exercising an emergency generator

Try this:

This tip comes from the Briggs & Stratton Customer Education Department. As an alternative to flashing a rotor winding with a battery applied to the brushes, an electric drill may be used. Follow these steps to flash the generator:

Plug the electric drill into the generator receptacle. (Cordless drills do not work) If the drill is reversible, move the direction switch to the forward position. Start the generator While depressing the trigger on the drill, spin the drill chuck in reverse direction. This will excite the field and the generator will now produce electricity. If spinning the chuck one direction does not work, try spinning the chuck in the other direction as you may have the reverse switch positioned backwards. Use caution not to get your hand or other materials caught in the chuck. As soon as the field is excited, the generator will produce power and the drill will turn on.

The reason this works is because the electric motor in the drill will act as a small generator when spun backwards. The magnets in the drill's motor induce a voltage into the motor windings, which is fed back through the trigger, cord and into the generators receptacle. From there it goes into the power winding of the stator. The voltage going through the power winding creates a magnetic field, which is intensified due to the iron core of the stator laminations. The rotor intersects this magnetic field as it is spun past the power winding, thus inducing a voltage in the rotor winding. Once current flow is present in the rotor winding the rotor has been flashed.

If flashing the field does not make the generator work, you may have additional problems, besides a lack of magnetism in the rotor. Further testing will be needed. Hopefully, this will give a simple way to field flash your generator if needed - Bruce Perrault

Extended times of not being run can have the effect of the pole shoes that the fields are wrapped to loose residual magnetism resulting in the fields requiring being flashed with a battery to restore this magnetic field to start the generation process.

You "Flash" it, that is using a 12v battery on the generators output terminals while it is running, I never did it but I had instructions and im sure they are online, I think better units have a circuit put in for this. 6 months does not mean it will not work and I dont know the science behind how long they really last but I have heard of this happening. Starting it with any minimal load keeps it working I have been told.

Can you honestly but 100% pure gasolene anywhere, I thought it was all

When you spend thousands for emergency equipment and want it to work to keep from freezing storing it inside in low humidity is just smart. components rust and corrode, and animals can mess up power equipment, like that mouse living in my air filter that make my mower not run well.

Good point, I dont know but probably one side could fail.

I saw it happen, it didnt work then we jumped it. But I wonder if it might not take years. Urbn myth, then why do better or some big units have a circuit that engages on startup to juice it, because demagnitising happens.

Interesting, so I can attach a big windmill on my drill and make power? With the electronic speed control it may do nothing?

Federal Law for emergency generators in hospitals and nursing homes (and don't quote me): checked weekly (battery, belts, oil, fuel, etc.); run monthly with 20% load.

Nope, the exhaust is only a small portion of the noise on one of these portable units. The piping the exhaust through a muffler thing only works with larger, lower RPM, liquid cooled units generally.

well in pittsburgh with heavy moist air and winter temperatures near zero occasionally I would much rather try starting a generatoir thats not at 15 degrees. plus everything in my 16 by 20 foot shed rusts, no doubt from trapped moisture and temperature swings.

CY: Rust is a serious concern.

so my generators live indoors. I have 3, for redundancy:) two smaller ones and one 4000 watt unit

CY:I also like the redundant equipment.

with a bigger generator even at low load, and bigger often means noiser.

my 1000 watt inverter and 1000 watt gasoline generator get the most use here. havent needed the 4000 watt one for years thank goodness.

CY: Inverter... you have a battery storage bank? Or run it off the vehicle? My 1200 watt ETQ generator is a two stroke, but it's very quiet. When a friend had his power off, it ran his very old furnace.

by carefully rotating loads you can use little fuel, and be reasonably comfy.

CY: An hour of furnace will heat my trailer to get me through the night.

last summer we got a new furnace with AC, previously we used window units.

well I kept one 5000 BTU window unit for emergencies, during the summer.its living in a closet in case we ever need it

CY: Yes, a window unit will often run off a portable generator. Central AC takes more power, and larger starting current. Might be possible with some larger generators.

remember gasoline may be in short supply, you dont have to light up your home like a baseball stadium, get have some warmth, light, and keep your freezer cold..

