The grounding is a safety issue only. However, since it is powering a house, even as back up, it is probably also code that it be grounded.
As for refrigerators if you are nervous put a serge protector inline during the times when you may have to run the generator. ----- Original Message ----- From: Edward Przybylek To: BlindHandyMan Sent: Monday, December 03, 2007 12:23 AM Subject: [BlindHandyMan] Generator Grounding & Usage Hi all, I just replaced a 4000 watt generator with a 9000 watt machine. Many people have told me to ground a generator when it's in use. I never grounded the 4000 watt machine and never had a problem. On the new machine, however, there is a *very* prominent lug for attaching a ground wire. Is this one of those overkill precautions or something I should really use for whatever reason? My brother-in-law, a heating and cooling contractor from upstate New York, also told me it's not a good idea to run freezers and refrigerators on a generator. He claims he's run into a number of situations where people have blown these units as a result of a spike in the generator output. If this is true, then I'm wondering why own a generator? Is there any truth to this? Have any of you ever run into such a problem? As always, any information greatly appreciated. Take care, Ed Przybylek [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] [Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
