3000W Chinese Gensets Info.

professor95 wrote:
I was in our local Costco (Richmond, VA) today. They had two of the Nikota 3500 generators in stock. Both were the "old" model like the ones previously sold by Pep Boys. They did NOT have the switch to route full wattage to one outlet at 120 volts. The duplex outlet was split and the maximum current available on each was 13 amps. If the person who purchases these generators wants to run a RV AC or other high current 120 volt device, they will be very disappointed.

If anyone intends to shop Costco for one of the newer Nikota Generators, please be sure you know what you are getting. Obviously, some of the "old stock" is out there too.

Three things:
1. There are several different "new" Nikotas at Costco
2. Adding neutral to the 240V plug.
3. Governor mechanism

1. There are (at least)two "new" versions of the Nikotas. The first is pictured by Hawklover in his post of 12/09/05 a few pages back. His engine is dated in June/05. I just purchased one at the Burlington VT Costco which is similar to his with the following differences. Engine is dated in Oct05 (fast transit!!). The Control panel is on the side of the frame on mine and not on the generator end cap. I have two switches (on/off and 120/240)instead of a 120/off/240. Mine has a volt meter and Hawklover's does not. My schematic is identical except for the addition of a voltmeter between the blue & brown leads off the generator. The 120 outlet is not split on either mine or Hawklover's.

In both cases there is a 13Amp CB in each 120v leg. Since they are in parallel when in 120v mode the combined output is limited to 26Amps. One concern I have is that should one breaker trip the other would continue to deliver output. However I assume that it would also quickly trip. I would prefer to have a duplex breaker that would take both sides down in the event one side tripped.

2. In both cases the 240 outlet has no neutral connection. Refer back to the schematic in Hawklover's append again. It looks to me that you could provide the neutral by adding a wire to one of the terminals on the 240v side of the voltage switch that are jumpered together by the brown wire. The other end of this wire would connect to the unused connection on the 240v plug. I have a situation (240V water pump with 120v controls) that fits with in the power budget and I'd like to know if this addition is both safe and workable.

3. I have studied the exceedingly small parts diagram to try to determine how the engine is governed. I saw some speculation earlier here that it was a fan and wind vane solution. It does not appear to be the case. There is a small geard riven by a gear on the crank shaft. Coaxial with the small gear shaft is a part labeled "slider[,] governor" and something called "Governor Assy" My educated guess is that the later is some form of a fly-ball or centrifical governor. I think this is a much more accurate mechanism than you'd get from the fan solution on lawn implements.