Ground Fault Indicator Troubleshooting (F150 2kw <--> Ecoflow River pro)

[Velociraptor]

I am using my '21 F150 for off-grid camping and I am having trouble re-charging my Ecoflow River Pro portable battery from my truck's onboard power 120v, 2kw outlets. The issue is that I get a ground fault indicator error on the truck's pro power system every time I plug in the Ecoflow River. It charges fine from every outlet around the house, and the truck powers every other appliance rated below 2kw just fine, including a 1500w toaster. The battery only draws about 700w.

My suspicion from others who have encountered ground fault indicator problems with the truck is that it is working as it is designed to when it detects what it believes to be a ground fault, but is simply the result of the thing it's plugged into also having ground fault protection. When you put two things with ground fault detection together in a circuit, one or both of them will trip (that's my naive understanding). So the question is: is there a way to intermediate the connection between these two so that I can avoid the truck's ground fault indicator shutoff and charge the battery from the truck?

E.g. I'm looking for a solution analogous to a GFI transfer switch. Not sure if that makes sense in this case; not sure whether the Ecoflow is floating neutral or bonded neutral, but I know the F150 gas engine is floating neutral and the hybrid engine in bonded neutral. I have the former.

Bit more background context:

• My main power source is my Ecoflow River Pro, with 2 100w HQST poly panels - except for short-duration / high wattage applications where I use the truck's 2kw on board generator (blenders, hot water kettles, etc.).
• My typical wh / day are about 350 - mainly from the fridge and from re-charging my computers, so I need to recharge the Ecoflow about every other day.
• Some days I can't wait for the solar recharge, or it's raining, or its night time.

This is primarily an electrical question. I am not interested in upgrading my solar capacity so that I can completely remove the truck's generator from the system. It is efficient and really good for the short-duration, high-wattage applications. I can fully charge my battery from the truck in a quick trip to town while I drive. It's fast, and flexible. That said, I do prefer to primarily recharge with solar because it still does take about a gallon of gas to fully recharge the battery.

Thanks for the help. I would happily accept "consult a qualified electrician" as an answer, I just need to know what to ask them and the language to use.

 

[Zil]

Mike Sokol lays this problem to floating neutrals. He talks about generators, but an inverter is a similar device. Here is a link to Mike that you can use for searching. https://www.rvtravel.com/rv-electricity-bonded_floating_generators/

 

[Velociraptor]

Thanks, this is helpful and I've made some progress but have more questions because I want to make sure my potential solutions are safe.

Turns out I had one of these lying around: https://www.homedepot.com/p/GE-15-A...Gray-2-Pack-543002/203728202#product-overview

And when I attached the male end of my portable battery charger into the female end of that adapter, then plug the two prongs of the adapter into 2 of the 3 prongs in one of the 120v outlets in the truck bed, the battery will take 400w of charge without triggering the truck's ground fault indicator.

I have since learned from the battery manufacturer that the portable battery is ungrounded per requirements of the UL2743 standard. The truck is an ungrounded generator.

I am guessing there's maybe danger of short or something when I use the adapter? That's why I want to double-check. My electrician didn't know. Ford dealer doesn't know. Ecoflow support is unreachable. R/electricians is not much help. Basically, I want to know if this existing solution is safe for me and the components in the system.

If not, would it work if I got one of these neutral-ground bonding plugs attached somewhere in the system?

If so, my only question is: where to attach it? do I plug it into the truck's 2nd outlet? do I plug it into one of the AC outlets (not inputs) on the portable battery? or, like in this video sent to me by Ecoflow support, do I plug it into a surge protector that sits between the bed outlet and the charging input cable? (note, in the video, the battery is being used to charge a Tesla, not take a charge from a Tesla, which is more akin to my use case).

Thanks

 

[Browneye]

Did this get resolved?
I had the same issue with delta mini and Xantex inverter tripping gfci outlet.

 

[Abodyofscience]

The issue is that I get a ground fault indicator error on the truck's pro power system every time I plug in the Ecoflow River.

If the config is truck power [60 Hz sine wave] => GFCI => Ecoflow and the Ecoflow has capacitance to ground of more than 80 nanofarads, then 4 mA will flow to ground & probably trip the GFCI.

If the truck power is some kind of modified sine wave, then IDK & so run some tests to get more clues.

 

[Zil]

I found it interesting that "removing" the ground prong using the adapter from home depot eliminated the problem. I believe GFCI doesn't use the green ground. Just the difference between the neutral and hot. Maybe the GFCI needs a true neutral.

 

[Browneye]

That's how I fixed mine as well. Lots of discussion on the 'pro' thread.
Evidently ecoflow has leaking current to the ground pin, trips the gfci on my inverter.