Onan 4kw generator has power thru it's circuit breaker but no power out

[DonTom]

then attached neutral to ground (since the unit is bonded )

Some Onans have weird ground issues on the genny itself. Mine did, after I removed the genny from the RV or else I never would have noticed it. In a place that didn't even seem possible but my ohmmeter wasn't lying. Some Onans have a ground strap inside to ground the different sections and some have trouble with that, but that wasn't my problem. Mine was caused by corrosion where one plate is screwed down to another with several screws. It looks like it couldn't even happen until an ohmmeter is used to prove otherwise.

In the output AC cable of my Genny, white (neutral) is connected to green (ground) anyway and it was always that way from new.

But the shore cable plugs into the genny plug and is removed for shore power and then all three wires are being used normally.

IIRC, there is really only two wires output from the genny, unbalanced, the neutral is grounded inside anyway and the white and green outputs on the cable are also connected to the RV frame.

Sound like you had a perhaps a weird grounding issue. If your setup is line mine, there is no issue connecting ground to the white for the genny operation only, but should NOT be like that on shore power.

-Don- Auburn, CA

 

[NY_Dutch]

The ground and neutral in an RV 120V distribution panel are not normally bonded.

You're correct as far as the RV distribution panel goes, but internally, the generator has its own neutral ground bond since it becomes the primary power source when operating with the shorepower cord plugged in. Check the Onan BGE schematic below. Note that the neutral and ground are both connected to terminal L0.

 

[Sierranevada]

The ground and neutral in an RV 120V distribution panel are not normally bonded.

Alot of generators are bonded, this one is. When on shore power the generator is out of the loop. Shore power cord plugs into generator plug for generator use.
George

 

[Henry J Fate]

Ground and neutral bonding is completed in most electrical designs. Where the bonding is completed is the variable.

The ground wire (green) is provided for safety purposes. A properly designed ground to appliances can prevent human electrocution if the hot power lead (black wire) comes in contact with an appliance casing.

Destination of the ground wire and the neutral wire are identical at some point in a circuit.

Never should a ground wire be used as the neutral wire and never should the neutral wire be used as a ground wire.

 

[NY_Dutch]

The NEC calls for the neutral/safety ground bond to be at the service disconnect where a true ground connection is required. That's normally at the main breaker panel in a residential system. Any sub-panels are not bonded. An RV panel plugged into shorepower becomes a sub-panel, and has no neutral/ground bond. When on generator power instead of shorepower, the generator becomes the "service disconnect" point, and should provide the required neutral/ground bond. It's pretty common on these forums to see posts regarding portable generator problems with EMS faults and/or GFCI issues caused by those models that don't provide bonding. The fix is usually adding a simple bonding plug to one of the generator outlets. Onboard generators typically do include the bond.

 

[Mark_K5LXP]

Not sure why there would be a 16ga wire anywhere for a 120V circuit. You need to review what's going on there and resolve it, in no way would I ground neutral and call it good. Ground is never used as a current carrying conductor.

Mark B.
Albuquerque, NM

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

The ground and neutral in an RV 120V distribution panel are not normally bonded.

That's correct, but the ground and neutral of the generator are bonded - it's an external power source. The bonding is inside the generator and the generator is also grounded to the vehicle chassis.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

attached hot from circuit breaker to out going wire then attached neutral to ground (since the unit is bonded ). May seem unsafe but it works. with air conditioning on, voltage is 121 volts. With no draw shows 129 to 130 volts. Battery is getting charged approx 13.4 while gen is running. Let me know how unsafe this is. George. Have a nice day

That sounds normal. The only "unsafe" is that you have no protection against generator malfunctions such as bad frequency or voltage.

 

[Gary RV_Wizard]

Neutral wire was not big enough (did not want to splice in to wire harness 16 gauge wire) so I used ground instead. Since the unit is bonded I figured it would work.

Are you saying the generator 120v output wires are only 16 gauge? That can't be true. Got to be at least 10 gauge for a 4kw generator. Don't know what that 16 gauge wire might be, but it can't be the main neutral.