Franklin battery system, V2L, via bed 240, same old ground fault issue, it would seem. Need help...

[tearitupsports]

I finally got around to installing my GENERAC 6853 neutral switching transfer switch for the Lightning (or any other bonded source).

I had a transfer switch for an unbonded generator that I had been using for many years with a portable gasoline standby generator, and I did not want to have to un-wire it. So this is what I did in block diagram form:

The two transfer switches are wired together as shown.
The outside inlet box is wired to a plug that can be connected to either the Generac or the old transfer switch inside the house.
The Generac can provide power to the loads through the old switch which is connected to the breakers in the Generac to receive power from either the Lightning or the Utility.
When from the Lightning, the Generac will switch (be manually switched) the neutrals and hots so that there is no ground loop and a tripping of the GFCI.
The old manual switch switch can still be used with the unbonded portable standby generator by plugging it in through the inlet box outside the house and inside the house to the old switch, by passing the Generac switch.

It was simpler than removing all the old switch connections to the loads in the service panel and taking the old switch off the basement wall then mounting and wiring the Generac switch.

I only had to move the old switch single neutral wire to the Generac neutral bus and the utility input power lines from the panel breakers to the Generac breakers, then connect the load circuit neutrals to the Generac neutral bus, then install a breaker to power the Generac in the panel. Then provide an inlet box for the Generac on the wall where the wire from the outside inlet box could be plugged.

It also meant a less crowded service panel wiring the way I did it.

This is the wiring with the service panel and Generac front covers off:

The big black wire plugged into the old switch can be plugged into the new inlet connected to the Generac transfer switch.

To connect all the load neutrals I used Wago wire connectors that snap on stripped wires, then wrapped them in white electrical tape so the can't unsnap accidentally. They are located at the top of the service panel.

The load black wires were connected to the old transfer switch black wires with wire nuts visible in the middle of the service panel.

The wire nuts at the top (red/yellow) were used by the electrician who upgraded out old 100A panel to this 200A panel back in 2011 to connect load wiring to the panel. So some of the branch circuits that did not get transferred to the Generac (only room for 10 in the Generac) still use those wire nuts.

We have a Spa sub-panel as well wiring that goes underground to a shed fed off the service panel. When the electrician did the upgrade to the new panel I think he could have done a better job relocating that wiring and conduit in the new panel. Right now there is quite a bit of excess length of 100A wire crowded into the bottom of the service panel as a result.

The last step I have to do is to plug it up to the ProPower on-board and test the Generac transfer switch in the STANDBY/GEN position with the Lightning. Before I do that I want to install a ground rod near where the Lightning will be parked when used for back up and connecting it to the Lightning chasis (per code, NEC 250.30(A) 4 and 5, bonded neutral generators need to be grounded nearby the generator).

BTW, the GENERAC switch has on orange wire inside that was unconnected to anything when I got it. The GENERAC web site said that it is a wire unused in this configuration - gee they could have put that in the manual, eh?!

Glad you have your system working and it is a great write up. Unfortunately it really belongs in its own thread or tied to a similar thread. This setup will not work with the Franklin whole home backup battery (or other hybrid inverter systems like PointGuard and SolArk) because the generator (or truck) is not the sole source of power, and there is no way to switch the neutral and divert the load wiring. There is already an automatic transfer switch as part of these systems.

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[chl]

Glad you have your system working and it is a great write up. Unfortunately it really belongs in its own thread or tied to a similar thread. This setup will not work with the Franklin whole home backup battery (or other hybrid inverter systems like PointGuard and SolArk) because the generator (or truck) is not the sole source of power, and there is no way to switch the neutral and divert the load wiring. There is already an automatic transfer switch as part of these systems.

You might be able to add a manual switch like the Generac to bypass the existing system and connect to the truck, but it might be a more complicated wiring challenge.

Perhaps you would have to ask the Franklin folks for guidance on how to do it since your Franklin system has an automatic transfer switch. You might have to disable the automatic transfer if that is possible.

I think a competent electrician could probably figure it out with help from Franklin if that would be what you wanted.

I think what the problem is with the GFCI tripping when hooked to your Franklin system is that the neutral in the Franklin system side of your system is bonded, and it expects at it's gen input an UN-BONDED standby generator source.

Removing the ground connection from the Lightning is not a safe code compliant way to solve the problem.

Since the Lightning cannot be un-bonded and you need a continuous ground for code compliance, to get around the tripping you would have to hook the Lightning up to your service panel through a separate neutral switching transfer switch. Much the same way I hooked up my two transfer switches. The Franklin system would be like the "other transfer switch" in my drawing.

The neutrals from the loads have to be accessed inside the service panel and the backed up circuits have to be transferred to the Generac transfer switch.

 

[Jodokk]

Wow, this thread is encyclopedic is breadth. I hope folks find good use for this.
Brilliant....

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