portable generator
I was attending the Gypsy Journal rally at Celina Ohio last week and while attending one of the seminars, the subject of grounding and/or bonding of portable generators came up, associated with a lot of confusion and mis-information on the subject. Let me say up front that I am not an expert on the subject, but before writing this post, I did bone up on the appropriate sections of the National Electrical Code and in that exercise, I learned a little about the subject.
As always when I discuss a subject, I like to have a vocabulary in common with others. On this subject, there are two words we have to agree on, and understand, they are “bonding” and “grounding”. These two words are frequently used together and sometimes even used interchangeably. That is not correct as the two words have two distinct meanings and I believe this leads to a lot of confusion on this issue.
First let’s use a common residential dwelling to begin our discussion. In a newly constructed home, electric code requires the incoming power to be grounded by means of at least one and many times, two ground rods driven into the earth. The ground wire from your breaker panel is connected to this/these ground rod(s) and then continues to run throughout the house with all the ground wires tied together.
In addition to the ground wire system in the house, there is another wiring system known as “neutral”. The neutral wire is generally white in color and similar to the ground wire, it runs to all electrical devices in the dwelling.
Now the important point: At one place, and only one place, the ground wire system and the neutral wire system are tied together. This is know as the bonding point and typically occurs in the breaker panel. Think of this in terms of roadways. You have two roads running side-by-side, but not intersecting, except at one point where there is a connecting street.
Now another consideration: if you add a second breaker panel in your house, that is fed from the first panel, there are special considerations. The most important one is that the grounds and the neutrals cannot be connected in the sub panel, and the ground bus bar is to be isolated. This is to prevent a second bonding point from occuring in the sub-panel, keeping in mind that there is to be one, and only one, ground/neutral bonding point.
Ok, now let’s summarize: from the utility company pole out at the street, you have a total of three wires coming to your house: you have two hot wires, and a neutral wire. All three of those wires enter your house and run through the breaker panel to your outlets and switches and appliances. At a point near the breaker panel there is a ground rod with a wire connected to it. This ground wire also runs through the breaker panel and to the various electrical devices. The ground wire and the neutral wire are only connected together in the main breaker panel, and not in any sub-panels.
Think about all this information and we will see in the next post how it affects the breaker panel in your RV, and how this affects a portable generator connected to your RV.
Next time,
Larry
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Larry Cad
Ralph, thank you for those kind remarks. I am “employed” here as an expert, but try never to claim to be an expert. I hear something that I don’t understand and study up to make sure I understand. That was the case with this subject. Anyway, I do appreciate your comments.
From one “old electrician” to another! 🙂
Larry
Ralph H
Hi Larry,
I’m responding to this post because I deleated the last two by mistake,ie;
“Generator bonding and grounding” Yes, I read all three and that was a great
job. All who read them should thank you even if some don’t quit understand it.
Hoprfully they all printed out all three post so they can read it over a few times.
Hopefuly everyone appreciates your knowledge and the time you put into it.
An old electrican,
Ralph H
larrycad
All very good comments. I will be discussing the need or not to need a ground rod for a portable generator shortly, and yes, you will need to run all three wires if you have a 30 amp service, and 4 wires if you have a 50 amp service. More later
Larry
S.C. Okie
Larry, when using a generator with ‘tag-along’, (TT), do I ground the generator directly to the ground via a ground rod? Or, do I need a separate ground?
Also, with a sub-panel: Should we run the usual three wires to it? (Black, white & green/bare-ground). How would we isolate the ground in the sub-panel??
Or, I am jumping ahead to far?? 🙂
Thanks!
al
Ready to hear how the Geberator comes into play now…..
Dave Beach
looking forward to your next post on this topic…
larrycad
Very good question and I can understand why you would ask it. However, before I can explain the considerations for grounding and bonding a portable generator, we all have to have a common understanding and vocabulary. My first post was an attempt to build a foundation for the further explanation of grounding and bonding. Hope that helps.
Larry
Norman A Glowacki
ok where is the report on generator grounding?