Grounding or Earthing for Diesel Generator Sets
Diesel Generators are generally installed for buildings or at those places where the emergency or standby power supply is needed. Before using a generator, it is necessary to keep an eye on the earthing or grounding of the dg set as it is important to ensure correct operation of the dg set and safety of the people nearby the unit.
Hereby we are going to introduce something about the dg set grounding or earthing.
But firstly, what is grounding or earthing?
The connection of an electric circuit to a reference ground is known as Grounding or Earthing.
In the case of a generator, the frame of the dg set acts like an electrical circuit and a properly installed grounding rod acts as the reference ground. You can easily ground the dg set by connecting a copper wire from your generator's frame to the grounding rod.
Why grounding or earthing is important?
Earthing or grounding is very important as it will help to keep the proper functioning of the dg set unit and also helps to keep the people safe who are near the dg set unit.
There are many benefits of grounding the generators which are as follows:
a. It helps to reduce the melting effects in electrical equipment like switchgear, transformers, cables, and rotating machines during the ground fault.
b. Reduce the mechanical shock in components and circuits that are exposed to ground fault.
c. Secure the control of transient over-voltages while avoiding a facility shutdown.
d. Reduce the chances of electrical shock hazards.
e. Minimize the line voltage dip that occurs while clearing the ground fault.
The best and easy way to find that your dg set needs to be grounded or not is to go through the instruction manual provided with the dg set by the manufacturer.
Methods of grounding diesel generators:
For proper grounding or earthing of a dg set you can follow the given procedures:
1) Install a copper ground rod
Using a hammer to drive the copper ground rod at least 4 feet into the earth.
If facing a hard ground, you can use water to soften the ground, which will help you to do the work effortlessly. If you are installing a dg set in a rocky terrain then you can also bury the rod in tilting position but always make sure that the angle does not exceed 45 degrees.
2) Connect copper wire to copper rod
After proper staking the ground rod, now it is time to connect the copper wire to the ground rod. Strip the copper wire & wrap stripped copper wire tightly around the copper ground rod by using a plier.
3) Grounding the dg set
After connecting the copper wire to the grounded copper rod now it is time to connect the wire with the generator. Locate a grounding bolt on your dg set and loosen it to wrap the stripped wire around it. Now wrap the wire tightly around the bolt and tighten it down for a tight and secure connection.
Tools or Materials recommended to ground a dg set
Tools or Materials Description | Functions |
Solid copper grounding wire | To connect the generator frame to the earth. |
4 Foot copper ground rod | For adequate grounding of the generator. |
Hammer/Mallet/Sledge Hammer | To drive the copper rod down to earth for proper grounding. |
Pliers | For winding the Copper wire |
Wrench | To attach the copper wire to the generator and also used for loosening a bolt on the generator for proper connection. |
Some other tools/Supplies:
a. Water – it is very useful in softening the hard ground so that you can easily connect your generators to the earth.
b. Screwdriver – you can use it for removing a grounding bolt that has been rounded off or does not feature a hex head.
c. Shovel – a shovel can be very helpful in burying the copper rod to the rocky terrain
Note: You can easily get these tools and equipment at home and they are also very easy to arrange.
Summary
Grounding the dg set is a very important part of the installation of your diesel generators. It will help to reduce the chances of any malfunctions and keep your appliances safe. By doing this you are contributing to keeping others’ lives safe who are near the generator.
Maybe your dg set does not need grounding but it is also very important to keep a track of it so that you can help to keep others safe. It is always advised to do this process by a professional technician as they have better knowledge in this field.
We here at Bidirection Power offers you great dg set earthing advice whether it is for small portable generators or big dg set plants. We keep all the safety procedures in mind to ensure the safety of our valuable customers.
