Generator voltage drop

Sounds like my portable generator when i forget to open the air vent on the gas cap.

Put a resistive load such as an electric heater on it and see if it clears up after a minute or so. My Champion does the same thing if I haven't ran it for a few months. It smooths out once it sees a load.

Not sure what type generator your operating but in the std Onan generator the voltage/frequency is a direct correlation to the revolutions/speed of the generator. If your generator is sputtering because of carb issues or spark plugs your going to see a corresponding impact on voltage. If your operating with "no load" then maybe a simple tune up will resolve the problem - even running it for a few hours with a load (electric heater) may help resolve the problem.

It also sounds to me like it probably is a load that's cycling on and off. Maybe you have thermostatically controlled heaters somewhere (tank heaters? heat strips for the AC?) that usually don't operate because you're in Sunny Arizona. Do you happen to have an AC ammeter to watch the current draw? That would show pretty quickly if that's the cause.

One other possibility that comes to mind is a bit of air in the fuel line for the generator, either because the fuel tank level is right near the end of the pickup for the generator (typically around 1/4 tank), or because there's a little air in the fuel line to the generator that needs to work its way out. In the former case, the generator would stall after running for a bit more; in the latter case, the rough running would clear up.

As Gordon says, 110V is not an unreasonable output voltage under a decent load, particularly if the governor hasn't had time to stabilize from the added load.

GordonThree wrote:
Did it sound like the motor was struggling / stalling?

Nothing is turned on the rig as it's been sitting stored next to my house. During voltage drop (that lasts about 1/2 second) it sounds like she is drawing a heavy load for a little then eases off and goes back to 120 volts. Then drops again, over and over.

Doesn't sound like a problem to me, well within spec. Probably your converter or some electric heating element (fridge?) cycling on and off. Time to worry is if it dips under 105v or over 130v

Did it sound like the motor was struggling / stalling?