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
As many of you are aware, thanks for this thread for providing me with the rewiring instructions for my Wen PowerPro 3500 generator; and with the help of fellow moderators, I constructed a sound box this past spring and it has been working charmingly (the project was posted in this thread and in a thread in Beginning RVing).
A couple of small "tweaks" (I attached a couple stand-offs on the tail pipe to minimize vibration and reduce some thrumming noise, like that of a drum). I used the unit when I went to The Rally in Redmond in July. At the Rally, I noted that I was probably the quietest in the camping area as compared with many built-in units and many of the Honda and Yamaha 3000is units there, and definitely quieter than the Onan 4K Juicebox unit which I got to see in action at The Rally. I'm definitely a happy camper.
While on the trip, though, I noticed that the speed of the generator slowly accelerated over time (i.e. as if someone was pressing on the throttle). Nothing seemed out of the ordinary otherwise, the A/C worked as well as many other appliances, but when I had the opportunity to fire up the generator this past weekend, the microwave would not work, even though I was getting a solid 118-122 VAC. Everything else works ok, though.
When I hooked up a "Kill-A-Watt" meter and checked the frequency output, I was getting 88Hz (not the normal 60Hz). As I said, the voltage was 118 VAC. I adjusted the throttle and slowed the engine down until I got readings between 58 and 62 Hz (varying). The microwave would still not work; that is until I put another load on the circuit (hot water heater or A/C). The meter then showed a solid 60 Hz, and the microwave then worked. Clearly the microwave (at the least the clock, but maybe also the magnatron) required a clean 60 Hz output.
So, I have two questions:
1) I know that the speed of the heads determines the frequency, but is the throttle adjustment the only way to adjust the frequency, or is there some other, or more appropriate, way?
2) What would make the engine speed up like that on its own? It was 100 degrees+ when we used the A/C, but the temperature in the box never went over 150 degrees dues to the air flow. Did I merely "band-aid" a solution, or is there something else I should be looking at?
Thanks for any advice you can give.
A couple of small "tweaks" (I attached a couple stand-offs on the tail pipe to minimize vibration and reduce some thrumming noise, like that of a drum). I used the unit when I went to The Rally in Redmond in July. At the Rally, I noted that I was probably the quietest in the camping area as compared with many built-in units and many of the Honda and Yamaha 3000is units there, and definitely quieter than the Onan 4K Juicebox unit which I got to see in action at The Rally. I'm definitely a happy camper.
While on the trip, though, I noticed that the speed of the generator slowly accelerated over time (i.e. as if someone was pressing on the throttle). Nothing seemed out of the ordinary otherwise, the A/C worked as well as many other appliances, but when I had the opportunity to fire up the generator this past weekend, the microwave would not work, even though I was getting a solid 118-122 VAC. Everything else works ok, though.
When I hooked up a "Kill-A-Watt" meter and checked the frequency output, I was getting 88Hz (not the normal 60Hz). As I said, the voltage was 118 VAC. I adjusted the throttle and slowed the engine down until I got readings between 58 and 62 Hz (varying). The microwave would still not work; that is until I put another load on the circuit (hot water heater or A/C). The meter then showed a solid 60 Hz, and the microwave then worked. Clearly the microwave (at the least the clock, but maybe also the magnatron) required a clean 60 Hz output.
So, I have two questions:
1) I know that the speed of the heads determines the frequency, but is the throttle adjustment the only way to adjust the frequency, or is there some other, or more appropriate, way?
2) What would make the engine speed up like that on its own? It was 100 degrees+ when we used the A/C, but the temperature in the box never went over 150 degrees dues to the air flow. Did I merely "band-aid" a solution, or is there something else I should be looking at?
Thanks for any advice you can give.
