Another generator query

[V1Rotate]

Do you have a Kil-a-Watt? It's a digital meter that you simply plug in to a wall socket and it will show you the voltage as well as the hertz. If your lights are flickering it might be because you ar getting something less than 60 hertz. The Kil-a Watt also can be plugged into any 120 volt appliance to show you how much power it draws. Many places sell them including Amazon for around 20 or 25 bucks.

 

[TCBoomer]

Do you have a Kil-a-Watt? It's a digital meter that you simply plug in to a wall socket and it will show you the voltage as well as the hertz. If your lights are flickering it might be because you ar getting something less than 60 hertz. The Kil-a Watt also can be plugged into any 120 volt appliance to show you how much power it draws. Many places sell them including Amazon for around 20 or 25 bucks.

No kill a watt meter but my Fluke 87 reads HZ and shows it to be varying slightly from 60.2 to 61.9 so avg is about 61. I ordered a Fluke amp probe for actual amp useage each item draws.

The wattage i got directly from the transfer switch panel as it has a meter.

 

[hr3]

It is a brush type unit,, very easy to see the burshes by taking the end cover off,, If you don't have a service manual try this link,,, Generac 5500xl repair manual - 5 ebooks - free download

 

[SPYDERLK]

Speaking of overloading a generator...

I'll skip all the details but when I first noticed the well pump problems last fall during the Irene outage, I shut off the transfer panel. With the genny running-no load, I found one side of the 240V was dead...no voltage measured at the genny itself. The other side read about 108V IIRC. Shut it down and pushed it in the corner. I did pop of the end cover of the power head and nothing burnt or loose or any odor. Figured it was dead.

A year later...thanks to Sandy... a discussion else where led me to investigate and test a little deeper. Before I proceeded, I started it up and measured voltage again...no load just to verify my last tests. NOW it reads 128V on both sides. Prior to connecting the gen to the house, I thought I had found a cable/plug problem because I only measured 26V and 90V at the plug for the house cable. Took apart both plugs and nothing found. Put the plugs back together, read ok now. No idea what happened there but it read 128V on both legs going into the house. Fired up the genny, switched on a couple circuits at the transfer panel. Just lights at first which were nice and bright. Lamp outlets in the house read 126-127V as well. Flipped on the fridge(empty) and it too was fine and within an hour it reached operating temp. Left lamps and fridge on for 3 hours and all was good. No well pump yet as I was still concerned about smoking it again.

Next night with just 2 lights and the empty fridge running, I noticed a rapid flicker with the lights...fridge light included. Added a resistive load (toaster) and no change...still flicker. Forget it, all bets off and I'm not taking chance with this genny again. Being a big box item, didn't feel confident it was worth putting any $$ into a 12 yr old gen. Then I get my buddies genny...a Honda 5500W/6500W and his did the same thing with the rapid flicker. Was told this is a common problem with single cyl gensets. yet during the handful+ times I used my 550XL over 12 yrs, I never noticed this rapid flicker other than the normal dimming when a load was put on it.

Any comments about this matter?
How or why did the genny fix itself with no repair? I did hit the breakers last fall and again this time, maybe a breaker on the genny?

Have you checked the capacitors? If they are going bad you would notice 1st effect when they are hot. If you caught it quick they would get better when cooled. Fairly cheap to replace.

As for starting current, the currentdrain will RISE with voltage, BUT decrease in duration because the motor will start promptly. Typical single phase motor locked rotor current drains are about 4x the running drain. Many gens see a momentary overload and lose full voltage output resulting in slow or no start. [Note that start Watts = V x I are down mostly because of the voltage drop.] Fortunately, well pumps do not start under a hard load, rather they develop load as they gain rpm. Consequently, most will start [kinda sluggishly] at 3x. Your gen either does not lose V, or does not account for it in its wattage computation. I think its the former because its well below your gennys rating.
larry

 

[K5OIT]

Read somewhere on another forum about lights flickering. Seems that on smaller cheaper Chinese sets they used capacitors for some sort of voltage regulation. The units with the problems didn't have "proper" voltage regulators. Replacing the caps was the solution. Don't know anything about that type of system but thought that wasn't a good way to go. After 8 days with no power because of "IKE" I broke down and finished off my 401k by purchasing a 16kw diesel with bells and whistles which included a dedicated voltage regulator. So far so good. Only have about 30 hours on it under load but has worked well for the 2 occasions we needed it. Also bought a 400 gallon diesel tank and 12v pump so I can fill the generator and pickup. Getting too old for unscheduled campouts. Best of luck and health to all!

 

[TCBoomer]

It is a brush type unit,, very easy to see the burshes by taking the end cover off,, If you don't have a service manual try this link,,, Generac 5500xl repair manual - 5 ebooks - free download

Thanks for the link. :thumbsup:
It appears I have to register to get the free download, so I'll try it later.

 

[TCBoomer]

Have you checked the capacitors? If they are going bad you would notice 1st effect when they are hot. If you caught it quick they would get better when cooled. Fairly cheap to replace.

As for starting current, the currentdrain will RISE with voltage, BUT decrease in duration because the motor will start promptly. Typical single phase motor locked rotor current drains are about 4x the running drain. Many gens see a momentary overload and lose full voltage output resulting in slow or no start. [Note that start Watts = V x I are down mostly because of the voltage drop.] Fortunately, well pumps do not start under a hard load, rather they develop load as they gain rpm. Consequently, most will start [kinda sluggishly] at 3x. Your gen either does not lose V, or does not account for it in its wattage computation. I think its the former because its well below your gennys rating.
larry

I'm not familiar with the power head for this gen, however I'll keep the capacitors in mind after I get the manual downloaded.
Thanks!

 

[TCBoomer]

Read somewhere on another forum about lights flickering. Seems that on smaller cheaper Chinese sets they used capacitors for some sort of voltage regulation. The units with the problems didn't have "proper" voltage regulators. Replacing the caps was the solution. Don't know anything about that type of system but thought that wasn't a good way to go. After 8 days with no power because of "IKE" I broke down and finished off my 401k by purchasing a 16kw diesel with bells and whistles which included a dedicated voltage regulator. So far so good. Only have about 30 hours on it under load but has worked well for the 2 occasions we needed it. Also bought a 400 gallon diesel tank and 12v pump so I can fill the generator and pickup. Getting too old for unscheduled campouts. Best of luck and health to all!

Hmmm...that makes sense. In fact the loaner my buddy let me use might qualify as a chinese unit? Came from Northern Tool and is Honda powered, but the power head? I wouldn't be surprised if it was some no name off brand.

I say that because now I know what a Honda genset really looks like. Decided I don't want to take a chance with the my old unit even if I fix it. Spent quite a bit if time researching and decided I'd pass on the Generacs. So I bought a real Honda this time around. An EM6500S. Hope it lives up to the saying...

"Buy a Honda--buy it for life"

I'll get it next week and after playing with several models in the Honda showroom, I'm confident this model will suit me and be the last one I have to buy!! Not as quiet as the EU series, but It's definitely quieter than my generac

Thanks for all the help gentlemen...as I'd still like to fix my old Generac and maybe give it to my daughter or sell it. If I get the manual for it, I'm sure I can trace the fault down, or at least find the weak component as it is working at this time.