Honda EB5000 generator trips its GFCI breaker when powering a house - and a fix.

Please Subscribe for more DIY videos.
SAFETY FIRST! Do not try this unless you are experienced with grounds, amps, voltage, breakers, etc. Get help.
After I had my house upgraded to handle power from a generator, we went for a test, but the GFCI breaker on the Honda EB500 generator kept tripping. We spent some undisclosed and embarrassing amount of time debugging the house 30 AMP 8-3 Romex wiring, breaker connecting, and inlet box. After searching for the generator symptom - boom - a fix had been published years ago. I update the generator in under five minutes and everything worked. We can now power a significant number of house electrical devices in the case of a power outage. I will publish the end-to-end solution in another video on DrB DIY. This video shows how to fix your generator. I would guess other generators have this feature that can be disabled from GFCI protection of outside tools to removing the GFCI for a house. The basic problem is that you can't have two ground systems active at the same time. And there is no way to remove the house system. It works ! Thankful.
Tech note:
members.rennli...
#diytutorial #diyproject #doityourself

[@nomadicliberty]

awesome, it was driving me crazy taking everything apart to no avail. Now I know.

[@DrBDIY]

Very good. Glad to help. Safety first. Be careful.

[@corvette1203ss]

Thanks so much for making this video.. We just lost power for a couple of hours and my generator did the same thing as yours. I started looking for the problem on my panel side thinking I screwed something up, after an hour I gave up and came across your video, you were spot on. You saved me so much aggravation it's not even funny. Thanks again Ron Rucci

[@DrBDIY]

Glad I could help save you time! I decided to keep my ground wire on the generator at all times until I need it for powering the house. This way, if I am not around and someone borrows my generator, they are safe. Power on!

[@corvette1203ss]

I will do the same.

[@randoramma]

This was my issue as well! Saved me a lot of work! My electrician was the genius who found your video when my generator was tripping! Thanks Ryan from westside electrical!

[@DrBDIY]

Glad it helped

[@Alex-tb1fh]

Thanks so much for making this video. Struggled for a couple hours before watching your video. 2 minute fix and it works as it should

[@DrBDIY]

Glad it helped!

[@TomVogenthaler-ob6mk]

Thanks for the video… my EB6500X was doing the exact same thing. Found your video - it made PERFECT sense, I just got done removing the jumper wire and everything is working perfectly.

[@DrBDIY]

Glad it helped. Safety first!

[@adamsherman3830]

You saved me big time! I decided to test out generator only to have my breaker trip. I traced all my wiring which was perfect. After googling the problem, I landed on your video and tried your fix. Everything works perfectly now... I printed the bulletin and stashed it with my generator paperwork. Keep up the good work!

[@DrBDIY]

That is great. Glad you got power generation working. Did you count your AMPS/Watts in the devices, so you know what to run? Good to have a spreadsheet list handy of the must have devices/breakers you might rotate through when the power goes out. Safety first!

[@kingbastard8938]

I'm echoing a lot of grateful viewers for your instructional video! My EB3500 was doing the same thing, and it was an hour or more of triple checking all of my settings before I decided to search on KZbin and found you. Of course, I also realized I had to have my toggle switch set to "120-240" volt instead of just "120" volt. Anyway, your efforts probably saved me an expensive trip to the Honda repair shop! Much appreciated!

[@DrBDIY]

That is great to hear. Safety first! Hope you have reliable emergency power.

[@kingbastard8938]

@@DrBDIY Yup, furnace, refrigerator, and freezer all at once, and that's all I cared about. Thanks again!

[@DrBDIY]

You bet.

[@MrBritrider]

Amazed at how many people are unaware of this procedure to connect a generator to your house. Even more shocking (pun not intended) is how many electricians are also unaware. Tip for y’all needing to do this. Don’t remove the jumper wire from the case, just unscrew it from the neutral post and secure it to the other end, the ground post that way it’s stored right there when you need to get it back to spec. Also, make or buy a bonding plug ( look it up if you don’t know what it is) when you want to use your now floating neutral unit as a standalone unit in the field. In fact make two, one for 120V regular outlets and one for the 30 amp outlet. You’ll thank me later.

[@DrBDIY]

Thanks for the information. I think more DIY people don't understand bonding plug and floating neutral. Do you have a video of web link that gives a DIY person a good overview?

[@MrBritrider]

@@DrBDIY There are many “Making a Bonding plug” how to’s right here on YT. They all show how simple and effective they are. Lots in the recreational vehicle game talk about this quite a bit .

[@mamabear6780]

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I fought this mess for about 3 hours. I followed your instructions and modified my Ryobi generator. As soon as I screwed the cover back on the power came on! 😂 but that’s ok. I would rather fix it now than fight the same fight during hurricane season.

[@DrBDIY]

Safety first !

[@JesseBenefiel]

Thanks for creating this video! My father had the same issue, and I was able to correct it before the storm hit today. Hoping he doesn’t need it of course!

[@DrBDIY]

Good job. Stay safe and warm.

[@user-gu1jw5ml6z]

Awesome information, appreciate the bulletin!

[@DrBDIY]

Great!

[@uruzzo]

THANK YOU _ THANK YOU _ THANK YOU I had the problem and you got me the most easy way to fix it and now it works just like it should. I can not thank you enough.

[@DrBDIY]

Ha, sounds like me. Good job. Safety first.

[@SolidworksUnlimited]

Thanks I'm going to try this tomorrow 👍

[@DrBDIY]

Safety first! Be careful. Make sure you understand grounds, amps, breakers, etc.

[@RA-sz5tu]

just had same thing this morning, only difference is my generator is 15' for the house in a shed, went thru my wiring figuring I had a neutral and a hot switch somewhere, nope couldn't figure it out, power came back on and I could use my computer, thanks

[@DrBDIY]

Good job!

[@bharatkumarjoshi1596]

The simplest explanation could be (1) If home utility grid neutral is grounded, then remove the jumper and use a 2 pole transfer switch with jumper removed. (2) Alternatively use neutral ground for generator and body the frame of the generator both separately.

[@DrBDIY]

Well said.

[@robertsoavesoave7458]

It worked for me thank you .

[@DrBDIY]

You are welcome. Safety first!

[@nikoreynosa4547]

Worked on mines . Thank you

[@DrBDIY]

Good to hear

[@cayrick]

I have an EM5000S and Honda figured another way to make it problematic. This generator is unbonded but has GFI 110v outlets installed. After 45 minutes it unexpectedly tripped and the cooling fan I had plugged into the generator compartment stopped while the generator continued running- not good! Solution take out the GFI outlets and replace them with standard rectangular outlets that fit right in the sockets on the front panel. You could compromise safety but greatly improve reliability. It is a stationary application and besides, GFI's are a recent addition and haven't heard of any body count from the use of non GFI outlets.

[@DrBDIY]

A quote "No, you cannot replace a GFCI outlet with a regular outlet. GFCI outlets are required in areas where there is a risk of electrical shock, such as in bathrooms or near swimming pools. They work by sensing a loss of current and then shutting off the power to the outlet, preventing an electrical shock." An example of where it might be okay is if you removed a bathroom (and all water stuff) and extended it into a game room. Water is gone. Check with an electrician for sure. Local code governs what you can do. .... But on your trip, did you pull more total AMPs than your generator was producing? Safety first.

[@cayrick]

@@DrBDIY In my case the gen is in a ventilated compartment using a powered fan. The gen supplements a system consisting of an Inverter charger (Xantrex) connected to six storage batteries. During extended outages the inverter senses a low voltage and all goes black. I then start the generator which is connected to a transfer switch which feeds the inverter which then feeds the house and charges batteries. So the other day after the batteries died and I started the generator, the fan which cools the compartment is plugged into a GFCI outlet and when it tripped while I was in the house the fan stopped and the gen continued to run. Fortunately I caught it but next time who knows. Suddenly the GFCI outlet which started out as a friend is now a curse. I suspect that some strange currents from the inverter system tripped the CFGI outlets.

[@DrBDIY]

Sounds like you have more experience than me. Why don't you plug the fan into the generator since it is nearby? Also, do you have GFI on the inverter and in the house?

[@cayrick]

@@DrBDIY Plugging the fan into a GFI outlet on the gen created the issue with compartment overheating when the GFI tripped. I just purchased two regular outlets to replace two of the four GFI outlets on the generator. Wish Honda would have done this because some people need high reliability outlets such say as in medical applications.

[@tacx1]

The problem is that the manufacturers do not tell you this in the instruction manual that comes with the generator?? Don’t know why ? Your house power system is a “ separately derived system” having its own bond, meaning the neutral bar and the ground bar are connected in the electric panel. Your generator is also a “separately derived system” having its own bond between the neutral and ground. Using the generator with only extension cords, you must leave the bonding jumper in place. But, when you connect the generator to your homes electrical system, it becomes part of the homes system. In other words it becomes ONE system. Code says you can not have more than one ground point per system.

[@DrBDIY]

Nice response. I think MFRs are worried that someone removes the jumper for a house, uses it, forgets to reconnect the jumper, then uses it at a job site where the generator is supposed to be grounded. Safety first.

[@kevinortiz1841]

Does this same apply to hooking up a welding machine since it has to be grounded?

[@DrBDIY]

Good question. I am a DIYer, not an electrician. You may want to stop by an electrical shop or electrician for assistance. Thanks.

[@town_boi]

Same procedure will be followed in case when the generator is jiangdong 3kv, its breaker triping sometime after 5 mnts and sometime 5 times in a minute......reply plz

[@DrBDIY]

Sorry, I don't know that generator. I suggest you contact the manufacturer first to discuss this approach. Safety first. I am a DIYer, not electrician. Thanks.

[@Oghurrakane]

Solid video

[@DrBDIY]

Thanks. Safety first.

[@marcoborjon]

I have the same one, but the problem is when I put the selector on only 120v it doesn't work, the breaker trips, can you help me with your diagram?

[@DrBDIY]

Hi, I am a DIYer, not an electrician. I created a picture diagram of what I wanted, but not an electrical diagram. Did you disable the ground on the generator so that the house ground takes over? Safety first. Get help if you have DIY experience like me. I had several smart folks guiding me.

[@tenexchikumba]

My question is what was the jumping for in first place

[@DrBDIY]

Good question. Safety first. I am not an electrician but a DIYer. Basically, grounding a generator helps to protect against shocks when connecting power tools and other non-fixed-structute devices like lights. For example, don't use a plugged-in saw without a grounded generator. From search: Bonded Neutral in Generator In a generator, bonded neutral refers to a configuration where we make electrical connection or bonding of the neutral wire of the generator and the ground or earth. The simple way to achieve this is by connecting the neutral wire to the generator’s frame and to the grounding terminal through a wire or strap. The purpose of bonding the neutral in a generator is to provide a low-impedance path for fault current to flow to the ground in the event of a fault, thereby reducing the risk of electrical shock and other hazards. Bonding the neutral can also help to reduce electrical noise and interference in the system, improving the performance of connected equipment. In a bonded neutral generator, the neutral and ground wires are connected at the generator, and the neutral is also connected to the generator’s frame. This means that the generator’s frame is effectively at the same potential as the ground, which can help to prevent electrical shock and other hazards. It’s important to note that in some situations, such as when we connect the generator is to a building’s electrical system, a floating neutral configuration may be required instead of a bonded neutral configuration.

[@andrebeaule9457]

If you remove this wire, your generator plugs and no longer GFI protected (just wanted to make sure you knew). When doing this, you ground the casing of your generator to a grounding rode in the soil.

[@DrBDIY]

With the wire removed, the generator is not on the house GFI protection. How do you ground to the soil?

[@andrebeaule9457]

@@DrBDIY with a ground rode hammered into the soil and then you place a wire between the generator casing and this ground rod.

[@DrBDIY]

@@andrebeaule9457 Got it and good point, thanks. In my case is "The neutral connection to the generator is always connected to the permanent earth grounding of the home. In this case, there is no need to connect an additional grounding electrode." In other cases: "A separately derived system refers to a generator transfer switch that breaks both the neutral and hot connection. When the power supply is transferred to the generator, it is no longer connected to the main neutral supply to your home. The connection to the grounding of your house wiring is, therefore, separated from the generator supply. In this case, you will need to install additional grounding for the generator." Good link here: www.chainsawjournal.com/how-to-ground-a-generator/#:~:text=%20How%20to%20Ground%20A%20Generator%20%201,the%20wire%20around%20the%20ground%20rod...%20More%20

[@danielsntg]

Sir you are a life saver🫡

[@DrBDIY]

Safety first !

[@Beechnut985]

Now i know.

[@DrBDIY]

Cool. Safety first.

[@edwardstanley2195]

Float the ground at the generator.

[@DrBDIY]

Roger that.

[@rocketsurgery8337]

Never heard of an OSHA certified generator. A company claiming their product is OSHA certified is going to get into a lot of trouble. OSHA only writes statutes and regulations.

[@DrBDIY]

Probably a bad choice of words on my part. I should have said the generator will not meet OSHA requirements. From the bulletin: CAUSE The affected generators have neutral bonded to ground to pass OSHA inspection on jobsites. Home or building main breaker boxes also have neutral bonded to ground. When an affected unit is connected to a home or building, the GFCI relay trips the generator’s main circuit breaker. CORRECTIVE ACTION The neutral bond wire must be removed when using these generators to power a house or building. Also, the “NEUTRAL BONDED TO FRAME” label must be covered with a new Neutral Unbonded Label. After this action, the generator will no longer pass OSHA inspection on jobsites. Consult a qualified electrician to confirm that this modification is permitted by local electrical codes. USING AN UNBONDED GENERATOR ON AN OSHA JOBSITE MAY RESULT IN FINES OR OTHER OSHA ACTION. DO NOT USE AN UNBONDED GENERATOR ON AN OSHA JOBSITE