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knight1103's avatar
knight1103
Explorer
Nov 07, 2014

Generac 5550/8550 Wheelhouse Generator

Help with Freq and Volts

I bought a like new gen from a yard sale. Barely used, looks new. Had to clean carb since old fuel was left in but now it runs great.

After I got it running, I was checking the volt and freq and it was showing 122-124v @ 55 hz. There are adjustment holes on the governor arm and the spring was in hole number 7 (Briggs and Stratton engine). I moved the spring to hole number 8 and now I am getting 137-138v @ 59-60 hz. When I put it under load and re-check it the volts are 137-138 but the freq shows that it has decreased to 44-46 hz. Is this a problem with my meter? Should I leave the governor spring in hole #8. I don't have a way to check the RPM of the engine. I am using a multi-meter to check the Volts and Freq. I just want to make sure the power it is producing will not hurt my electrical appliances / electronics. I also don't want to overspeed the engine and cause premature wear. Not sure why it was not producing the correct freq at the factory set hole #7.

Any advise or insight would be very appreciated.

Thanks

3 Replies

  • The frequency of the output is directly related to the engine speed. Actually, as this is a two-pole generator, the frequency of the output is the engine speed—60 cycles per second (nominal) times 60 seconds per minute is 3600 cycles (i.e. revolutions) per minute.

    The governor should maintain the engine speed (and frequency) fairly closely, within a few percent. Typically you'd aim for a bit high under no load (a line frequency of 62-63 Hz seems to be a common suggestion) and then see that it's not too far low at full or nearly full load (58 Hz, say). Voltage should regulate itself when the speed is right to be within ±10% or so. I would suggest a small load, maybe 100W or so, for the "unloaded" measurements since you really don't care too much about the output when you aren't using it and since no load could conceivably do odd things to the output. (In particular, noise on the output could well lead to misleading readings on a multimeter with a high impedance input.)

    By the way, most appliances and even more electronics are not very sensitive to power line frequency. Heating elements and some kinds of motors (non-synchronous motors) Many are designed to work with both 50 and 60 Hz power (since much international power is 50 Hz). The biggest difficulty would be some clocks and timing mechanisms running at the wrong speed.
  • j-d's avatar
    j-d
    Explorer II
    My unsophisticated answer: I think that if hZ is Low while VAC is High, there could be inaccuracy in the measuring equipment. I'm not familiar with Inverter GenSets, though. In my old world, more RPM is more hZ is more VAC.
  • It might be the meter, usually voltage is measured using RMS. Your meter may not account for that. Non inverter generators are dependent on RPM. A way to check RPM is to plug a clock with a second hand into the generator and another clock that is battery or plugged into the house. When the second hands match over time the speed is correct.

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