First a warning: Read Mike's (and other's) lessons on the importance of proper BONDING and GROUNDING and the tragedies caused by floating-neutrals before embarking on this exercise!!!!!!

What you don't know, WILL KILL YOU!!!

1) If you are using your generator as portable power, and not using it as backup power for your house or business, then IGNORE this post! 2) Also, if you are using this generator as backup power for your building AND you are using a transfer switch that switches the neutral as well as the hots, then IGNORE this post. 3) If you are using this generator for backup power for your building and you are using a transfer switch that only switches the hots (or not using a transfer switch at all, and just back feeding a couple of breakers - which is NOT advised or code-compliant for that matter) than this is the post for you.

I have Harbor Freight's 4200W generator wired as backup power for my mountain cabin. IF you are using the generator to back feed your house's main electrical panel, you will need to remove the outlets' cover on the generator and unbond the neutral from the ground. On my version, the neutral and ground are connected on one of the standard 110v outlets, which of course, bonds the entire output of the generator. Once those connections are seperated, THEN you will be able to connect the 4-wire plug to the main panel.

it is Very VERY V-E-R-Y important to not have your ground and neutral connected ANYWHERE (the generator, an outlet in the house, extension cord, ANYWHERE) except inside your main panel.

Before making the connections in your panel, use a continuity meter to test the generator's 4-wire outlet; touching the ground (the connector with the hooked plug) and the neutral (the larger of the remaining 3 holes) and make SURE there is NO continuity between them. Better yet, touch every combination (ground-neutral, ground-hot1, ground-hot2, hot1-hot2, hot1-neutral, hot2-neutral) and make SURE that NONE of them have continuity. Once you're certain the four wires are all separate, then you can connect the generator to your main panel.

If you EVER disconnect the generator from the house and use it as a stand alone power source, you will need to REBOND the ground and neutral on the generator, and follow the generator's grounding instructions BEFORE EVER starting the generator. If you don't, it will KILL you!