Do You Need to Ground Your Generator When Camping?

If you’re familiar with generators, you probably know that they often require being grounded to safely use them. Portable generators that you would use for camping are built with safety features that allow the generator to be used safely without any grounding required; however, there are times when you may want to ground your generator when camping to give you additional protection.

When Do I Need to Ground My Generator When Camping?

If you plan on using more than 10 kW (kilowatts) per hour, you should consider grounding your generator when camping. You likely won’t be using more than 10 kW per hour, but if you think you’ll be close to this output per hour, you should ground your generator.

Another reason you would need to ground your generator is if the generator is not bonded to the frame. When the generator is bonded to the frame, it removes the need for the generator to be grounded. This can improve safety and mitigate the risk of electrocution and damage.

You should also ground your generator when camping if you are plugging it directly into a wired circuit system or if you plan to plug appliances directly into it. 

How to Easily Ground Your Generator When Camping

If you think that you’ll be using more than 10 kW per hour, if the generator is not bonded to the frame, or you will be plugging the generator into a wired circuit system or a system with appliances, you’ll need to ground your generator, and there is an easy way to do this.

You need to get an 8-foot copper rod and attach a copper wire to it (approximately 20 feet in length) by wrapping one end of the wire to the rod. Then take the other end of the copper wire and wrap it around the generator’s handle.

Walk the generator away from your campsite and hammer the rod into the ground. Now, you have safely grounded your generator for camping!