Honda generator and electrical grid
Might I ask a question here unrelated to motorhomes? The topic of portable generators often comes up here and on other forums. I am thinking of buying the Honda "Companion" portable generator, and I a...
Forum Discussion
JaxDad wrote:
The neutral and ground wires are bonded at the service entrance, the meter base, and so there is connectivity beyond the mains, even if they are off. There is electrical potential then beyond your house.
If in a power outage the ground next to your house is a poorer conductor (drier maybe) than further down the line, where a utility worker is in contact with the downed or broken line, then that worker could be the best path to ground.
The ‘path of least resistance’ is not always the only path, or the nearest path.
It takes several thousandth less electricity to kill somebody than it does to trip the average breaker.
To paraphrase, and badly butcher, Clint Eastwood, “do you feel lucky”?
If the earthing is poor, the entire house system will be floating. The potential that the linemen would see is basically a static charge in that case; there's no chance for current to flow, as there's no return path to the generator via the earth.
Of course, if the earthing is good, the neutral is at ground potential and so no current will flow as there is no potential difference to drive it.
There is no danger here that I can make out. The writers of the NEC must also not see any practical danger, in as much as such an installation is permitted. Failing to properly and positively lock out the hot connection is, of course, an entirely different matter, and is dangerous and not permitted. (In particular, having a generator running with a hot connection to the utility transformer will make the utility lines live at their high voltage potential, generally 7 kV or higher, when the workers believe them to be dead. That, as much as anything else, is what the code is particularly trying to guard against.)
