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K

kiko

Hello Electricians here.

I have a Prob/question and am hoping that someone can shed some light over here.

I have a small portable generator driven by a petrol engine.
2 outputs = 220v and 110v

But the generator will not generate, I have checked the wiring I can and all switches seem ok , also a 22uf capacitor is OK

But if I start the engine then put a link across the two output wires, bingo, it works,. this also happens if I start it then when it is switched to 220v I put a link across the Live and neutral of the 110v socket , just for 1 second or less, I see the volt meter jump up to 220v , ( before the link I only can read 9 or 10v max at this output,
However this will only work until I stop the generator, even if only for a few seconds , when I restart , nothing . until I put the link in again,
q. why is this ? what is going on ? how can I make it just generate without the link ....

I know somebody will know all about gennys here please pour wisdom upon me .....thanks
 
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Ok , and is there anything I can do about this ?, permanantly I mean , I have hear of re-flashing generators with a 12v battery but am not too sure about it,
 
Ok , and is there anything I can do about this ?, permanantly I mean , I have hear of re-flashing generators with a 12v battery but am not too sure about it,

A dynamo can be re-flashed to change it's polarity, say from positive earth to negative earth. Be warned this is a very dangerous practice, it is all to easy to receive nasty electrical or acid burns through this practice. One of my fellow apprentices showing-off shorted a 12V car battery with a aluminium bar, the aluminium bar welded itself to terminals and the battery exploded covering him in hot sulphuric acid. Only quick thinking by myself and others saved him from life threatening injuries.
Re-flashing doesn't really do anything useful with alternators, trying to boost the residual magnetic field this way can do more harm than good, it generally just makes a bad situation worse as well as endangering oneself.
Don't keep shorting the output terminals, if you already have a weak magnetic field, this bad practice will only make things much worse.
How did you test the excitation/regulation capacitor?
 
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I tested the capacitor with a capacitor tester that I have, It had 22uf written on it I took it out and thats what the meter read. If i kept shorting it to start it going what harm would this do ?
And how is it that this makes it work? and what can i do?
the generator isn't an expensive one it came from China ! it belongs to a freind and i was trying to sort it out but I am also interested in learning about generators and their common faults , I did once build one, belt driven off an engine from a small squirrel cage motor , that went just fine , but this one is different as the rotor has windings too.
 

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