CY: With few exceptions, most of the time when you need a generator, gasoline is unavailable. Cause the gas stations don't have power, to run their pumps. The furnace run I did, was an exception. The guy was wihtout power for non payment, and everyone else in the world had power and gasoline.

its a good idea to have a few spare watts for your neighbors, during a emergency if they have a light provided by you, they are unlikely to complain about the genrator running:)

CY:It's nice to have extra power. However, you risk setting up yourself as the neighborhood power company. Many people get insistent, miserable, demanding, and jealous. Very few offer to help pay for your gas and oil.

Copied from antoher list.

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----- Original Message ----- Sent: Tuesday, August 26, 2008 8:25 PM Subject: OT - Generator

My Dayton generator (5000 watt, model SU934, at least 10 yrs old) isn't working (no electricity at the sockets), yet the Briggs & Straton motor runs fine. I would assume if the generator is turning, then power is being produced. I've tried the reset button with no luck.

Can anyone give some advice as to what maybe to check, repair, replace, etc. With the hurricane headed for the Gulf, I need to get preparations in order.

Thanks for any help.

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How long has it been since you used it? Small generators are self-excited and rely on residual magnetic field to start the generation process. If you don't run them once in a while, the field can decay to the point the generator won't generate. How long is once in a while? Varies on size/model/manufacturer. But if it's been 6 months or more, could be the problem. Search for "flashing a generator" or generator field flashing for info on how to fix.

HTH,

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"Field Flashing of Portable Generators

This tip comes from the Briggs & Stratton Customer Education Department via Precise Engine Repair web site. As an alternative to flashing a rotor winding with a battery applied to the brushes, an electric drill may be used. Follow these steps to flash the generator:

• Plug the electric drill into the generator receptacle. (Cordless drills do not work) * If the drill is reversible, move the direction switch to the forward position. * Start the generator * While depressing the trigger on the drill, spin the drill chuck in reverse direction. This will excite the field and the generator will now produce electricity. If spinning the chuck one direction does not work, try spinning the chuck in the other direction as you may have the reverse switch positioned backwards.

Use caution not to get your hand or other materials caught in the chuck. As soon as the field is excited, the generator will produce power and the drill will turn on.

The reason this works is because the electric motor in the drill will act as a small generator when spun backwards. The magnets in the drill's motor induce a voltage into the motor windings, which is fed back through the trigger, cord and into the generators receptacle. From there it goes into the power winding of the stator. The voltage going through the power winding creates a magnetic field, which is intensified due to the iron core of the stator laminations. The rotor intersects this magnetic field as it is spun past the power winding, thus inducing a voltage in the rotor winding. Once current flow is present in the rotor winding the rotor has been flashed.

If flashing the field does not make the generator work, you may have additional problems, besides a lack of magnetism in the rotor. Further testing will be needed. Hopefully, this will give a simple way to field flash your generator if needed - Bruce Perrault"

Source:

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Wish I still had it, but I remember something about connecting a lantern battery to a cord, and plug that into the output of the generator. Been a long time since I read that. I just reposted the B and S instructions for reflashing a generator with a plug in drill.

its so easy to flash a genset i wouldnt worry about running it every month , it wouldnt hurt anything if you did run it every month. just stabilize some gas,and then run it out of fuel. to flash it,just plug in a drill,hold the trigger on and turn the chuck backwards till it takes off..

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I built this one to match my T1-11 workshop building:

i got a 4000kw kohler genset out of motor home it runs on gasoline .i have the nat gas conversion but havent used it yet. k321

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This last post is mine from the metalworking group. I'll still be glad to honor it if you send an email to me at rlm4848atyahoo.com.

ourself as

My 1000 watt inverter connects quickly to any one of my 3 vehicles. for short power outages and lights while setting up bettewr things, plus I have a drop light with 12 volt bulb, and spare bulbs they break easy..

my one neighbor is in her 80s in bad shape but refuses to leave her home, I would absolutely help her out in a emergency. my other closest neighbor is a buddy who helps with projects etc.

if I were provding electric and someone got too demanding I would just pull the plug:)

most people getting something for nothing are pretty laid back, I wouldnt ask for money for gasoline unless the outage lasted many days

I really want a permanent generator with auto transfer switch. but havent had the bucks:(

my one generator has fittings for natural gas but I havent gotten around to all that entails............

only so many hours in a day:(