Dirty Electric
How would I know or test if a generator was putting out the wrong frequency or "dirty" electricity? (recently changed oil, new plug, new air filter, cleaned out carburetor best I could... wondering...
Forum Discussion
Matt_Colie wrote:
GD,
While that is a cheap version of an Oscilloscope, even with the suggested additional parts to look at the wave shape, you can't use it to do either a true THD (Total Harmonic Distortion) measurement. All you can do is look at it an see if it is pretty.
This came up recently when an acquaintance could not run his new inverter microwave from the CCV portable generator. We got things together and found that his machine produced a really big 3rd and fifth order that fooled the power supply of the microwave.
The microwave ran fine with the power from my 48yo Onan even with the distortion cause be cylinders firing.
Matt
When looking at the waveform of a sinewave you do not "need" to have a THD readout.
You simply zoom in and VIEW the part of the waveform and you will easily see the distortion. That after all is what millions of "Techs" have done since the first Oscilloscope was born.
If you can't read a 60HZ waveform from a "O" scope, you are not a real Tech.. Now if you were trying to read say the distortion of a amplifier at 20Kz and higher it does get a bit more difficult to do but not impossible..
Folks now days are so spoiled.
I have repaired a lot of audio and video equipment over the yrs with just a DVM and "O" scope and no schematics.
60Hz is a piece of cake.
