What is "dirty electric"?

[Mace Canute]

John White, did you test your new meter with house voltage?

 

[RickB]

John White, did you test your new meter with house voltage?

Very good question. Verify your test equipment.

 

[John White]

John White, did you test your new meter with house voltage?

yes. Checks good

 

[k0ua]

:thumbsup::thumbsup::thumbsup:

What they said.

yeah I dont think even a good SOLA is going to boost that 89 volts up to 120 at the 60hz you need... That thing is not what you want or need. it is just for running lights. sell it to someone that needs it for that.

James K0UA

 

[techman]

If the generator is a lower cost unit, it likely has what is called "capacitor regulation" rather than electronic regulation. This is a scheme that relies on speed (frequency) to hold the proper voltage. There are usually one or two large capacitors in the generator jbox. These capacitors could be bad, or out of spec. Replacing them could resolve your voltage issue. Go to: http://www.leroy-somer.com There is a log of good information, manuals etc on the site. Could be a fairly simple. low cost fix.

paul

 

[John White]

I think I might have found the problem. Will one of you fellows who understands this more than I do give me a helping hand. But from what I understand here on this webb site http://www.leroy-somer.com/documentation_pdf/notices_pdf/0331a_fr_en.pdf It is missing a capacator. Would one of you fellows go to this webb site for me and look at the diagram. Mine has only one capacator, the way I understand this diagram, it should have two. (look at the 240 volt diagram) Look in the parts listing and from what I read, it says 1 pair.

 

[MasseyWV]

I thought "dirty electric" was one of those egg-shaped things that some women like to use.

I think I might have found the problem. Will one of you fellows who understands this more than I do give me a helping hand. But from what I understand here on this webb site http://www.leroy-somer.com/documentation_pdf/notices_pdf/0331a_fr_en.pdf It is missing a capacator. Would one of you fellows go to this webb site for me and look at the diagram. Mine has only one capacator, the way I understand this diagram, it should have two. (look at the 240 volt diagram) Look in the parts listing and from what I read, it says 1 pair.

Seriously though...

In most electrical circuits, adding additional capacitance (IE: bigger or more capacitors) will reduce electrical noise, hence less-dirty electricity. However, it greatly depends on the application. From what I can tell by looking at the PDF link you provided, it doesn't appear that adding a second capacitor identical to the one you have would hurt anything, and in fact it may help solve your problem. I am not certain though. It's also entirely possible that your existing capacitor is going bad, which would cause the same effect.

 

[techman]

John:

Does it look like there was a capacitor there before ? If so, then one is likely missing. There is also a test gor the capacitors. Did you perform the test ? Could also be one or both diodes bad. Worth removal and testing as well.

Likely could be a bad cap. Replacement could be an inexpensive repair.

paul

 

[k0ua]

I read it as one "set" and by that they mean 2 caps, and the pictorial diagram also show 2 caps. the value of the caps are either 70 , 100, 130, or 150 microFarad depending on the model apparently. I would not do the capacitor test as they outline it by measuring current hooked to a 240 volt mains circuit.. NO not for all the tea in china thank you, and I have worked in plenty of high voltage circuits. I would test them (after totally discharging them) with an ohmmeter. This is a little more tricky in that you have to have a feel for a 70 or 100 uF cap how it will "kick" the meter after reversing the leads. . Of course if shorted, you will see that and any lingering resistance is a "leaky" cap, and no reverse kick is an open cap . Hooking up to 240 volt ac mains is a little dangerous. Up to you. one thing of note: The stated regulation is 5%. I don't think you are getting 5% regulation from full to to no load..example if your no load voltage was 120 volts, full load could be expected to be no lower than 114 volts. If setup for 240 volts. than you could expect no lower than 228 volts. Good luck with it.

James K0UA

 

[BobRip]

This looks like you have the right kind of generator for your application. My previous post saying get rid of it was wrong. Sorry about that. It is possible you have a bad capacitor. A lot of multimeters today can measure capacitance. See if you can borrow one or buy one. Capacitors are a fairly high failure item. As stated earlier does it look like there were previously two there? Can you check the diodes and winding resistances? It looks like these will affect voltage.
Also can you get a tach and measure the engine speed as you change load. If the speed is pretty constant and the frequency changes then it is probably the capacitor. I am not an expert on these generators, I have just been reading the link.