Steel storage shed as home/utility & generator power


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Old 03-06-16, 07:31 PM
W
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Steel storage shed as home/utility & generator power

Hello All!

I have been researching this bonded neutral situation and I am still very confused.

I have a 14x30 steel side storage building I will be making as a 'tiny' home.

Question 1: Should the metal skin of this building be grounded or not?

Back onto the posts regarding generators and utility power. The way that I understand it, if the grounding rod grounded generator has a bonded neutral, the breaker panel or 10 breaker transfer switch should not have a direct connection to ground, and vice versa (break the bond in the generator and run a 4 conductor L14-30 to the transfer switch) which is grounded.
Question 2: Why couldn't the generator AND utility service be grounded at the same point? Doesn't this eliminate the two paths to ground issue?

Question 3: Can/should the building share the electrical ground?

And as a solution to completely resolve these issues, would the Reliance Controls XRC0605C 3-Pole Transfer Panel be a solution?

I got shocked when I was 11, plugging in a Christmas Tree. But the internet isn't really usable with electricity.

I will probably get a licensed electrician do the work, but this inquiring mind wants to know.


Thanks,

Walter
 
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Old 03-07-16, 08:02 AM
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Yes the building should be grounded -- usually in a metal building the best way to do this to put a grounding clamp or a tapped screw into one of the metal beams or posts.

All grounds should meet at the same point, utility, generator, telecom, etc. You only have one grounding system to which everything bonds.

Don't worry too much about the neutral bond at the generator. It makes very, very little difference when the generator is wired into a transfer switch. The only time when you really need to tweak it around is when the generator has a GFCI breaker.
 
 

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