Generators
Submitted: Sunday, May 15, 2005 at 11:03
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Member - Duncan W (WA)
Morning all, read one of the Posts yesterday regarding Gen.sets and the need to 'ground ' the gennie.
Forgive my ignorance but:
a) what is grounding?
b) why do you need to ground a generator?
c) do all portable generators need to be grounded.
When i worked on the tools (chippy) donkey's years ago we never grounded the gennie, just dragged it out plugged the lead in and pulled the cord. Bob's your Uncle.
Also are the GMC generators any good. Obviously you get what you pay for but for the odd trip here and there and during those all to frequent power cuts, they may be a consideration.
Thanks
Dunc
Reply By: kev.h - Sunday, May 15, 2005 at 11:29
Sunday, May 15, 2005 at 11:29
Hi Dunc
grounding is a good idea especially if plugging into your camper as the earth leakage safty switches wont work without it also any appliance with an earth plug wont be earthed this only applys to the 240v circuit most generators have an earth point on the body somewhere just needs a wire and a spike to drive into the ground if the ground is dry wetting the ground around the earth spike is a good idea (nothing wreaks a good camping trip like frying yourself- cant be too careful with electricity)
As for GMC with 2 yr warranty for less than $100 you cant go wrong I've had
mine for almost 2 yrs no problem we would have about 6 in our 4wd club all happy
Few points always drain fuel before storage - makes them hard to start if you dont
check and adjust the charge rate
check post #22900
cheers Kev
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Reply By: porlsprado - Sunday, May 15, 2005 at 19:16
Sunday, May 15, 2005 at 19:16
there's a caravaner's site in the US which i chanced onto looking into gennie issues and recites the tale of the caravaner who turned his caravan into a light bulb while he was inside it. result very burnt caravener blamed on gennie.
Opinions welcome, i think one for the myth busters.
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Follow Up By: porlsprado - Sunday, May 15, 2005 at 19:19
Sunday, May 15, 2005 at 19:19
postscript - i don't mean to devalue the extraordinary danger of buggering around with DC current and AC current and that post is not meant to devalue the deaths from people trying to plug 3 point ac donks into 2 point badly designed 12v points but you know sometimes stories change, that's all.
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Follow Up By: kev.h - Monday, May 16, 2005 at 18:34
Monday, May 16, 2005 at 18:34
some of the early ones had a 12v plug that could be forced into the 240v socket but they have been banned in oz for a wile now may be some secondhand units around should have all been recalled and changed by now -simple fix change the 12v plug to the T type - thats how the fire starts trying to charge your battery with 240v
cheers Kev
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