Posted by Jim Wilkins on June 21, 2010, 5:37 pm
wrote:
> ...
> The batteries have only been used a few times and I just keep them charged
> up and occasionally use the system to run the computers in the house.
The quick, crude test I use for inverter batteries is to run the
computer off them and have it monitor its own run time somehow, like
write a program that saves the timestamp to a file once a minute.
jsw
Posted by You on June 21, 2010, 10:23 pm
In article
> How to you measure the Amp-Hour capacity of the batteries to know when
> to replace them?
>
> I know the laboratory methods but not a simple one I could suggest for
> 'civilian' use.
>
> jsw
The "Big Boys" use a Battery Impedance Meter.... But most regular folks
just do a 1 Hour Discharge Test at 20 Amps and see where the batteries
voltage comes in compared to when they were NEW.....
Posted by Johnny B Good on June 21, 2010, 9:45 pm
> > ddl@danlan.*com (Dan Lanciani) wrote in
> >
> >> I picked one of these up at Lowes to temporarily power some
> >> incandescent lights. With a couple of hundred watts of load I notice
> >> that the lights flicker slightly but annoyingly. For a normal
> >> generator I'd let it slide, but I thought the point of these inverter
> >> designs was "clean" power. Is slight flickering typical of the iX2000
> >> or did I get a bad one?
> >>
> >> Dan Lanciani
> >> ddl@danlan.*com
> >
> > return it ASAP. You bought it to run some simple lights and it didn't do
> > the job -- so the various reasons why it failed don't help your lights.
> > Get another one and if it fails get a different brand.
> >
> > just saying what i'd do is all.. best of luck
> I find the flicker in incandescent lamps is caused by low frequency in my
> case.
> I have a 28 Kw Diesel generator and when I load it quite a lot the
> frequency
> (Hz) drops a bit, as the diesel engine governor lets the motor slow down a
> bit on heavy current draw.
> Now it is not all that much, here in Australia we have 50 cycle power
> and as
> my 4 pole genny has to maintain 1500 RPM to hold that.
> I have set up the speed slightly to try and keep it up, so lightly
> loaded it
> runs at around 53 cycles per second, but under heavy load it may drop down
> to 48 cycles, and although that is not much, I note there is a slight
> flickering in the incandescent lamps when it is heavily loaded.
====snip====
That sounds like an issue due to the prime mover. The issue being the
effect on rotational speed by the power stroke of a single cylinder 4
stroke engine when loaded close to its maximum torque limit. An effect
that's quite possibly aggravated by the VR's dynamic behaviour under
such rapid modulations of rotational speed imparted every other half
revolution by a single cylinder 4 stroke prime mover.
It's even possible that the speed controlled govenor arrangement may
have some overshoot in its response curve under heavy loading, an effect
that's more difficult to tame at 1500rpm or slower speeds than at
3000rpm unless a proportionally heavier flywheel is employed.
Any such modulations at half frequency (25 or 30 Hertz) become readily
apparent in the light output of incandescent lamps. The effect is more
obvious with 240v lamps than with 120v lamps due to the longer and
_thinner_ filaments required for the higher voltage supply.
HTH
Posted by RamRod Sword of Baal on June 22, 2010, 1:07 am
>> > ddl@danlan.*com (Dan Lanciani) wrote in
>> >
>> >> I picked one of these up at Lowes to temporarily power some
>> >> incandescent lights. With a couple of hundred watts of load I notice
>> >> that the lights flicker slightly but annoyingly. For a normal
>> >> generator I'd let it slide, but I thought the point of these inverter
>> >> designs was "clean" power. Is slight flickering typical of the iX2000
>> >> or did I get a bad one?
>> >>
>> >> Dan Lanciani
>> >> ddl@danlan.*com
>> >
>> > return it ASAP. You bought it to run some simple lights and it didn't
>> > do
>> > the job -- so the various reasons why it failed don't help your lights.
>> > Get another one and if it fails get a different brand.
>> >
>> > just saying what i'd do is all.. best of luck
>> I find the flicker in incandescent lamps is caused by low frequency in my
>> case.
>> I have a 28 Kw Diesel generator and when I load it quite a lot the
>> frequency
>> (Hz) drops a bit, as the diesel engine governor lets the motor slow down
>> a
>> bit on heavy current draw.
>> Now it is not all that much, here in Australia we have 50 cycle power
>> and as
>> my 4 pole genny has to maintain 1500 RPM to hold that.
>> I have set up the speed slightly to try and keep it up, so lightly
>> loaded it
>> runs at around 53 cycles per second, but under heavy load it may drop
>> down
>> to 48 cycles, and although that is not much, I note there is a slight
>> flickering in the incandescent lamps when it is heavily loaded.
> ====snip====
> That sounds like an issue due to the prime mover. The issue being the
> effect on rotational speed by the power stroke of a single cylinder 4
> stroke engine when loaded close to its maximum torque limit. An effect
> that's quite possibly aggravated by the VR's dynamic behaviour under
> such rapid modulations of rotational speed imparted every other half
> revolution by a single cylinder 4 stroke prime mover.
> It's even possible that the speed controlled govenor arrangement may
> have some overshoot in its response curve under heavy loading, an effect
> that's more difficult to tame at 1500rpm or slower speeds than at
> 3000rpm unless a proportionally heavier flywheel is employed.
> Any such modulations at half frequency (25 or 30 Hertz) become readily
> apparent in the light output of incandescent lamps. The effect is more
> obvious with 240v lamps than with 120v lamps due to the longer and
> _thinner_ filaments required for the higher voltage supply.
In my case I am sure it is just the governor, as I am running a 28 Kw 4
cylinder Harz Diesel, but as I said I am not concerned about a few cycles
difference and certainly not worried enough to change the governor.
Posted by Robert Green on June 22, 2010, 7:30 am
> I picked one of these up at Lowes to temporarily power some incandescent
> lights. With a couple of hundred watts of load I notice that the lights
> flicker slightly but annoyingly. For a normal generator I'd let it slide,
> but I thought the point of these inverter designs was "clean" power. Is
> slight flickering typical of the iX2000 or did I get a bad one?
> Dan Lanciani
> ddl@danlan.*com
Dan,
Why does a generator need an inverter at all? Doesn't it put out pure
sinewave A/C to begin with?
I would <groan> call Generac to see what they say (their web site was pretty
silent about the inverter technology) but refuse a rebuilt, who knows what
happened to it, unit and return the item to the store where hopefully you
can either try a new one of the same model (which they will probably gladly
do since it means you weren't trying to scam them by using it as a free
rental) or get your money back and try another brand.
What a pain, though. I suspect that you'd need something like the big
toroidal transformers made by Sola we used to use in the color darkroom to
keep the enlarger lamps at precisely the right color temperature. I still
see those types of transformers (huge - about 18" in diameter and 12" deep)
on This Old House when they are doing high end AV installs. You would think
modern microprocessor technology could compensate for rotation and load
variations enough to "smooth out" the output so it wouldn't cause
flickering. I would be interested to see what happens if you add more
lights.
Have you tried CFL lamps instead of the incandescents or mixed in with them?
It could be that their internal electronics will overcome the flickering.
Hey, stranger things have happend!
Besides, in a few years, the Greenie Police will confiscate your illegal
tunsten filament bulbs and fine you for your inefficiency.
--
Bobby G.
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> The batteries have only been used a few times and I just keep them charged
> up and occasionally use the system to run the computers in the house.