3000W Chinese Gensets Info.

Al in Va wrote:

In response to the post by NM Desert Rat, I have a Power Pro 3500 from Pep Boys also. I thought it was doing OK at first as it ran the AC. Then I got a voltage meter and let it run for a longer time and found the voltage gradually went down until I cut it off when it got to 104-105 volts and the generator motor sounded like it was "surging". I recently got a friend to bring a Fluke ammeter home from work and checked the generator output. It was showing 2.3 amps with just the converter on. Put on the AC and it was showing 14-15 amps. That was all it would do and the voltage drop started. I am very disappointed as I checked the manual before buying it and the manual says 25amps/120 volts. It only does about half that. Think I will have to have a talk with Wen about that. Dont think I will try to rewire it. May not be worth the effort. Al in Va

Aparently we have come full circle in this thread? IMHO, your PowerPro is doing exactly what it is designed to do. That being to provide full wattage split between two separate 120 volt outlets - each outlet gets 1/2 of the total rated 120 volt amperage available.

If visitors and contributors read back over the initial info in this forum, they will find that the only Chinese generators that we know of on this forum that will allow full current to be drawn from a single 120 outlet are those in the family made by Jung Dong (a.k.a. ELM3000, Wildfire, Harbor Freight, etc.). Others require reconfiguring the gen head wiring to achieve parallel circuitry.

On the issue of temperature vs. current and voltage, Alvinc did a heck of a good job explaining the relationship in his post. I might also add that according to literature and tables that I have, a rise in ambient temperature from 85 degrees F to 177 degrees F in the generator head calls for a reduction in current by 43% of the rating at 85 degrees. In layman's terms - resistance of the conductors in the generator will increase with a temperature rise, this will create more heat that will lead to an even higher temperature rise in the generator that will lead to even more resistance and eventually the smoke will come out of the generator wires and it will not work anymore! (visit http://www.manbottle.com/humor/The_magic_of_Smoke.htm for more detail on smoke)