EG4 Hand Cart 3,000watt Inverter Bonded Neutral/Ground

[Firebear Energy]

Just remember, power returns to source. If you create a parallel path between N and G, then G will have current.



You are referring to the Line terminal and it has voltage potential to the frame which is connected to G? It should have 120V AC, not 22V.

Positive/negative terminal is referred to with DC systems. So the question becomes, just what exactly are you measuring?

You need to use correct terminology in order to accurately discuss your "problem".



In order to give accurate advice, we need you to use correct terminology.



If you remove the grounding screw then how would ground fault detection occur?

N-G are bonded at the inverter under inverter power for the purpose of ground fault clearing, if there is a ground fault, then a breaker will trip.




The inverter model will work fine, you need to show a diagram on how you wired it. You could just have a defective battery or inverter, we don't know for certain if you are measuring AC or DC voltage potential.



Regarding a transfer switch, you would need to install a 3 pole double throw in order to switch neutral. This would be the same as installing a generator that has N-G bond.

 

[Firebear Energy]

Could you teach me the correct terminology? I am humbly in the beginners forum because I do not know the correct terminology. Open to learning if you could tell me the correct way to say the things that you found that are incorrect.

 

[Firebear Energy]

It doesn’t take the path of least resistance- it’s always there. That’s something I learned (relearned?) here and something that makes perfect sense when you think about- electricity takes all available paths or any available paths the have a difference in potential and have some any means of being part of a circuit.

The real question is: is that 22V DC or AC? Everyone commenting seems to assume AC but 22V neither aligns logically with 48VDC nor 120VAC.

If DC it suggests a poorly conductive ‘leak’ either within the battery or your wiring. Test the amps with a jumper… see if it’s “something” or sub-milliamperes. Volts can be measured even across your body holding a wet nickel… but no current to speak of. Figure out what it is.

If AC voltage that’s a concern, imho.

One odd thing to look at: do you get voltage if cart is electrically isolated from dirt… no reason to specify but was a weird question that crossed my mind.

I am excited to get home in a week and a half to test it to see if it is 22v dc or ac. The live voltage is coming from the inverter but I don’t know if it is coming from the DC or AC side, yet.

 

[Firebear Energy]

I went and checked my cart after seeing this thread. I too see ~20V DC when measuring between the inverter output ground and the positive or negative terminal of the battery. I also checked N+G with my meter and confirmed they are not bonded. This is not an international-version inverter.

Out of curiosity, I then went and checked my AIMS 10kW inverter (which is output N+G bonded) and I see ~40V DC from ground to battery positive (unbalanced 2000W load on inverter) and nothing to battery negative.

Lastly, I checked my LV6548 (with bond screw removed) and I see the same ~20V DC from inverter negative to both battery posts (with 2500W load).

I have not tried applying a resistor across to see if any current flows. Based on seeing similar on 3 different brand/model inverters and knowing none of them have battery conductors bonded to ground, I am going to conclude this is to be expected. I'm not an engineer and if someone has an explanation, would love to hear it!

Interesting. So even with an inverter without a ground neutral bond you are experiencing the same result. Thank you for testing and sharing your results. Your videos are very well done!

 

[Zwy]

Could you teach me the correct terminology? I am humbly in the beginners forum because I do not know the correct terminology. Open to learning if you could tell me the correct way to say the things that you found that are incorrect.

Positive/negative refers to DC systems.

Line and Neutral refer to AC systems.

When the word ground is used, it is dependent on who you are talking too.

 

[Zwy]

I am excited to get home in a week and a half to test it to see if it is 22v dc or ac. The live voltage is coming from the inverter but I don’t know if it is coming from the DC or AC side, yet.

If you use a multimeter set on AC voltage, you may very well see it as AC voltage.

The real way to check this is to use a minimum 2 channel oscilloscope with a current probe on one channel, on the other channel measure DC voltage drop from source of power to load, not circuit voltage in order to get a better waveform. This would show the current and voltage waveforms are probably timed exactly.