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From: Arild Jensen (no email)
Date: Wed Feb 07 2007 - 21:14:02 EST
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Alan Lewis
> My new Iota 55A charger has started blowing polarity fuses.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> snip <<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
> I enquired with the local Honda service facility, and they
> suggested that the inverter technology might be the reason for the open
> ground. That doesn't make sense to me.
REPLY
Inverters generally have a situation with "open grounds" unless they are
wired according to ABYC standards.
This is the big factor that distinguishes "marine" from other use inverters.
A normal non-marine inverter has a floating output; meaning neither line is
connected to ground.
Marine applications require the AC system to be "polarized" and the
designated neutral must be tied to ground.
In the case of a portable Honda genset this is not feasible for obvious
reasons. However as soon as you connect it to a boat system you end up with
problems. (One more reason why the use of portable gensets is discouraged
on boats)
Your IOTA charger evidently looks for a potential between the green ground
lead and the negative output lead.
I haven't seen a schematic so have to make an educated guess.
The solution is to have a ground connection from your white wire neutral on
the genset and your vessel AC grounding bus.
However when you connect to shore you MUST disconnect this ground strap or
risk accelerated corrosion due to galvanic or stray currents circulating
through the shore power cord.
I do not know if connecting such a ground strap on your Honda EU generator
wil create any effects or problems for the Honda safety circuits or self
protection scheme.
If you never connect to shore power this may not be a problem.
regards
Arild
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