[ChrisKinlaw]

I have a Ryobi 2200 inverter generator I inherited from my dad. I did some work and finally got it up and running. The owner's manual says the generator must be grounded before using. That sure seems odd to me and to surely takes away from the portability of the generator. Anyway, I don't know much about grounding. I live close to a beach and have very sandy soil .I "think" there is a layer of clay about 4 feet down, but I don't know that for sure. I don't expect it will be difficult to drive the recommended 8 foot rod into the soil here, probably just using a hammer. I'm wondering if my sandy soil will provide proper grounding?

 

[exmar]

If you're camping, tailgating, etc. a "portable" ground rod 2-3' will suffice, though most folks don't bother. If you're using it in power outages in your home, the generator will likely be set in the same spot every time, drive a regular ground rod there. Alternately, depending on where your home service entrance is, there will be a ground rod, run a wire to that for a ground. Grounding is a very simple yet very complex discussion. Very simply, if there is an electrical fault, it will travel back to the generator frame via the green wire in an extension cord, etc. If the generator frame is connected to a ground rod the fault goes back to ground.