Yamaha EF1000iS Grounding Questions on Sailboat

[jmanboating]

I have a Yamaha inverted generator EF1000iS. I have used many times and love it but havent used on my boat yet. Very quite and practical for occasional use when mored or docked.

I have a 28 foot sailboat and plan on placing generator on the front of sailboat when mored. Im only using the generator for a led tv and led laptop/ the generator easily handles these items but do i need to ground it on the front of the boat when in use?

Can it just sit on the front of the sailboat and power my appliances without being grounded?

Im not planning on using this generator unless conditions permit.. But when they permit I plan on starting up my yamaha and running 2 or 3 low volt appliances. Im not sure if the generator needs to be grouned or is it grounded already by sitting on deck of boat???

[GordMay]

Greetings and welcome aboard the CF, jmanboating.

Yes, ground the generator, per pages 5 & 11.
➥ http://www.yamaha-motor.com/assets/s...01-19_1109.pdf

Sitting on the deck won't constitute a ground.

[djmarchand]

As I understand it you will place your Yamaha on the foredeck and run an extension cord from its 3 prong outlet to your appliances, right?

That 3 prong outlet has one terminal for hot, one for neutral and one for ground. The neutral and grounds are tied together internally in the generator. When you connect your appliances those three terminals are connected to the appliance as well. So the appliance is case is connected to the ground.

If there is a fault in the appliance and the hot shorts to the appliance's case then the breaker in the genset will trip protecting you. So it all sounds ok to me.

Yamaha's instructions say you connect the ground terminal to your boat's engine block/ground system as well as using the extension cord to connect it to the appliance. That way if a worn extension cord shorts to some piece of metal on the boat (other than the appliance) then the circuit breaker will trip protecting you from electricution if you were to touch that piece of metal. For permanently wired gensets, yes I agree. But for what you are doing no, the risk is very minimal.

David

[GordMay]

Originally Posted by djmarchand

... That 3 prong outlet has one terminal for hot, one for neutral and one for ground. The neutral and grounds are tied together internally in the generator. When you connect your appliances those three terminals are connected to the appliance as well. So the appliance is case is connected to the ground.
David

Are you certain that this generator has a grounded neutral?

[djmarchand]

No I am not sure. You mean that they would build a generator with the ground lug left open!!! That doesn't meet anybody's electrical code. Even if you ground the genset to earth as indicated in the instructions you wouldn't be protected from a fault to the appliance's case if it isn't connected to ground through the extension cord.

David

[jmanboating]

Its a fiberglass boat. It wont be there permanently as i stated earlier. What can I ground it too? Theres not much metal if any..

Should I ground it to railing post of sailboat??

Im willing to ground it I just dont know what too ground it to..?? Ive grounded car audio, use a self bitting screw, so I guess its similar to that.

And a few of these replys sound like I could do with out grounding?? If I am indeed keeping it in the front and running a new extension cord to the appliances would I be running risk of a problem??

[Pete the Cat]

I have used mine for years with no grounding. Works fine. Love it. Runs my 40 shore charger and power tools. So quiet that I have had to row over to my boat from others to see if it is running. Maybe I have been lucky.