Posted by Ulysses on June 6, 2005, 12:55 pm
I finally found a generator head to stick on my old Tecumseh engine. It
worked great at first then suddenly it won't start any loads that it easily
started before. The voltage appears to be OK there just isn't any power.
At first I could not get all three outlets to work at the same time (120,
120, and 240) then I discovered that the 120 volt outlet had been cut at
neutral and the wiring diagram show neutral should be tied. I tied it and
that's when my troubles began...
How do I connect a battery to excite the field coil assuming this may be the
problem? Someone in an old post said "+ to + and - to -" but this genhead
doesn't have any DC output (externally, anyway). Am I supposed to connect a
12 volt battery to the AC output while it is running? Is 12 volts too much?
Does it matter if I connect positive to hot or neutral? What can I screw up
if I connect it wrong or use too much voltage? The instructions that came
with the generator head only said to connect a battery but didn't say where.
Also, just in case that is not the problem, should I be able to test the
diodes on the rotor while they are connected? I think they may be open but
I have a bad test lead (loose connection) on my ohmmeter (on my way to fix
it now) so they showed "open" on my initial test. My Harbor Fright cheapie
digital multimeter showed open too. My decent quality multimeter is stuck.
Would open diodes cause my lack of power problem and the voltage still be
OK?
Thanks.
Posted by Ulysses on June 6, 2005, 1:54 pm
> I finally found a generator head to stick on my old Tecumseh engine. It
> worked great at first then suddenly it won't start any loads that it
easily
> started before. The voltage appears to be OK there just isn't any power.
> At first I could not get all three outlets to work at the same time (120,
> 120, and 240) then I discovered that the 120 volt outlet had been cut at
> neutral and the wiring diagram show neutral should be tied. I tied it and
> that's when my troubles began...
> How do I connect a battery to excite the field coil assuming this may be
the
> problem? Someone in an old post said "+ to + and - to -" but this genhead
> doesn't have any DC output (externally, anyway). Am I supposed to connect
a
> 12 volt battery to the AC output while it is running? Is 12 volts too
much?
> Does it matter if I connect positive to hot or neutral? What can I screw
up
> if I connect it wrong or use too much voltage? The instructions that came
> with the generator head only said to connect a battery but didn't say
where.
> Also, just in case that is not the problem, should I be able to test the
> diodes on the rotor while they are connected? I think they may be open
but
> I have a bad test lead (loose connection) on my ohmmeter (on my way to fix
> it now) so they showed "open" on my initial test. My Harbor Fright
cheapie
> digital multimeter showed open too. My decent quality multimeter is
stuck.
> Would open diodes cause my lack of power problem and the voltage still be
> OK?
> Thanks.
Would a bad capacitor cause this?
Posted by Ulysses on June 6, 2005, 3:27 pm
> > I finally found a generator head to stick on my old Tecumseh engine. It
> > worked great at first then suddenly it won't start any loads that it
> easily
> > started before. The voltage appears to be OK there just isn't any
power.
> > At first I could not get all three outlets to work at the same time
(120,
> > 120, and 240) then I discovered that the 120 volt outlet had been cut at
> > neutral and the wiring diagram show neutral should be tied. I tied it
and
> > that's when my troubles began...
> >
> > How do I connect a battery to excite the field coil assuming this may be
> the
> > problem? Someone in an old post said "+ to + and - to -" but this
genhead
> > doesn't have any DC output (externally, anyway). Am I supposed to
connect
> a
> > 12 volt battery to the AC output while it is running? Is 12 volts too
> much?
> > Does it matter if I connect positive to hot or neutral? What can I screw
> up
> > if I connect it wrong or use too much voltage? The instructions that
came
> > with the generator head only said to connect a battery but didn't say
> where.
> >
> > Also, just in case that is not the problem, should I be able to test the
> > diodes on the rotor while they are connected? I think they may be open
> but
> > I have a bad test lead (loose connection) on my ohmmeter (on my way to
fix
> > it now) so they showed "open" on my initial test. My Harbor Fright
> cheapie
> > digital multimeter showed open too. My decent quality multimeter is
> stuck.
> > Would open diodes cause my lack of power problem and the voltage still
be
> > OK?
> >
> > Thanks.
> >
> Would a bad capacitor cause this?
I switched capacitors. No help.
Posted by daestrom on June 6, 2005, 5:04 pm
>I finally found a generator head to stick on my old Tecumseh engine. It
> worked great at first then suddenly it won't start any loads that it
> easily
> started before. The voltage appears to be OK there just isn't any power.
