Re: Running Lincoln Single Phase 220V welder from generator

"Terry" <terry.gaston@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:1123347690.358850.313940@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
| I'm wiring up the pigtail right now and just wondering if anyone has
| any comments on how to hook up the neutral wire. It does say on the
| generator that the neutral is floating. As I mentioned before, the
| only place I can possibly think of is connecting it to ground.
|
| I just want to make sure I do it right.
|
| Thanks.

Inside the circuit breaker panel of your home you will find the white
neutral and the green ground wires all terminating at the same point. On
the face of it, it doesn't make sense, but this is the thinking: The old
style three wire 220V circuits had no ground, just a neutral. That means if
you lose your neutral, you are at risk of a painful nibbling. If you lose
your neutral on a four wire circuit, the appliance body is still grounded
(three wire appliances are not) so you are still protected, and if such a
failure happens to be a short, the ground wire will route the current back
to the box where the breaker will pop, reducing your hazard drastically.
Now, I will admit I'm not exactly sure how to wire up the neutral and
grounds on a welder like yours. If the neutral "floats" then that means it
isn't tied to ground inside the generator, it comes right off of the
windings. I'd consult both user manuals for both appliances and go from
there, but there is a risk if your welding project's ground and the welder
case grounds get together, an unwelcome ground current will come to be, so
I'm inclined to think that the ground is less important than the neutral.
Someone please correct me if I'm wrong here!
I do know that when your generator is used to provide power to your
home, the neutral and ground come together in the breaker panel, which is
important as there must always be just _one_ point where they come
together, and the breaker panel is that place. To have them come together
elsewhere sets up unwanted ground leg currents, which are evil, and devices
such as GFI's are designed to interrupt.

.

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