Lightning owner uses Pro Power Onboard as home backup power for 2 days and still had 65% of battery left

[bmwhitetx]

The reason it works with the truck's GFI is the ground from the truck is not connected to the transfer panel. Some people have technical issues with that.

I'm in the camp that does not have an issue. The truck has GFI because those outlets are meant for outdoor tool use and GFI is good for that. But if you are connecting to your panel, then you have GFI on outlets that need that (kitchen, bath, outdoor). And those GFI outlets sense imbalanced current between the neutral and hot so still work. Most people forget that a lot of outlets in your house don't have/need GFI.

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[FirstTruck]

We recently had a power outage and I ran directly into the GFI fault issue. I should have tested it in advance. My electric panel was upgraded when I had the ford charger installed and the panel accepts an input for a generator. When I plugged in, I experienced the ground fault others have talked about. I ended up making a jumper from 10 gauge wire and 30 amp plug/receptacle but removed the ground wire. I realize this isn’t to code. Does anyone know the downside to this approach?

 

[wiffleballpractice]

We recently had a power outage and I ran directly into the GFI fault issue. I should have tested it in advance. My electric panel was upgraded when I had the ford charger installed and the panel accepts an input for a generator. When I plugged in, I experienced the ground fault others have talked about. I ended up making a jumper from 10 gauge wire and 30 amp plug/receptacle but removed the ground wire. I realize this isn’t to code. Does anyone know the downside to this approach?

At a minimum, the truck will not detect and react to ground faults.

 

[Maquis]

I'm in the camp that does not have an issue. The truck has GFI because those outlets are meant for outdoor tool use and GFI is good for that. But if you are connecting to your panel, then you have GFI on outlets that need that (kitchen, bath, outdoor). And those GFI outlets sense imbalanced current between the neutral and hot so still work. Most people forget that a lot of outlets in your house don't have/need GFI.

The objection to not connecting the truck’s ground to the home system’s grounding system has nothing to do with any aspect of GFCI protection.

Here is the technical reason: This setup connects the truck’s ground (chassis) to the home via the neutral wire in the cable that connects the truck to the home. Since current flows on this neutral, there will be some voltage drop on this wire. The resistance of 50’ of #10 wire is about 0.05 ohm. There will also be some resistance in plugs, connectors, etc. For simplicity, let’s assume the total resistance between the truck’s N-G bond and the home’s N-G bond is 0.2 ohm. If the full 30A is flowing on the neutral (unlikely, but possible) the truck chassis will be 6 volts above the home’s grounding system. Not a big deal. But the issue is that during a fault, 10X as much current could flow for the fraction of a second it takes for the truck to trip. That elevates the truck chassis to 60V above the home’s grounding system. If it were possible for someone to be touching the truck and the electrical system ground simultaneously when this happens, it could be lethal.

Now, in order for everything I described to happen, it would require a perfect storm of circumstances. You probably have a better chance of winning the Powerball jackpot.

90% of homes in the US probably have something that’s far more dangerous than this setup.

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