected, connect the genset to the RV as you normally do, then use a meter to verify that there is a very low resistance (a few ohms max) between the genset case and the RV frame (or a ground connector in one of the outlets). A connection to earth ground has nothing whatsoever to do with the indication you're seeing.
b_salgado wrote: Retired,
You answered your own question. It is not the fact that Neut and ground aren't bonded, Its the fact that the gen is not grounded. If you take a section of wire and hook it to the ground lug on the generator ans stick it in the ground you will see the mis wire condition go away.
That little plug-in circuit tester doesn't care one bit what the voltage is relative to earth ground and that is not what it is testing. The plug-in tester is simply looking to see if the neutral line is connected to the trailer's electrical ground at some point. The whole mess could be 600 volts above the earth and the little tester wouldn't know the difference.
Retired Nuke, your gen and wiring are fine. Your conclusions are correct. If you really wanted to, you could tie the neutral and ground together somewhere on the generator side of your transfer switch, but the only thing you would gain is that your plug in tester would read correctly.
It's an older ES6500 that carried us through Isabelle without breaking a sweat. The only reason I plugged in the outlet tester while on the generator was strictly to make sure the pigtail I wired was correct. When the tester said it wasn't right but when I checked it over and it everything was connected right, I figured something strange was going on. Again thanks guys.
b_salgado wrote: Retired,
You answered your own question. It is not the fact that Neut and ground aren't bonded, Its the fact that the gen is not grounded. If you take a section of wire and hook it to the ground lug on the generator ans stick it in the ground you will see the mis wire condition go away.
That little plug-in circuit tester doesn't care one bit what the voltage is relative to earth ground and that is not what it is testing. The plug-in tester is simply looking to see if the neutral line is connected to the trailer's electrical ground at some point. The whole mess could be 600 volts above the earth and the little tester wouldn't know the difference.
Retired Nuke, your gen and wiring are fine. Your conclusions are correct. If you really wanted to, you could tie the neutral and ground together somewhere on the generator side of your transfer switch, but the only thing you would gain is that your plug in tester would read correctly.
That's where your not entirely correct. Most gens run with a floating ground. Unless it's a sine wave converter, this could result in damage to electronics. Almost every generator made has a ground lug on it for this purpose. That little plug in tester will sense any combination of circuit fault, including, but not limited to, Open ground, open neutral, open hot, reverse polarity, hot and ground reversed, neutral and ground reversed, ect. I was a diagnostic troubleshooter for more than 12 years on home and generator circuits. Once you learn how to "read" the lights on the tester, you can also tell if you have a loose connection or nicked wire just by how bright the lights are. I can do the same thing with a stick type tester or a continuity tester. I can trace down shorts and other mind boggling electrical issues usually in less than 30 mins that would take the normal person with logical reasoning hours. I did it day in and day out. That little tester will lie to you in a heartbeat also. It will tell you that you have a reverse polarity issue or open neutral(I have seen it both ways) when in fact, you will only have an open ground. This is where the stick tester come in. Here is a quick check for you. Take your generator and plug in your TT. Take your rec tester and go in the TT and plug it in. See what the lights say. Then take your stick tester and test the rec. Touch the pin on the left (hot) to the pin on the right (neutral) you should get a light from your tester. Then take the probe out of the neutral and go to ground. If it is "open", you will have no light. Now, step 2.... go and ground your generator like I mentioned above or you can tie a ground to the neutral via a jumper wire in the rec. It will make the lights read correctly. The 2 outside lights should light orange. None of the others should be lit. We had a home that actually energized the sheet rock walls because of an open ground. You could get 50V by touching wet painted walls on 2 different circuits... IE: bathroom wall and hallway walls. It blew everyone's minds until I plugged in my little rec tester and I tested the ground. This is your electrical lesson for Friday night.
b_salgado wrote: Here is a quick check for you. Take your generator and plug in your TT. Take your rec tester and go in the TT and plug it in. See what the lights say. Then take your stick tester and test the rec. Touch the pin on the left (hot) to the pin on the right (neutral) you should get a light from your tester. Then take the probe out of the neutral and go to ground. If it is "open", you will have no light. Now, step 2.... go and ground your generator like I mentioned above....It will make the lights read correctly.
So are you telling me that if I have an RV plugged in to a normal portable generator, and I ground the chassis of the portable generator, the test lights will read "correctly" in the RV? When I say "correctly" I mean a ~120v potential difference between the ground prong and the hot prong in my RV's receptacle. Is that what you are saying? Regardless of the fact that no where in this system would the neutral and ground be bonded?
b_salgado wrote: Take a wire, tie it to your grounding lug on the generator, stick the other end into the ground outside. It should read correctly.
Is that what this means? Where is the complete circuit? How would grounding the generator's chassis tie neutral and ground together?
Please forgive the crude drawing, but you are telling me that in this situation, the stick-type test light will illuminate?
This is even giving the benefit of the doubt to the ground prong on the generator actually being tied to the generator's chassis, which in the case of my Honda I do not believe is true.
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