- Location
- Massachusetts
benaround said:
Because. :wink:
Why what? :?
Portable Generators and Ground Rods
- Thread starter iwire
- Start date
- Status
Because. :wink:
Why what? :?
- Location
- Massachusetts
In going over this thread it becomes apparent that the transfer to the new forum was not without collateral damage.
This thread is a mess if you try to follow it now. :evil:
It was a good thread with a lot of good input.
This thread is a mess if you try to follow it now. :evil:
It was a good thread with a lot of good input.
This is my first post and I am no expert on generators and grounding (earthing) but I have had a few surprises with generators and large steal framed objects. I ran a rubber blending unit in the Florida panhandle for a couple years. The flat bed trailer had three steal tanks and a 100 KW generator mounted on it. Power was three phase 480 and had to run twenty four/seven. A smaller auger trailer delivered powdered rubber tires to the main trailer to blend with 375% asphalt. This system is all portable and was not grounded to earth. Well here we have daily storms about every afternoon and this day we had one off about five miles. We all were leaning against the equipment when lightning hit a tree about 100' away. We all got jolted pretty good but no body got it too bad. After that my equipment was always earth grounded and I never had that problem again. I believe that a field builds up that could be dangerous.
Now I work for the county and have 10 portable generators from 80 KW to 200 KW all on trailers to support wells and lift stations. We ran one of our generators hooked to a truck against a load bank a few weeks ago and one of the guys was leaning on the load bank which was on a trailer hooked to a truck also. He didn't lean on that load bank long. Stray voltage got him pretty good.
I installed a new stainless control panel at a new lift station a few months ago which is located under some Gulf Power lines. The meter was not set yet. I got tickled from my truck when I leaned against it and from the panel which was isolated at the time.
I believe that if you are going to have a large metal object be it a generator or equipment that uses any form of power that for your safety you should take some extra care and earth ground it even if you use plugs. This is not always practical for short periods but if your generator is going be there a while earth ground it.
Don
Now I work for the county and have 10 portable generators from 80 KW to 200 KW all on trailers to support wells and lift stations. We ran one of our generators hooked to a truck against a load bank a few weeks ago and one of the guys was leaning on the load bank which was on a trailer hooked to a truck also. He didn't lean on that load bank long. Stray voltage got him pretty good.
I installed a new stainless control panel at a new lift station a few months ago which is located under some Gulf Power lines. The meter was not set yet. I got tickled from my truck when I leaned against it and from the panel which was isolated at the time.
I believe that if you are going to have a large metal object be it a generator or equipment that uses any form of power that for your safety you should take some extra care and earth ground it even if you use plugs. This is not always practical for short periods but if your generator is going be there a while earth ground it.
Don
RayS
Senior Member
- Location
- Cincinnati
wow. great topic, and amazing response.
Iwire, I used to think that the grounding req't was actually reducing safety- 1. It introduces the possibility of getting a shock from hot to ground, whereas if the generator was actually insulated from ground the shock hazard wouldnt exist. (like isolation transformer for patient care areas, or arc flash hazard reduction from using ungrounded delta)
2. It also introduces the very real possibility of driving a rod into an underground utility. Many people arent going to wait the required 48hrs to have u/g utils located before driving the rod.
And it seemed a waste of effort for an uncertain benefit. Unlike Iwire, we didn't have a winch to remove the rods at the end of the show... groan
Now, having seen a lot of reasoned responses, I believe there is some merit to the dissipation of static idea. The genny could build up it's own charge from air movement, and the system as a whole could become charged from induced voltage.
So- what if there was a provision added to allow a substantial static ground- like parking the truck on a big steel plate and grounding to it?
Any thoughts, yall?
Iwire, I used to think that the grounding req't was actually reducing safety- 1. It introduces the possibility of getting a shock from hot to ground, whereas if the generator was actually insulated from ground the shock hazard wouldnt exist. (like isolation transformer for patient care areas, or arc flash hazard reduction from using ungrounded delta)
2. It also introduces the very real possibility of driving a rod into an underground utility. Many people arent going to wait the required 48hrs to have u/g utils located before driving the rod.
And it seemed a waste of effort for an uncertain benefit. Unlike Iwire, we didn't have a winch to remove the rods at the end of the show... groan
Now, having seen a lot of reasoned responses, I believe there is some merit to the dissipation of static idea. The genny could build up it's own charge from air movement, and the system as a whole could become charged from induced voltage.
So- what if there was a provision added to allow a substantial static ground- like parking the truck on a big steel plate and grounding to it?
Any thoughts, yall?
RayS
Senior Member
- Location
- Cincinnati
iwire said:
It seems to me the cutoff for not requiring the ground rod was 5kw. Can't recall which year that changed
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