3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
professor95 wrote: EDIT ADDED 45/5/2013- When this thread started in March of 2005, I never expected to see it survive this long or amass the quantity of information that has been shared here. In...
Forum Discussion
Wyatt-S wrote:The current output of the generator as originally wired on 120V will be limited to the capability or limits of the circuit breaker on each leg of the 240V circuit. That is if one circuit breaker might trip at 17 amps, the other might not trip until 19 amps over several seconds. For a 240V circuit, it will be limited to 17 amps (the smaller of the two 120V breakers) at 240V.
I did this mod yesterday. The voltage never dropped below 112 at full load (28 amps) but the breaker will trip if I pull a sustained load above the 28 amps. This is with the RV connected to the normal 120V outlet.
After changing the wiring to parallel the windings, the maximum current that you will be able to obtain is not the sum of the two breakers. One winding will provide more current than the other winding. If this happens to be the winding with the 17 amp breaker limit, the other winding is likely providing only 11 amps of the load. Continuing with Wyatt-S's example above.
This has a lot to do with how similar the windings are with respect to impedance.
In this case, I would argue that, you want two breakers, one to protect each winding of the generator. If you had only a single breaker and one winding had an open, the other winding would try to carry the full 30 amps and I believe you would be in a smoke and fire situation.
Circuit breakers (or fuses) are used to protect the wiring from over current situations. It's not clear to me that a single winding in the generator can support 30 amps.
Willing to be wrong.....tell me why.
