Portable stand by generator RPM's

[daman]

guy's my generators throttle lock came lose and now my rpm's
are wrong(low)does any one know what the "norm" for rpm's are
i heard 3,600 rpm's.

13hp vanguard Briggs(my unit)

 

[tig1]

You are correct.You need 3600 to maintain 60cycles.

 

[daman]

Ok great that would be 3600 with no load right(free rev'en)?

 

[eljefino]

governor should cover load/no load. A cheap voltmeter should read around 125v, plug a hair dryer in and see if it keeps up.

 

[irq3]

According to the Briggs specs, it should be 3,750 +-100 RPM no load. The no load frequency output should be 62 - 62.5 Hz. As you load the generator, it slows down. It should be around 3,600 RPM/ 60 Hz (or slightly under) fully loaded.

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: irq3
According to the Briggs specs, it should be 3,750 +-100 RPM no load. The no load frequency output should be 62 - 62.5 Hz. As you load the generator, it slows down. It should be around 3,600 RPM/ 60 Hz (or slightly under) fully loaded.

went to the shop today with my volt meter and RPM gauge and this is what i came up with.

Gen needed to be set to 3950 RPM's(no load) to hold a good 123.5(+/-.2)volts,i'm a little concerned with these operating rpm's anyone think so???

i set it there so as the load increases i won't drop below my
120v,,sound right??? i checked my house voltage and that's
123.8ish so i figured the gen should be close to that..

3600 rpm's wasn't even close to my needed volts,i think only
like 118ish.

 

[Bill Kapaun]

If you'll look on the label of most electric appliances, it'll say something like 110-120V.

I'd back it off a "tad"

 

[Cujet]

By far, the easiest way to set generator speed is with a "Kill a Watt" meter. Plug it into you generator, then plug some load (maybe your typical load) into the "Kill a Watt". Set the device on HZ and adjust the RPM 'till you get 60HZ. Really, nothing other than some expensive form of multi-meter with frequency counting will be as accurate or as easy. Setting it this way ensures that computer UPS' and other sensitive equipment doesn't go haywire due to the wrong frequency.

I have seen the "Kill a Watt" at homeless depot for 24 bucks. It's a great investment anyway, as it will tell you how much energy certain devices use. I found that my Direct TV uses 200 watts ALL THE TIME!

Chris

 

[daman]

K maybe i'll check into that,but for now i think i'm good,i usally don't run any sensitive equipment when power goes out and running off the gen.

thanks chris for your info on this..

 

[tig1]

118 volts is fine.3600 rpm is typical speed for your gen.

 

[daman]

Boy now i'm confused...lol should i back it off some then,need
to get that KW meter i guess.

 

[CrAlt]

Frequency is more important then being dead on 120v...

 

[daman]

Originally Posted By: CrAlt
Frequency is more important then being dead on 120v...

K....

 

[eljefino]

My kill-a-watt goes haywire on anything under ~58 Hertz, the LCD gets jumbled etc.

Most of my stuff I'd want to run off the generator are simple electric motors... fridge compressors, the well pump... they speed up and slow down with the engine speed... sound pitch is a great tool for monitoring the situation.

My TV is not fussy about power, I bet it's labelled 100-240 volts, does good down to 85.

Best thing you can do for your appliances is monitor the generator and unplug stuff before/when it starts running out of gas. Know a guy who knows a guy who replaces furnace controllers fried when people went to bed for the night and the generator failed somehow.

 

[Cujet]

Originally Posted By: eljefino
My kill-a-watt goes haywire on anything under ~58 Hertz, the LCD gets jumbled etc.



Wow, that is not the case with my Kill a Watt. I wonder why. Mine will clearly read HZ in the 40HZ range.

Chris

 

[daman]

I orderd a HZ meter off line(Homedepot didn't have one)so i'll
use that on the gen when it comes see what happens.

 

[Fordiesel69]

BTW, you set the gov to the Hz, not the volts. Every generator will be slightly off. My old kohler 3kw will only do 118 at 59.92 Hz. I decided to leave it. It I push the gov a tad the Hz will go to 60.00 but the voltage won;t really move. I can actually run (2) 1500 watt heater and still maintain the Hz.

Set to 60.00 Hz and dont worry where the volts are.

 

[Crashbox]

CrAlt and Fordiesel69 are spot on WRT frequency being most important IMO.

 

[Craig in Canada]

Frequency is more important than nailing the voltage. Incorrect frequency will screw up all kinds of things you want to run off of the power from your genset.

If your DVM has a frequency counter use it.

Depending on the generator, you need 3600 or 1800 to result in 60Hz. Set it for this under typical load. If you have anything 110V-130V, close enough.

 

[daman]

K thanks guy's should be getting my frequency counter sat. so
i'll be playing with it after that.