Grounding Rod For Portable Generators Necessary?

[eastexan]

Thanks everyone for your input. I've come up with a game plan :thumbsup:

Since ground rods come in 8' lengths, I think I'll cut one in two and use one half where I would be using it at the house in case of power outage and put the rod permanently in the ground there.
And the other half I will keep with the generator in case I decide to use it when I'm out and about, working on the property.

As for working where the generator will constantly be moving (e.g. working along a fence line), I'll probably not use the ground rod as long as it's fair dry weather.

If, for some reason I have to work in inclement weather, I'll use the ground rod.
Of course, for that I'll need to hire a licensed electrician to ride around with me all day to take care of the ground rod installation. :mur: :laughing:

 

[Putter]

We were on generator power last spring and using a small 3000 watt generator. My wife was using an expensive sewing machine and it fried the circuit board. I always wondered if it was because there was no ground.

 

[jonyyuma]

Just a note..Putter. if you do it again, You should use a surge protector strip on small appliances. Gen-sets can cause a lot of havoc if not tuned..A lot of people get away with them just like they came out of the box. But vibration or handling can change the settings as in voltage or frequency.

 

[eastexan]

jonyyuma, do you think using a good surge protector would protect a LCD tv while using a generator?
I used a generator a few years ago when our electricity was out and powered our old tv on it. But I'm kind of reluctant to try our new tv on one without some sort of protection.
It seems that a lot of things have some sort of computer or electronics on them anymore.

BTW, are you "panther quick and leather tough" as the song goes? :laughing:

 

[jonyyuma]

Ya know I forgot about that line in the song. Ya might say he was one of my heros...I do have pair of 44's, but it is illegal to cut down a shotgun, like he carried.But you can bet I am a Rebel...My other guy was John Wayne...We used some nice surge protectors to cover genset surges and spikes, the battery backup units cover more expensive stuff. I still shutter when we hook up a computer to one or electronic cash register. Any thing over 120 volts can pop componants, we like 115 to 117.My home drops to 107 on a hot day, when everyone is dragging on the utilitys.

 

[jonyyuma]

easttexas, BTW I always hammer that rod into the ground. I cannot afford to have a law suit and the law says it will be done...regardless. It is a half, unless they are watching, we use a hammerdrill with adapter to sink tough ones. If we cannot pull it when thru. Just drive it into the ground where no-one can catch a foot..If you don't use a groundrod there is a change of not enought fault to trip a breaker, but less than 1/2 amp can stop a heart, not always, but some of the time..Murphy's law..

 

[deereman75]

less than 1/2 amp can stop a heart

Actually, only 5/1000 of an amp, at the heart can kill you.

 

[2549]

The ground the owners manual calls for is most likely for a case ground. Should the generator develop an internal fault it could hot up the generator case and frame and you could shock yourself by touching the unit if it was faulted so.

Its not needed for generation of power. It's an operator safety concern.

 

[eastexan]

Ya know I forgot about that line in the song. Ya might say he was one of my heros...I do have pair of 44's, but it is illegal to cut down a shotgun, like he carried.But you can bet I am a Rebel...My other guy was John Wayne....

Yeah, I sang that song so much when I was growing up that I don't think I'll ever forget it. :laughing:
I knew about all the theme songs. But my 2 favorites was that one, and Rawhide. They both were catchy tunes, and I'd be singing them to the top of my lungs while pitching hay to the cows.

There were lots of good westerns back then. I think there were more westerns on tv than hair on a dogs back. But us kids loved them all. :laughing:

 

[ray66v]

We were on generator power last spring and using a small 3000 watt generator. My wife was using an expensive sewing machine and it fried the circuit board. I always wondered if it was because there was no ground.

My guess is it happened because the generator did not supply clean enough power.

You should use a computer back up power supply, (UPS), between the generator, and electronic appliances until you know your generator set up is safe for your equipment. The UPS is designed to filter the power, and make it safe.

Generally inexpensive generators are not good for supplying clean power.

The ground rods are to protect the user, in the even to a short in the generator. If it functions as it should, you won't need it. If the generator ever fails, and shorts out, it could be very dangerous. Without a good ground, you could become the ground, and that's not going to be good.