No Voltage on One Leg

[hobby_farm]

I purchased a 5244 (16 KW) from Home Depot in Canada in late January. I had the natural gas hooked up by a local gas fitter but I decided to do the electrical myself. I hooked up the transfer switch tested it with utility power and everything works fine. I then did the manual test of the generator and when I put my voltmeter on E1 & E2 I read about 60 volts and not 240. I measured the voltage again at the outdoor junction box just to see if the problem was somewhere in the transfer switch and got the same reading. I then measured the voltage on each leg. The black to neutral reads about 120but the red to neutral reads 0. Does this sound like a service call issue or is there something I can try on my own? I did not remove the cover plate of the control panel to look inside because I did not have the right size nut driver in my tool bag and the nuts at the back are not really accesible with an adjustable wrench.

[Kelly Myers]

First thing, try resetting the breaker and see if that makes 240v flow.

If not, you have to open the panel. A 10mm socket and and kind of pliers will get you into it.

Measure the LINE side voltage of the breaker, and report back.

[hobby_farm]

Thanks Kelly:

I tried resetting the breaker a couple of times already and that had no effect. I had to go out of town on business this week so it will have to wait for the weekend. While I am away I can pick up a 10mm socket wrench or nut driver. Thanks for your prompt response. I will let you know what I discover when I get the panel off.

[hobby_farm]

I got a 10mm socket for my socket wrench set and removed the cover plate of the control panel on the generator. The red wire was completely disconnected from the breaker and the black wire was barely attached. The terminal screws were probably not tightened sufficiently before shipping and the wires became loose during shipping and installation. I wonder if it would be good practice to remove the cover before initial generator testing just to confirm that everything is good and tight. If both wires had been making contact the voltage reading would have shown good but there could have been arcing as the wires worked loose from the vibration of the generator. I also would like to add to anyone wanting to remove the cover to get a "deep" socket. A normal socket is too shallow and will not reach the nut because of the protruding bolt. Thanks again to Kelly and the other regular contributors for this fantastic forum.