off the grid generator hook up.

You might try hiring an electrical engineer. I think what you ask is the kind of thing some of them do to make a living, and is well beyond this forum.

no, however the load should be lessened to be within what the gen can handle.

i know

the load determines the wire size. if you want to run more stuff you need large wire. for the exact mimimum requirements you will have to contact a local electrician, building inspector, or codes enforcement officer.

both. the idea is to protect you while standing on the ground from touching a chassies and getting a shock.

ok, so the #4 wire would work for the smaller gen then? and as far as not using as much, that is not a problem since almost everything runs of natural gas anyway. like the Gens, refergerator, some lights, stove. the 2 gas wells on my farm are great for it. FREE GAS!!

that i have already done, i know what the code requirements are in my area on how to run it. and max power i can pull through the both sizes of wire.

i was told before that this could create a ground loop, and could possibly electrocute someone walking near it if there was a fault.

does anyone know anything about this?

i think this would be a reference to an obsolete practice of using only a single conductor to send electricity to a building and driving in ground rods as a return path making the earth part of the power circuit.

in this case i am assuming you are running 4 conductors. 2 hots, one neutral, and one ground (bond).

should a fault occur, i.e. a hot to chassis short ohm law will prevail. the voltage on the chassis will be I times R where R is the total resistance between chassis and earth. it behooves one to make "R" as small as practical.

in the case of generator located distant from a ground rod, R will be the resistance of the wire + connection resistance to the rod + rod resistance + resistance of the earth back to your boots.

i had an occasion to run a temporary generator this summer at a facility that had been damaged in a fire. the electrical work was done by a licensed master electrician. 2 ground rods were employed at the generator.

oh, ok i know what you are talking about. i have actually seen a set up like that before. (it was in an old house i worked in years ago)

well i have 3 wire (2 hots and a neutral) but i also have enough green coated underground ground wire.

and what i am not sure about is should i use the ground wire also?

ok, i now understand that

i have thought about doing the same thing.

so what i am asking is should I run the ground wire. if i use a ground rod at the house and one at the generator's frame?

you reasonably ask: "why should i run a grounding cable that essentially connects 2 ground rods at separate points?"

my reasoning tells me it would cut you risk of death or injury in half in the event of a systems failure.

you ask: "but all my stuff will be new and the install will be tight"

i reply: "what about 10, 15 or more years from now?" "will your grounds remain good?" "is your soil sandy? clay? are you subject to lightning hits? any tall structures nearby? is there a nearby well you can bond to?" all these considerations and more should be addressed by a local electrician.

you ask: "but why go to that expense when i have essentially been running a long extension cord for years and it has worked fine?"

a series of images run through my mind as i recall burnt transformers, melted switches, a smoking duplex outlet in a newly constructed room, shorted motors, junctions go bad where the arc generated a fireworks display, watching transformers explode during the storm which sank the Edmond Fitzgerald, heavy equipment cutting through temporary wiring at festivals and fairs. i recall being mildly shocked touching some equipment and a doorframe only to find someone had disconnected the ground from inside the connector of an extension cord. i think of a time that a big generator cut out at a music festival and took out some of the sound system. i think of theater lights that i have seen explode (someone did something stupid). old followspot lamps the literally melt the heavy gage wires attached.

i can only advise you to follow the code and if you can exceed the code without breaking the budget it's not such a bad thing. if you just have to do it yourself please get it inspected.

you may have missunderstood or i didnt make sence, But anyway i meant one for the genset frame and another for the 4th ground wire comming from the house, and not having one for the breaker box in the house.

but i have asked a local electrical engineer, and he said use 3 conductor wire and have a bonded neutral in the house, and a ground rod for the house and one for the genset frame

to answer these questions, clay soil, we dont get too many lightning strikes nearby, yes i have a very tall barn and a 2 story house both with lightning rods on them, and no there is not a nearby well

just so you know i have a 12/2 w/g that i have been using for the smaller genset, which was more than enough, but it is not enough for the bigger gen that i recently bought.

i do believe i am much too cautious and know enough about electric for this not to happen to me. but electric can be very mysterious sometimes, of this i am well aware

ok thank you, but may i ask is there such a thing as exceeding the code too much?

sure: over designing anything to the point of stupidity.

for example, in electronics the basic categories (at lease in my mind) are consumer, industrial, mil spec (military), and NASA. a mil spec radio on the kitchen table would look funny, weigh a lot, cost an enormous amount, and work from sub zero artic temperatures to desert heat.

in the case of home electricity, gold and silver plated contacts are not usually necessary, however solid workmanlike instillation and materials are highly desirable. you have a choice: the 88 cent 15 amp duplex outlet or the 3 dollar 20 amp outlet. if you have ever seen the 88 cent one smolder and melt even though nothing was plugged into it (copy machine down the wall a few outlets away) you will spring for the better outlet.

|>> i can only advise you to follow the code and if you can exceed the |>> code without breaking the budget it's not such a bad thing. if you |>> just have to do it yourself please get it inspected. |>

|> ok thank you, but may i ask is there such a thing as exceeding the |> code too much? | | sure: over designing anything to the point of stupidity. | | for example, in electronics the basic categories (at lease in my mind) are | consumer, industrial, mil spec (military), and NASA. a mil spec radio on the | kitchen table would look funny, weigh a lot, cost an enormous amount, and | work from sub zero artic temperatures to desert heat.

And it could possibly even survive the kids.

If you go to this website:

Aluminum

The calculator shows that you will have a 6.6V drop and 113V at the load which should be OK. If you repeat the calculation for 80 feet, the calculator shows a voltage drop of only about 4.4 volts, with 115V at the load. The calculations assume, of course, that you have 3 current carrying conductors in the cable; One for pole 1, one for pole 2 and one for neutral.