I snagged a Champion Mod. #46598 3500/4000 genny from TS for $250 on black Friday. With a Craftsman digital meter my voltage varies 12-13 volts every second or so. It will read 113,118,122,126 all in around a seconds time. It does the exact same thing on each 120volt leg when switched over to 240volts or the 30 amp RV plug or regular 120volt plug. The analog meter on the genny stays rock solid on 120 or 240volts when switched.This is over a 10% fluctuation. I'm afraid to plug anything into it.Ideas?

I don't know it's kind of fun to watch light bulbs bright and dim every second or so... You might need to put a load on it to get a true picture of the volts. I'm guessing it may not flucuate with a load. I'd try an old appliance or hair dryer with a lot of draw to see what happens.an autoformer would help smooth out the voltage. But then you lose the savings you got on Black Friday.

I have the same generator and it does the same thing. When I connected it to my 5r and turned on the 15K AC my voltage meter inside the rv fluctuated like a pulse, varying the voltage. I called Champion and talked to a tech which informed me that the generator is working properly and not to worry.My son in law works for prevost and he said the term is the generator is hunting. He also didnt think it was anything serious to be concerned with. I bought this as just a cheap emergency generator, and even though I've ran it a few hrs at a time as to test, I am concerned with using it long term. I am impressed with how quiet it is for the type of generator, and it starts very easy, but like you I'm nervous about using it.There customer service is readily available so you might give them a call and see if you get the same answers as I did. I'd sure be interested in hearing back from you.

nowgrn4 wrote:I snagged a Champion Mod. #46598 3500/4000 genny from TS for $250 on black Friday. With a Craftsman digital meter my voltage varies 12-13 volts every second or so. It will read 113,118,122,126 all in around a seconds time. It does the exact same thing on each 120volt leg when switched over to 240volts or the 30 amp RV plug or regular 120volt plug. The analog meter on the genny stays rock solid on 120 or 240volts when switched.This is over a 10% fluctuation. I'm afraid to plug anything into it.Ideas?Your craftsman meter digital meter is most likely not a true RMS type of meter and the analog to digital IC inside the meter is seeing fluctuations in frequency, waveform along with any small fluctuations in voltage.. This is creating large swings in voltage errors reported on the screen.I would recommend trying an analog meter or a better quality digital meter which is true RMS.Just keep in mind, a non inverter generator WILL have some voltage, frequency and even waveform distortion. In most respects not much worse than the noise which is on the utility lines.For the most part even with 10% voltage fluctuations that is not really all that far off the mark for a generator. Equipment designed for 120V use typically will operate perfectly fine from 108V-135V without any harm.. Most manufacturers will give a acceptable voltage range of your electrical items.

Looking at these waveform using an oscilloscope will scare you big time... My Honda high dollar 2KW EU2000i 120VAC WAVEFORM looks like this Looking on google of champion generator waveforms shows a whole different waveform being generated.If the waveforms are not pure then the AC VOLTAGE will show up on the AC DIGITAL VOLTMETERs bouncing all over the place. These type of WAVEFORMS usually clears up somewhat when being more loaded down.Any SQUARE WAVE components showing up in the envelope is what really is bad for AC appliances... Something that looks like this may do harm to AC APPLIANCES All WAVEFORMs from GOOGLE SearchThese are the differences between cheap generators and high dollar generators...Roy Ken

Champion voltage fluctuation | Good Sam Community

wrgrs50s
Explorer
Dec 23, 2014
I have the same generator and it does the same thing. When I connected it to my 5r and turned on the 15K AC my voltage meter inside the rv fluctuated like a pulse, varying the voltage. I called Champion and talked to a tech which informed me that the generator is working properly and not to worry.

My son in law works for prevost and he said the term is the generator is hunting. He also didnt think it was anything serious to be concerned with.

I bought this as just a cheap emergency generator, and even though I've ran it a few hrs at a time as to test, I am concerned with using it long term. I am impressed with how quiet it is for the type of generator, and it starts very easy, but like you I'm nervous about using it.

There customer service is readily available so you might give them a call and see if you get the same answers as I did. I'd sure be interested in hearing back from you.
fischer
Explorer
Dec 23, 2014
use a drop light
the_bear_II
Explorer
Dec 23, 2014
I don't know it's kind of fun to watch light bulbs bright and dim every second or so...

You might need to put a load on it to get a true picture of the volts. I'm guessing it may not flucuate with a load. I'd try an old appliance or hair dryer with a lot of draw to see what happens.

an autoformer would help smooth out the voltage. But then you lose the savings you got on Black Friday.

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