generator operstions

Thanks guys. The reason I was asking is because yesterday it started surging & was not sure why? Still surging today.

rgatijnet1 wrote:
Running the generator exercises the motor and the power portion of the unit just fine, but it does not tell you about the operation of the generator.
The reason for operating it under load is to insure that the governor is working properly to maintain the specified voltage and frequency when under a load.
Operating it under load, without monitoring the voltage, is a waste of time, in my opinion. As the load increases, the governor on the motor should adjust the carburetor to insure that right up to full load, the voltage output remains fairly consistent and that the 60 cycle frequency remains within spec.
All of this can easily be checked with an inexpensive "Kill-a-watt" meter plugged in to an outlet. Kill-a-Watt

Agreed - and it also heats up the windings to eliminate moisture.

Running the generator exercises the motor and the power portion of the unit just fine, but it does not tell you about the operation of the generator.
The reason for operating it under load is to insure that the governor is working properly to maintain the specified voltage and frequency when under a load.
Operating it under load, without monitoring the voltage, is a waste of time, in my opinion. As the load increases, the governor on the motor should adjust the carburetor to insure that right up to full load, the voltage output remains fairly consistent and that the 60 cycle frequency remains within spec.
All of this can easily be checked with an inexpensive "Kill-a-watt" meter plugged in to an outlet. Kill-a-Watt

The water heater and microwave or coffee maker are good to load when weather is cooler. On my rig, all three of those draw more amps than the ac.

Hair dryers and hot plates also have a high steady power demand. A/C's are still the best and easiest to use. If your A/C has heat strips bonus time when the air temps are cooler.

Just do a little math a head of time to source stuff to create a large enough load. A little harder when plugging stuff in to get into high wattage territory. If you're running multiple items to create a load just be sure to use multiple circuits so you don't pop a coach circuit breaker. 15 Amps @ 120 VAC (a common line breaker in a coach) is only 1800 watts and to get to 7000 watts you'll need to demand almost 30 amps of electricity. Watts = Volts * Amps.

Load it to 50% of the power rating in watts, after it has run for five minutes to warm up.

Good post. I was wondering what kind of load was enough.

When the weather cools two space heats will make for a reasonable load.

do as you have been doing and turn on both AC. Run and when you finish , turn off both ACs, (the Load) and then the gen.

With a 7000, I would think you could run both a/c units just fine. I run both of mine with a 6500 without problems. About 1/2 of a full load is normally how you exercise the genset.