*Generator Synchronization*
Is Your Generator Hurting You?
By: Eli
07 December 2012

Is your generator harming your equipment? How do you know if it's putting out an overvoltage, undervoltage or acceptable voltage?

I recently rebuilt the carburetor on the generator and tuned it up. It was running good.

I connected my Fluke multi-meter to a receptacle and was seeing over 150 volts…huh. Manually moving the governor and slowing down the RPM's the voltage dropped. To make things easier, I used the Kill-a-Watt meter and plugged it in and it also read high with a high frequency of about 73Hz. Household current cycles at 60 cycles per second (Hz) and the voltage should be in the ball park of 120. 20 volts over can damage things.

These pics were after I had started slowing the motor down.

Adjusting the governor

I kept adjusting until the voltage and frequency came down to where it was acceptable. There was a very noticeable difference in the sound of the motor. Once the voltage and frequency were good, I tweaked the carburetor to smooth it out.

Getting closer. 59 Hz and 125V I dialed it in on 123 volts which matches what the power company supplies.

58Hz and 123V 123 volts at 58Hz is good.

Eli

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