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05-13-2015, 09:02 PM
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#1
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: South Louisiana
Posts: 87
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Generator grounding
What does everybody do with their portable generators to ground them? A wire with a metal pole in the ground? You don't worry about it? Or is it more complicated? I don't want to over think this, but at same time don't wanna mess anything up.
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05-13-2015, 09:33 PM
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#2
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Left Coast
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: vancouver,washington
Posts: 15,649
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LSUTiger
What does everybody do with their portable generators to ground them? A wire with a metal pole in the ground? You don't worry about it? Or is it more complicated? I don't want to over think this, but at same time don't wanna mess anything up.
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Just use it..... do you have a hard wired surge protector?
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05-13-2015, 09:40 PM
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#3
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Posts: 10,833
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Don't need one as long as wiring is intact/done properly and GFCI is in use for external cords etc.
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B and B
2022 Venture RV SportTrek STT 302 VRB Travel Trailer
2018 Heartland Landmark 365 Louisville 5th Wheel
2015 Heartland Bighorn 5th Wheel
2013 FR Rockwood 8289WS 5th Wheel
2012 FR Rockwood 2703 SS Travel Trailer
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05-13-2015, 10:02 PM
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#4
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Senior Member
Join Date: Nov 2013
Location: crete,il /texas
Posts: 498
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I was told ,according to previous forum posts, external grounding is not nessary
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05-13-2015, 10:08 PM
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#5
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Left Coast
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: vancouver,washington
Posts: 15,649
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Big Bill
I was told ,according to previous forum posts, external grounding is not nessary
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It isn't....... but if you have a hardwired progessive surge protector and it's located in a hard to reach location, has a by-pass switch/button, there is a simple grounding plug one needs to make the gen. power up the rv.
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05-13-2015, 10:09 PM
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#6
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: South Louisiana
Posts: 87
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Generator grounding
I have a portable surge protector and it gave me a grounding error so then I came on here to ask some questions.
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05-13-2015, 10:15 PM
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#7
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Left Coast
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: vancouver,washington
Posts: 15,649
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LSUTiger
I have a portable surge protector and it gave me a grounding error so then I came on here to ask some questions.
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It's been a while since I made the plug, but go to the search button area and type in portable gen grounding....or go into the mods area and scroll thru there. What type of gen?
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05-14-2015, 04:23 AM
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#8
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Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2010
Location: Eastern Ontario
Posts: 4,167
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bob caldwell
It's been a while since I made the plug, but go to the search button area and type in portable gen grounding....or go into the mods area and scroll thru there. What type of gen?
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Do one of those plug and you will be fine.
Generator Ground-Neutral Bonding | No~Shock~Zone
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Fonzie
2011 Rockwood 8319SS with ProPride 3P hitch/GoodYear Marathons/TST TPMS 507
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Yamaha 3000iseb generator:Progressive Ind. EMS-HW30C : Eastern Ontario
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05-14-2015, 07:08 AM
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#9
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Florida
Posts: 103
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There is a ground point on your gen that you should connect a ground wire too and then to a grounded structure/ ground rod (water pipe, metal pole...). If not then your GFCI will not work as there is no reference for the protection,
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05-14-2015, 07:23 AM
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#10
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Left Coast
Join Date: Dec 2014
Location: vancouver,washington
Posts: 15,649
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Quote:
Originally Posted by stevewise
There is a ground point on your gen that you should connect a ground wire too and then to a grounded structure/ ground rod (water pipe, metal pole...). If not then your GFCI will not work as there is no reference for the protection,
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See Fonzie's above link.
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05-14-2015, 07:47 AM
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#11
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Member
Join Date: Mar 2013
Location: South Louisiana
Posts: 87
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Caldwell it's a Champion 3100
Sent from my iPhone using Forest River Forums
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05-16-2015, 08:00 AM
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#12
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Alabama
Posts: 189
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LSUTiger
I have a portable surge protector and it gave me a grounding error so then I came on here to ask some questions.
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I may chime in here. I literally just installed a progressive EMS in my TT. I have a Honda gen and wanted to know how to best configure for occasional use. I had a discussion with their tech and here is what he suggested: Get a simple 15 amp plug from Lowes, a Depot, Wmart, etc. Take a short piece of 12 or 14 gauge wire and jumper it from the ground to Neutral terminal. Close it up and plug it in to an open receptacle on your generator. Then plug your RV into the generator and you have closed the ground loop. Will not harm generator or electronics in RV. You could also take some wire and run it from your trailer frame to the ground terminal on your RV. Only make sure you have a clean and solid connection. He advised against flipping the switch on the EMS unit to bypass the shut down feature for open ground. This way I get full protection through my EMS system by providing a closed ground.
By code, RV's are required to not bond the neutral and ground together because you would normally get ground through the electrical pedestal at a campground or at home. When plugged to a generator however, you would not have this ground so when you bond the neutral and ground (just as a transfer switch does), you thus now close this loop. Of course, you could also mess with pounding a rod into the ground or bonding your frame to the generator, but I understand you will need less than 100 ohms resistance to be effective for this.
Word of caution: make sure your generator has an unbonded ground to neutral by putting a meter across the neutral and ground while not running. If you do not have a connection between these two make the mentioned plug. If your particular generator is already bonded don't worry bout the plug, it will not do anything for you.
I installed my EMS system yesterday and made the bonding plug for my generator (10 minutes), hooked it all up and it works fabulous. I don't have to worry about bypassing while on generator or remembering to flip my switch back. I have full protection all the time. Here is a very helpful link with detailed info...... Generator Ground-Neutral Bonding | No~Shock~Zone
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05-16-2015, 08:07 AM
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#13
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2015
Location: Alabama
Posts: 189
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Btw, here is a link specifying which generators have floating vs bonded neutrals/grounds
http://www.generlink.com/CompatibleGenerator.pdf
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2014 Windjammer 3025W Diamond 34.5 ft 8300 lbs.
2010 F150 SC XLT 4x4 5.4L, 3.55 gears 20" rims
12 k Equalizer WDH, Firestone Airbags, HD Bilsteins
TST 507RV TPMS
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