Over-voltage MeccAlte NPE32E/4

[JettaBlack]

Over the last weekend I finished setting up my Perkins 404D22G/ MeccAlte NPE32E/4 with Dynagen GSC 300 engine controller. All of the wiring was inspected and given the green light so I fired up the generator, shut off the utility power to my ASCO 185 ATS, and when it transferred the ~40-amp load to the generator it nearly burned up my house. Based on the damage it caused, the voltage was quite in excess of the 120/ 240 I was hoping for as fire flew from sockets and a couple small appliances are now toasted. Yes, this was a hard lesson for this DIY'r but I suppose it could have been worse. Now I'm trying to pickup the pieces and hoping to understand what I did wrong.?.?.? I wish I could say that I checked the voltage before throwing the switch, but....NOT. Any suggestions?

[wellandpower]

Its a hard lesson, but checking the voltage is an essential part of installation.
Have you now checked the voltage? What is it set at?
There are many many different winding configurations also, that can give the same voltage with and without a neutral, or similar voltage on some phases but not others (4 wire delta for example).

Didn't any of your breakers trip? Is there no breaker on the set?

[JettaBlack]

Charlie,
Thanks for your reply. I haven't checked voltage yet. This incident took out my whole-house surge protection so I'm waiting for this to arrive. Also, while I'm waiting I would like to have at least a good hypothesis for what may have happened before going forward. I certainly don't want to repeat the stupidity of my last attempt. My surge protector should be in Friday so I'll check voltage then.
As for the voltage 'setting', this thing didn't come with ANY manual! I have seen others make the same comment so it must be just an extremely huge oversight by the manufacturer. Where would I check the setting once I've taken a reading- assuming it needs to change?
None of the breakers tripped and this is part of my reasoning for 'over-voltage'. Yes, the generator has a breaker and it did not trip.
Neutral? I have only 2-wires going from my generator to my TSW. The inspector said this was all that I needed. Since I couldn't find a place to connect a neutral, I assumed he was correct.

Thank you for your help.

[wellandpower]

One of the wires presumably acts like a neutral.

If you are unsure, please take my advice and get an electrician in. You can do much worse than dmage your surge protection if its not installed correctly.......! You need to make sure your earthing scheme etc is correct and meets you local regulations, you need to make sure your cables are correctly sized, etc.

The voltage should be measured at the terminals, but measuring at the breaker is normally easier and safer. Equally if your cables are short, at your ATS should be OK.

[JettaBlack]

As expected, getting the neutral back to the TSW fixed the problem. On the grounding and conductors I followed the local code.
Thank you

[wellandpower]

No problem, glad we could assist.