No Power Output - Will Flashing the Field Restore Power?
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 2 ส.ค. 2023
- I recently acquired a couple generators that do not make power. Both power heads test well. Could the bridge rectifier be bad? Has the residual magnetism been lost? Lets flash the field and find out.
I use Harbor Freight Super Heavy Duty Degreaser in my ultrasonic cleaner www.harborfreight.com/1-gallo...
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Alternator, Bad Diode, Bridge Rectifier, Briggs and Stratton, Carburetor Cleaning, Diode Test, Fixed, Flash the Field, Generator, Hertz, How To, How-To, Insulation Test, Load Test, No Output, No Power, Oscilloscope, Repair, Residual Magnetism, Resistance, Running on Choke, Sine Wave, Small Engine, Storm Responder, THD, Total Harmonic Distortion, Troubleshooting, Troy-Bilt Generator, Wiring Fault - แนวปฏิบัติและการใช้ชีวิต
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What if you get a battery drill and hook it up to your electric drill to flash your stater ,it will turn a lot faster then by your hand,?
Great video. A lot of creators are afraid of making longer videos. But if the content is there and good, it doesn’t matter. Thanks for the countless hours of entertainment.
Absolutely agree that I love the longer videos as well. But I believe others don't make longer videos only because they only do enough to get monetized. And thats sad. Many have these complex issues that they are investigating and the resulting video is less than 15 minutes. None of their videos go any longer. That is a created that simply wants to monetize a video- no other focus. James is definitely not that guy.
Agreed!! I see the length of his videos and say.. "omg ... These are long.." only to realize I just sat and watched the whole thing 😂
The most stark contrast of someone who knows what they are doing and finding out that others are guessing. Great video as usual!
Owners of EVERY small engine need to have the voice of my father in their head....... "Whenever you fuel your small engine, Check the oil level"....... and "When you take your engine from storage, check the oil before starting it."
Once we borrowed a generator for a few days from a gent across town who did NOT have power issues at his home. Each time I re-fueled the tank... I topped the oil if it was possible... and when the power was returned, I did an oil change on his generator, using good quality HD30. I sincerely hope he was satisfied that I respected his equipment.
Next time try your cordless drill to the corded drill with the pull handle ratcheted adapter and you might get enough speed to flash successfully. Just a thought. Great job! It’s always good to get a cat scan for a proper diagnosis! Thanks Jim!!!
Yes on another person's video, (themaritimegirl in Canada?), I seen they had a battery electric drill connected chuck to chuck to a corded drill, with a piece of dowel or something similar joining the chucks. They had to keep the battery electric drill, spinning the corded drill at a full speed for about 30 or 45 seconds continuously, before the generator suddenly burst into making full power, and was good from then on. I'll try to include a link here. Start at the 10 minute mark... th-cam.com/video/yvMF82r8AU8/w-d-xo.html
Somebody may have already said this, but remove all other loads while you're doing that. Otherwise, the other loads are stealing power from spinning the drill instead of all of it going to flash the rotor. You still need some indication whether your efforts are working or not, so maybe hook up a low power LED bulb, or a voltmeter.
Edit: just realized that if you're successful, the corded drill will spin on its own. Duh...
Not many ppl or even techs understand that negative flows to positive. Thank you for getting everyone thinking about this.
That back, knee, foot and ankle saver lift is a great addition
Two generators on one video. Extra goodness. Thanks.
Yet another great Thursday deep dive into faultless generator repairs and fault diagnostics
It is one of the best youtube channels and a voice that would be great for podcasts and audio books
Let’s be honest…lack of an oil sensor DOES NOT kill these machines. Owner’s failing to check the oil level is what kills them. Oil sensor is nice, but unless there is other catastrophic failure that immediately depletes the oil (in which case you have larger problems), an oil sensor will only save a complacent owner who never checks the oil.
Thanks for being honest.
Any engines have gas sens..? oh, yeah, the gas gauge!
I’ve seen that many times, those oil sensors are unreliable.
