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Anyone knowledgeable about electric grounding on trailer mounted generator?
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Posted 6/23/2024 22:35 (#10785216 - in reply to #10784453)
Subject: RE: Anyone knowledgeable about electric grounding on trailer mounted generator?


Not exactly what I'm saying. A system that only has a two wires is safer than the same system with the neutral tied to ground (in my opinion). However, we don't put in systems like this anymore, as we all use three wire systems with hot wire, neutral wire, and ground wire.

In special cases, like in a electrical power generating station, a system powering the coal feed, or the control systems power if faulted could trip power, which would take down an entire generating station. In this case I would say a grounded system is more dangerous. But for a modern stand alone generator supplying single phase power, a grounded system isn't less safe, but it also isn't more safe. That is why the NEC does not generally require grounds on seperately derived systems that are mobile.

There are some contrived examples where having a ground could make things less safe. For example, if you had a light station running off a two wire plug, but the plug had the hot and neutral swapped and what was supposed to be the neutral was connected to the light station chassis. It starts to rain. When you touch the chassis, power could go through you, through your feet. Across the wet grass, through the earth, to the ground rod back to the generator. On the other hand, when the rain started, there may be enough current flow to kick the breaker before you went to put the light away. But if it was plugged into a gfci, that would have tripped it. This line of thinking isnt what would keep me from running a ground rod. What would keep me from running a ground rod, is that it is a pain to put in and take out every time I moved the trailer, and the benefit is small (in my opinion). I also wouldn't use a homemade light stations that was someone's FFA project from thirty years ago.

Grounds aren't magic. The vast majority of systems have them, and are required to have them by the NEC. But that does not mean the NEC requires them on all systems have them, nor that they are safer grounded.
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