Re: [A/S] Re: Generator Question

[George Humphrey <george@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi Al, Michelle and others,

Many times when you park your trailer you do not
put down the stabilizers, or you put the jack and
the stabilizers on plastic or wood blocks and not
on the earth. You may even be parked on
concrete and it is not a good earth ground.
Therefore there is no direct trailer connection
to earth until you hook up your AC power wire, in
which the ground is connected from the AC connector
power wire to the frame of the trailer and a ground
somewhere in the trailer park.

As long as your trailer is connected to the AC power
when you stand on the ground and touch the frame
or anything connected to the frame that is metal,
you are at the same electrical potential. You only
get shocked if you and the metal you touch are
at different potentials.

Different potentials can and do happen with generators.
The ground wire from the generator to the trailer puts
the trailer and the generator at the same potential.
However, unless the generator is grounded, the trailer
and the generator can be at a different potential than
the ground you may be standing on. If so you can get
anything from a small tingle to a major fry.

George
'96 Integrity
'88 Excella