> At first I could not get all three outlets to work at the same time (120,
> 120, and 240) then I discovered that the 120 volt outlet had been cut at
> neutral and the wiring diagram show neutral should be tied. I tied it and
> that's when my troubles began...
> How do I connect a battery to excite the field coil assuming this may be
> the
> problem? Someone in an old post said "+ to + and - to -" but this genhead
> doesn't have any DC output (externally, anyway). Am I supposed to connect
> a
> 12 volt battery to the AC output while it is running? Is 12 volts too
> much?
> Does it matter if I connect positive to hot or neutral? What can I screw
> up
> if I connect it wrong or use too much voltage? The instructions that came
> with the generator head only said to connect a battery but didn't say
> where.
> Also, just in case that is not the problem, should I be able to test the
> diodes on the rotor while they are connected? I think they may be open
> but
> I have a bad test lead (loose connection) on my ohmmeter (on my way to fix
> it now) so they showed "open" on my initial test. My Harbor Fright
> cheapie
> digital multimeter showed open too. My decent quality multimeter is
> stuck.
> Would open diodes cause my lack of power problem and the voltage still be
> OK?
Doesn't really sound like a loss of excitation. Troubleshooting 101: Undo
the last thing you did (tied the neutral) and see if any of the outlets come
back to life. Maybe the previous owner cut it for this reason.
If that restores the other outlets, then we have somewhere to go. Perhaps
the hot and neutrals are reversed somewhere, so 'tieing the neutral' really
just put a dead short across the two hots???
daestrom
Posted by Ulysses on June 6, 2005, 10:34 pm
> >I finally found a generator head to stick on my old Tecumseh engine. It
> > worked great at first then suddenly it won't start any loads that it
> > easily
> > started before. The voltage appears to be OK there just isn't any
power.
> > At first I could not get all three outlets to work at the same time
(120,
> > 120, and 240) then I discovered that the 120 volt outlet had been cut at
> > neutral and the wiring diagram show neutral should be tied. I tied it
and
> > that's when my troubles began...
> >
> > How do I connect a battery to excite the field coil assuming this may be
> > the
> > problem? Someone in an old post said "+ to + and - to -" but this
genhead
> > doesn't have any DC output (externally, anyway). Am I supposed to
connect
> > a
> > 12 volt battery to the AC output while it is running? Is 12 volts too
> > much?
> > Does it matter if I connect positive to hot or neutral? What can I screw
> > up
> > if I connect it wrong or use too much voltage? The instructions that
came
> > with the generator head only said to connect a battery but didn't say
> > where.
> >
> > Also, just in case that is not the problem, should I be able to test the
> > diodes on the rotor while they are connected? I think they may be open
> > but
> > I have a bad test lead (loose connection) on my ohmmeter (on my way to
fix
> > it now) so they showed "open" on my initial test. My Harbor Fright
> > cheapie
> > digital multimeter showed open too. My decent quality multimeter is
> > stuck.
> > Would open diodes cause my lack of power problem and the voltage still
be
> > OK?
> >
> Doesn't really sound like a loss of excitation. Troubleshooting 101:
Undo
> the last thing you did (tied the neutral) and see if any of the outlets
come
> back to life. Maybe the previous owner cut it for this reason.
It was on another generator head (the one being replaced). I have an
identical gen head and neutral was tied on it and everything worked fine
with the borrowed end cap.
> If that restores the other outlets, then we have somewhere to go. Perhaps
> the hot and neutrals are reversed somewhere, so 'tieing the neutral'
really
> just put a dead short across the two hots???
> daestrom
Well, if I did somehow short out the two hots would that likely fry the
diodes or the coils?
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> worked great at first then suddenly it won't start any loads that it
easily
> started before. The voltage appears to be OK there just isn't any power.
> At first I could not get all three outlets to work at the same time (120,
> 120, and 240) then I discovered that the 120 volt outlet had been cut at
> neutral and the wiring diagram show neutral should be tied. I tied it and
> that's when my troubles began...
> How do I connect a battery to excite the field coil assuming this may be
the
> problem? Someone in an old post said "+ to + and - to -" but this genhead
> doesn't have any DC output (externally, anyway). Am I supposed to connect
a
> 12 volt battery to the AC output while it is running? Is 12 volts too
much?
> Does it matter if I connect positive to hot or neutral? What can I screw
up
> if I connect it wrong or use too much voltage? The instructions that came
> with the generator head only said to connect a battery but didn't say
where.
> Also, just in case that is not the problem, should I be able to test the
> diodes on the rotor while they are connected? I think they may be open
but
> I have a bad test lead (loose connection) on my ohmmeter (on my way to fix
> it now) so they showed "open" on my initial test. My Harbor Fright