Ever trust the oil sensor, first off it only tells you when your oil is low if it's even reliable, second it doesn't tell you how dirty your oil is. I have a champion 4500 and a pulsar 3500 generator that I run every day for a test 8 hours or more very day. I've had the champion for 5 years and the only problem I have had with it was I had to change the brushes on it,which is a cheap part you can get a 10 part for like 6 or 7 dollars on line and it's a 5 min fix, and I had to clean the carburetor out once. With the pulsar the only problem I've ever had with that is the plastic choke level snapped off because I was using it in -10 degrees Fahrenheit. And I think that the plastic was just too brittle because of how cold it was. But other than that I have never had a single problem with either generator and I use them on a daily basis running them pretty much all day. And still to this day after owning the champion for 5 years and the pulsar for 4 years they still run like the day I bought them off the shelf. Maintaining your engine no matter what it is whether it be a generator a lawn mower or a car or any other machine, goes along way e en with cheaper products. Well at least when it comes to generators. I know people are going to laugh when I say this but I love champion generators and I love pulsar generators because they have never let me down and the parts for them are so dang cheap. And as long as you keep up with the maintenance they will never let you down. Oh and in case anybody wonders why I have to run my generators for a minimum of 8 hours every day it's because I live off grid, I built my own house I can't stand having neighbors I can't stand homeowners associations telling me how I should live I like being able to shoot my guns when I want wherever I want. And what do I do for power for the rest of the day and night when I need electricity and I'm not running my generators well I went to a junkyard and bought the batteries out of four different Teslas and I use my generators to charge the Tesla's batteries so that way I will have power when I'm not running my generators and yes I do have solar panels but it takes a lot of energy to power up the amount of Tesla batteries that I have. Oh and for the ones that are going to be critical about my comments just to let everybody know I just bought the Tesla batteries about 2 months ago and now that I got everything set up no I have not had to run my generators every day. Four cars worth of Tesla batteries will run my house for 3 or 4 days but I do not like to run the batteries until they are completely drained.
As always, James, you turn nothing into something useful for someone else.
Your knowledge and information about genorators makes it very useful for those who still DYI our own repairs.
A two-fer! Thanks Jim, I have always wanted to understand about "flashing the field".
Thank you for the video. It contain good tips. Here's another for you. You can improve your chances with the 120 VAC power drill and save your wrist at the same time. If you have another power drill couple the two of them with a short length of 1/4" dia rod or a bolt with its head cut off. Not having a second drill you can still make the task easier with one shank-less bolt, 2 fender washers and 2 nuts.
(1) Slide the first fender washer on the bolt till it seats on the head of the bolt.
(2) Thread the first nut down tight against the first fender washer. This becomes a spacer.
(3) Slide the second fender washer down until it seats on the first nut.
(4) Thread the second nut down tight against the second fender washer.
Now you can wined a short cord between the two washers and PULL!
BTW, nearly all of my power tools are mains powered but most shops I see today won't know what that cord is sticking out of your drill!
Wakodahatchee Chris
Like the bubble light action - need a small string of them - way cool 👍
Thank you for the explanation on how the rotor works. I never fully understood it before. I don't know why, but I am really fascinated by generators.
Agreed, fascinating how they stir up all those magic pixies.
I'm glad you were able to get a good video out of this. I definitely didn't have the issue with the choke the last time it ran, but I'm happy to see it running well and making power again. I'm looking forward to see what you find with the snowblower. Thanks again for these in depth videos.
I have the same but the craftsman version, 5600/8600 had it since the 2008 ice/ snow storm here in Massachusetts and I keep it maintained with oil and TruFuel when put away in the summer.
I can pull it out and 2nd pull it’s running. Not a bad generator especially after multiple times needed and 15 years later it’s running fine
James, a very professional and very reliable way to demagnetize the armature is applying alternating current, but in a decreasing way, using a PTC in series with the collector. This way, as the PTC heats up, the current through the armature gradually reduces.
Why would a person want to demagnetize an armature? Not trying to be a smart a*s, just wondering.
You want the armature slightly magnetized but the stator should be demagnetized periodically. Normal operation tends to do this on its own.
A nice addition to your collection of tools (maybe you already have one), would be a gauss meter, since you're working on a LOT of generators! If you get a "high definition" one (though they are somewhat pricey), you could measure the residual magnetism and do even further, and deeper diagnostics ;)
I don't have one. Might be a good tool to add.
@@maruiacancerc Look at the cancer research on turkey tail mushroom
@@maruiacancerc I watched your video. You are a beautiful person and hope you make it through. My sister died at a young age from cancer. Wish the best for you.
The correct name for those lights is brooder lights, as they are commonly used in chicken pens to keep the birds warm at night.
Love your videos! I wonder if you would connect your wired electric drill chuck to your battery drill chuck, using a short piece of 1/4 or 3/8 rod. Then spin up the plugin drill with the battery drill to make a more constant voltage to flash the generator. Might be worth a try.
I came here to suggest the same thing just use a piece of small wood dowel in case it gets out of hand it’ll break I’d like to know if it would work
Got same idea.
