Voltage Adjustments on Honda ES6500

 

Our #2  Honda ES6500 was measured today with a voltage of 109-110
under load.

That seems low to us, but the unit has an AVR - Automatic Voltage
Regulator - which we can't adjust.

The number 1 unit was started for comparison and registered 119 volts -
with no load.

We were hypothesizing that we would be better off with both no load and
load voltage values about 9 volts higher.

2 questions -
Are these voltages significantly low?
Is there any way to "convince" the AVR to raise the voltage targets by
5- 10 volts?

Thanks much!
Phil

 

: Our #2  Honda ES6500 was measured today with a voltage of
109-110
: under load.
:
: That seems low to us, but the unit has an AVR - Automatic
Voltage
: Regulator - which we can't adjust.
:
: The number 1 unit was started for comparison and registered 119
volts -
: with no load.
:
: We were hypothesizing that we would be better off with both no
load and
: load voltage values about 9 volts higher.
:
: 2 questions -
: Are these voltages significantly low?
: Is there any way to "convince" the AVR to raise the voltage
targets by
: 5- 10 volts?
:
: Thanks much!
: Phil
:
I don't know anything about the Honda group, but I will say those
voltages are fine and certainly well within spec.
   Measuring no-load voltages isn't recommended - It's a pretty
meaningless figure.
   Since you didn't measure loaded voltage on both units, you
don't even have a good comparison.
   Depending on WHAT load you mean by "under load", those
voltages are perfectly fine and well within limits.  I think you
need to do a better comparison and know what the loads are during
the comparison so they can be made equal - apples and apples.
Else you're not getting usable data.

HTH,
Pop

 

Pop -
What would you consider to be "below limits?"
Thanks
phil

 


: Pop -
: What would you consider to be "below limits?"
: Thanks
: phil
:

Well, the "normal" range for grid voltage into a residence is
105 - 126V ac.  Depending on where you are on a grid, the
nominals they shoot for are 110, 115, 120 and 122Vac. 105Vac is
where "brownout" conditions begin to arise and motors/lighting
begins to have problems and it's usually considered to be the
absolute lowest the grid should ever be allowed to get to and
then only for short periods of time.
   In the Sioux Falls S.D area once we were troubleshooting some
product problems and found the line voltages, depending on the
condition of the facilities, ranged from a low of 95Vac, steady
state, which most places would consider to be in brownout, and as
high as 135Vac in some other places, another unacceptable number
for steady .
   I just assume the range to shoot for is the grid specs since
that's what everything is designed to run on, and ideally that's
109 to 126V with a genset.

 


Thanks -
So the 109 that we are seeing under load sounds like the just about the
bottom.

If possible, I'd like to raise it by 5-10 volts - to be more centered
in the acceptable range.

Does anyone have any thoughts on how to do that with an AVR?

I was wondering if there was a way to put a resistance in the line that
feeds the AC to the AVR to try to "trick" it into thinking the voltage
was a little lower than it actually is - thereby inducing the AVR to
"bump it up a notch (tm)"...

Thanks
phil

Pop wrote: