New Wen Generator and Generator Cord Modification for Current Transformers

I got a new generator a week or so ago to replace my old faithful 325 pound 1973 Onan 5CCK 5kw behemoth. There are blog entries for the Onan if anyone wants to search for them. The new generator is a Wen DF680iX 6,800-surge / 5,100-rated watts on gasoline or 6,000-surge / 4,500-rated watts on propane. The plan is to only use propane so it has a 4,500 watt rated capacity. This is an inverter generator so it runs slower when little or no load is on it, making it fairly quiet.

I chose this generator because it was the smallest 240 volt inverter generator I could find that had good reviews online. I don't need a huge generator, and in the past I've run the house off an 1,800 watt (2,300 peak) Pulsar 120-volt generator (I turn off all 240-volt circuits). We couldn't run things like the microwave but we could run the refrigerator, freezer, central propane radiant floor heat, lights, and our computers and internet/cable. The new generator's 240 capability is mainly for running the well pump, and I'd fire up the old Onan for that duty in the past.

This Wen's small-ish size meant it was under $800 (before tax). A runner-up was a Pulsar rated at 5,500 watts (propane) and was $998, but it had a lower approval rating. Another runner-up was a Westinghouse rated at 5,950 watts (propane), and was $1,399 with a similar approval rating to this Wen.

I had installed current transformers on my old Onan so I could see the amount of amperage being used on each 120-volt leg of the 240 volt output. This new generator has a display that shows total amperage being delivered but I wanted to see how much was on each of the two 120 volt legs, so below is what I did to modify my generator power cord by adding a box that I will mount two current transformers/displays.

There are four wires in a 240 volt generator cord: two 120-volt hot wires, neutral and ground. The two hot wires have to be cut so each one can run through a current transformer ring. The two displays need 120-volt power so I added a jumper to each hot wire to power the displays. I soldered the wires back together using a 260 watt soldering gun, but there's a little story here (of course there is...).

The soldering gun has these funky ring clamps that constantly need tightening to get good contact on the soldering iron tip. If contact isn't good, the tip does not heat up enough. One ring had broken years ago so I'd made a new one on the lathe back then. It's the one laying on top of the left rod in the photo below. It finally gave up during this project so I had to take a half hour to make yet another one. I made this one thicker so it would hold up better. It's on the right rod.

Here's a photo of the thing put back together. The ring on the bottom rod is the new one.

This next photo shows the completed wiring.

Just to make sure it all worked, I jumpered the bare wire ends of the cord into a 120-volt house outlet. The voltage showing on the two displays is one volt off but it's close enough for cheap Chinese stuff.

Here's the completed setup.

Of course I had to try things out with the new generator.

It's funny, both displays show the same voltage on each leg of the 240-volt generator power but they were 1 volt off from each other while reading from a single 120-volt outlet on utility power. I don't have a way to plug anything in to the generator's four-prong receptacle (other than the house panel) so I can't test it out until the power goes out (or I just shut off utility power, but then I'll have to go around and set all the clocks, and it's not worth the effort).