Honda Car Forum

Hi, hoping someone can help.. I have a 3.5 kva electric start portable
petrol generator which has not been used for around 3 years.

Motor styarts and runs great, but no generation of any electrical power..

It has been suggested that one should "excite" the armature and another
mentions
polarizing the armature.....Is there someone out there that can put me on
the right track?
regards Ray (Victoria,Australia)

ray wrote:
>
> Hi, hoping someone can help.. I have a 3.5 kva electric start portable
> petrol generator which has not been used for around 3 years.
>
> Motor styarts and runs great, but no generation of any electrical power..
>
> It has been suggested that one should "excite" the armature and another
> mentions
> polarizing the armature.....Is there someone out there that can put me on
> the right track?
> regards Ray (Victoria,Australia)

It is correct that the armature needs to be energized, but this is not
something the user has to worry about. You didn't say what specific
model you have, but some Honda generators have fuses *and* circuit
breakers *and* GFCI (ground fault circuit interrupters).

If your's has a GFCI, try tripping it then resetting it. There is
usually a small button marked "test", if you press it, the GFCI will
trip. Then press the button marked "reset".

Next check the circuit breakers. Breakers can sometimes get stuck in an
intermediate position where it looks like they are on, but they are not.
Turn the circuit breakers all the way off, then back on.

Finally, check the fuse, although I believe the fuse is for the 12V
output only.

If you still get no power, it is time to start worrying about brushes
etc.

If you need a user manual, check http://makeashorterlink.com/?O55B35529.
This is the US Honda site, but the generators may be the same or similar
enough that you can find something useful.

Thanks Randolph,
Your interest & advice is much appreciated.

I did get a response from another newsgroup, which advised me to have a look
at http://www.endtimesreport.com/dead_gen.html .

It turned out to be a comprehensive article entitled "RE-ENERGIZING DEAD
GENERATORS " (2.5 pages)

In short, it suggests a way of doing it by connecting the output of a spare
generator to the output of the dead generator, while the dead generator is
being driven by the petrol engine ?? uses three 60 watt globes in series
in the connecting line. ??

I am hesitant in trying this procedure, as we are talking about 240 volts
AC.....

If you could have a look at this article and give me your opinion before I
take an action that could turn out to be a really bad thing....

regards Ray

ps: The unit itself is very ancient around 1976 approx. but actual running
time would only be around 200 hours in that time.
Model E3500 (Electric start) Rated output 2.8 kva
Max output 3.5 kva Phase 1
DC Voltage 12V Current 8.3 amps

ray wrote:

> I did get a response from another newsgroup, which advised me to have a look
> at http://www.endtimesreport.com/dead_gen.html.

Alternators in cars have a field winding that sets up the magnetic field
in the rotor. If there is absolutely no battery voltage present, the
alternator can not start delivering power. Old DC generators could pull
themselves up from no voltage with the small amount of residual magnetic
field.

Your generator uses an A/C alternator, and has a field winding just like
a car alternator. There is also a small permanent magnetic field, enough
to get the generator to self energize. If this small permanent magnetic
field is gone, you will not get any electrical power, and this is what
the referenced article gives a fix for.

The author of the article has a good point. Keep in mind that Honda
makes two types of generators. The simplest type has an alternator that
generates the 110 V and 220V directly. Some newer types use electronic
inverters to create the A/C voltage after first rectifying the voltage
from a high frequency alternator. The method in the article should not
be used on the latter kind. it will likely damage the generator. The
E3500 is the first kind, so the method in the article should not cause
any damage.

A few notes to the article: It says to be careful about polarity. This
is not at all important. If all you are connecting are neutral and live,
the two are indistinguishable as far as the generator is concerned. Some
countries with 220V / 240V systems don't even have neutral and live,
both wires are live (with respect to earth ground).

The bulbs are put in as current limiters. The generator output and the
household current will not be in phase, so the set of light bulbs will
see A/C voltage varying between 0V and, in your case, 240V * 2 = 480V.
Thus a set of three to make sure that neither bulb will se more than its
rated voltage. I would use two bulbs only, suggesting the use of three
is just a bit more conservative.

Your generator also has a drive belt, before trying the referenced fix,
I would check if the belt is still there and in good condition etc.

Please report back with a progress report after you work on this!