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Old 07-31-2004, 04:54 AM   #1
DrivesBGM
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M.O.C. #3
Open Ground From Generator - Is it a problem?

I recently purchased a Good Governor and yesterday used it while "exercising" my Yamaha 2800i. (I hook it up to the 5er every few months and have it power the 15000 BTH AC for 15 minutes or so. If for no other reason than to just make sure that it is still working!)

Anyway, the Good Governor showed good 122v and 60 Hz which is great but it also showed an open ground. Got the 2800i's manual out and sure enough found that I need to provide an earth ground to a lug on the generator! (Of course they don't provide the wire, connector, nor grounding rod!)

I have used the generator without the grounding it quite a few times. In fact, for the most part, I've used it on parking lots where I wouldn't be able to provide an earth ground even if I wanted to. And I suspect that most RVer's use their generators without hooking it up to earth ground also.

What am I risking by powering my Montana with an ungrounded generator? Do other RVer actually ground their generators before use?

Craig
 
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Old 07-31-2004, 08:35 AM   #2
HamRad
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Hi Craig,
I suspect all of us or at least most of us who run generators do not have them actually grounded directly to the ground. As a matter of fact all you can do if you have one mounted in your trailer is to have a good ground to the frame of the trailer. I've never tested my Honda 2000 for open ground. I'll do that the next time I "exercise" it. But I wouldn't worry about it as long as everything seems to be working as it should and it hasn't destroyed any of your electronic equipment. I'll follow this thread with some interest for a while. Thanks for the heads up.

HamRad
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Old 07-31-2004, 11:09 AM   #3
faeb and genb
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I wouldn't try to run it in an electrical storm. without the earth ground.
Gene
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Old 07-31-2004, 11:19 AM   #4
Montana_1560
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M.O.C. #1560
How does your 2800I handle the 15k air conditioner? We have been looking at generators and had decided on that model, then heard from a couple of posts that it won't handle the 15k a/c. How long can you run gen on a tank of gas? How long have you run the a/c with the generator? I really don't want to deal with a 150lb portable if the 2800 will work.

Thanks
Kevin & De
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Old 08-01-2004, 12:33 PM   #5
DrivesBGM
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I have run the generator for 7.5 hours from full to empty but can't remember how much of that time the AC ran. And yes, I've been able to run the 15000 BTU AC on the 2800i without a problem.

Craig
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Old 08-01-2004, 12:57 PM   #6
Montana_1892
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hi,
a little fuzzy on what the good governor is indicating as a fault??
if you have a good bonding, ground connector from the generator to the trailer, i am a little confused why you would need an earth ground?
grey ghost
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Old 08-02-2004, 01:51 AM   #7
DrivesBGM
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Quote:
quote:Originally posted by grey-ghost
... a little fuzzy on what the good governor is indicating as a fault??
The Yamaha 2800i has a lug on the front panel that indicates that it is a ground connection. Looking at the User's Manual for the generator, it sez to provide a connection to a grounding rod with the proper guage wire (whatever guage that is?). And the schematic shows that this "earth ground" goes directly to the "gound pin" (the semi circular one on a three prong 120 v AC outlet).

Without connecting this the ground connector on the generator, the Good Governor sees the "ground pin" as not being connected to ground.

Hope this clarifies rather than clouds the issue.

Craig
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Old 08-03-2004, 05:36 PM   #8
Montana_1892
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Hi,
got you ... guage refers to wire size, for your application you will probably need either 14 guage or 12 guage stranded conductor, green outer insulated wire, suitable for use out of doors. your local hardware type store should be able to provide the details. 14 is suitable for a 20 amp, 120volt circuit and 12 guage would be needed for a 30 amp, 120 volt circuit.
in lew of a ground rod, you could connect the grounding lug, via this wire to the frame of the trialer, this would be a bonding path from source to load. this would fool the Good Governer into thinking everthing was correct.
a less practical, but probably more code correct arrangement by NEC 2002 code would be to attach a grounding wire of correct guage to an earth ground staff, describe in the code AND to install a second ground wire from the metal frame of the trailer to a second ground staff, describe in the code, ensuring proper sizing of rod and driven to correct depth ... in order to fool your Good Governor.
But then you would have to move that mess evertime you moved.
If you have a simple three light phase, polarity checker that can be plugged into a standard 120volt outlet to check for proper wiring and you plug it into the generator and it shows correct, phase and polarity, you are probably ok.
UL is pretty picky about that kind of stuff before the approve a generator for general use by the public.
happy trials, grey ghost


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Old 08-04-2004, 01:26 AM   #9
DrivesBGM
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Grey Ghost,

Thanks for your detailed reply.

I guess my point in my posts was that Yamaha, while specifying a requirement for grounding the generator, did not ... 1) Specify the guage wire to use (I agree that it should be 12 guage to support 30 amps). 2) Did not provide any information to help a user select a proper ground rod. 3) And did not actually provide connectors, wire or ground rod.

Other than the open ground. The Hot and Neutral are wired correctly. Voltage is 122v AC and the frequency is at 60 Hz.

I will just continue to use it without an earth ground. Just can't see hauling all that "grounding equipment".

Craig
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Old 08-04-2004, 12:16 PM   #10
Montana_1892
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hi, sounds like it should work well.
it surprises me that companies that sell expensive stuff like that do not go into greater detail on how to install/use the equipment.
keep the shiney side up, grey ghost
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