cynic wrote:
On 29 Jan, 00:56, wrote:
cynic wrote:
On 28 Jan, 15:42, wrote:
cynic wrote:
On 28 Jan, 09:00, The Natural Philosopher wrote:
VaBene wrote:
We have a horsebox with living accomodation.
On board 240V generator to power lights, 13A sockets, battery chargers etc.
Is there a way that an RCD, or similar device, can be incorporated to
protect any person in case they come into contact with live at any point?
Should both the neutral and earth be wired to the chassis of the vehicle.

If you ground the Neutral *before* you take it to an RCD, it should work.

There has been much useful advice already given but it is worth saying
that "some" generators deliver from a centre tapped output winding.
Make certain yours is not one of them.

If it is, grounding one leg will simply pop the breaker each time it
starts. If this happens, whichever leg you ground, then you'll know.

NT

If he has a generator with a centre tap connection to earth and he
then earths one output before his protective device the net result is
a short circuit of half of the output winding. Running the generator
engine will risk burning out that half winding. (Assuming the
generator will excite with a short circuit output - some do some don't)

I assumed the OP would be earthing the gen after its built-in breaker
rather than taking the gen apart. If it were shorted pre-breaker, and
the excitation system still functioned, the engine would simply stall.

NT- Hide quoted text -

- Show quoted text -

I don't recall any mention of a built-in breaker and certainly my 1.5
kVA geny does not have one. The risk of burning out the winding
remains as I seriously doubt mine with its 4 stroke engine and
throttle governor would stall under the described conditions. The OP
can make his own mind up if he wants to take the risk. Not knowing
exactly what model he has I will not make assumptions.

What voltage does the genny winding drop at full load? 10%? Most
likely rather less. That means even on a relatively high resistance
gen, if shorted it would supply 10x rated curent at normal run speed.
If the OP has a generator thats physically capable of doing even a
fraction of that speed under such a load, then s/he has a remarkably
badly designed gen bought from a company that must have gone out of
business very fast indeed. In short, its unrealistic.


NT