Grounding generators

I’ve been curious about this as well. There seems to be some conflicting information. I would like to hear the boards opinion on this.

My thoughts are since the generator is connected to the home’s grounding system through the panel, it shouldn’t be necessary. If you were running extension cords to equipment, it would not be connected to an earthen ground.

Static electricity builds up. I shocked the crap out of myself by touching the frame while it was running a few times, even though it was on concrete.

Personally when I am using a 4 prong twist lock plug and powering the house, I do not worry about it. This is because you're back feeding your home and everything is still plugged into a wall receptible and those are grounded at the exterior panel or meter or both. Also, because one prong of the 4 is ground, your generator is also grounded thru your home's ground rod though this is not perfectly ideal. This is probably why the electrician never said anything about this.

However, if I'm running an extension cord and directly plugging appliances to the generator depending on how long I plan to run like this, I will ground the generator with a short 2' rod. This is because you are not using the home's ground. The appliance and generator are directly coupled. If something were to happen in this scenario it could potentially be bad since there is no direct/easy path to ground. You could also experience what others have mentioned in regard to static build up.


In the end:
-the generator's manual will probably say to ground it anytime it is in use this is sort of a CYA type thing.
-the more easy/direct/close paths to ground the better.