I've had terrible luck re-flashing with a power drill by hand. I got the bright idea one time to wrap a long piece of pull cord around the chuck, and yank the cord away. That pull cord helped my drill to spin way faster and longer than I could by hand. It worked that time. Again, I'm in awe of your perseverance to get these generators going, so much more details than a lawnmower.
Thanks. I actually tried spinning the drill with another and still nothing. As someone pointed out a drill is a universal motor and not great for flashing the field. Like a generator the rotor in the drill is an electro magnet. So only the residual magnetism is pushing a bit of power into the stator. Using a battery works much better.
The spark indicates (as stated by you) a high voltage being generated by the collapsing field when you disconnect. This "spark" voltage may be high enough to blow the diodes if you do the re-magnetization through the FBR, this is why people say do not do it this way. (You can of course connect to the output side of the bridge i.e. where the brushes connect, this would still risk the diodes but read on.) However, the blue button you see on the rectifier is probably a MOV (metal oxide varistor) which is normally very high resistance but becomes a very low resistance if the voltage exceeds a certain threshold. MOVs are surge protectors so they are there to protect the diodes from this high "spark" voltage. The reason you see no spark when you try to re-magnetize via the bridge is probably because the MOV is doing its job and killing the spark. BTW the spark voltage can also damage the insulation of the coil wires so it is probably better idea to always do re-magnetization with the MOV limiting the surge voltage.
Good point, thanks
@@jcondon1
hi James, I also have a concern about a rotor from a 2kw generator, I measured its resistance and it is quite low (12-13 ohm)...in your videos I noticed that it is usually between 40 and 70 ohm... and it has no ground connection.... the stator is new and in parameters (single-phase stator) ... and the problem is that it immediately destroys the avr... it burns after a maximum of 1 minute of use. Is the stator to blame in this case? Thank you!
@ James Condon
James, you shouldn't need a set of brushes without the bridge rectifier. Just replace or repair the bridge rectifier, then flash by connecting the 12vdc to the DC side of the bridge rectifier.
Great job as usual!
I believe you could flash the field without worrying about removing the built in diode. The diode pack would just act as reverse polarity protection in case you connected the battery backwards.
That was my thought too. However, it wouldn't have worked on the diode assembly that was present in the generator as some of those diodes were faulty.
James says in the video too that it works through the rectifier later on with the 2nd generator.
In fact, it doesn't act as reverse polarity protection, it actually makes sure that the correct polarity is applied no matter which way you connect the wires.
@@chrishartley1210thats called reverse polarity protection. Lol.
..so long as the diodes cope with the current...
@@MadmanJimbo No, reverse polarity protection just stops the current from flowing the wrong way. If it needs a name this could be called polarity correction.
Good fix. Great to know about residual magnetism.
I really enjoy your videos. I worked with DC motors for over 27 years and also generators and robotics servos.
I'm so glad that I found your channel again, I've really missed it. For some reason I wasn't getting any info no notifications from your channel at all and I been trying to remember what your name was to find you. I said earlier this morning around 3am, I wish I could remember what the generator guys channel is called and it just popped up for me a few seconds ago. Thanks Google for listening of me talking to myself again.
Another economical and effective repair ))
Sweet 2 for 1 Video nice swcond Generator sounds good 1:02:57 @James Condon
I don't understand 3/4 of what you did! And up until I stumbled upon your channel I had no interest in generators! But certainly make me into them! Thank you very much 🤗
Good to get another perspective.
I feel like I got thrown into my first day of my last semester of fixing a generator for the smart kids. But I love the great lengths of detail and passion he has for explaining every aspect of what he’s checking and his problem solving, very methodical and cost effective. Some people throw money at a problem. (Spray and Pray) but this guy doesn’t waste a penny, time maybe, but if I was a customer and it came back looking brand new, I’d pay more than whoever just threw parts at it until it was fixed. Great videos bro! Keep it up!❤
That was a good explanation of how the residual magnetism works
A tip regarding fuel lines, get the marine grade stuff. It's designed for harsh salt water environments. In my experience it holds up like 2-4 times on small engine equipment. It costs much more tho. But it's worth it in my opinion.
I loved the cat wandering through your shot.
I love that you took the time to explain how the residual magnetism in the rotor works. I have not so much as touched a generator in my life, and I binge your videos just because I love your methodical approach so much. I'm a software architect/engineer, and I feel we have a similar troubleshooting process
Hi James, another fine vid to go with lunch 🎉🎉
Great demonstration
Yeahhhhh it's 9pm on a Thursday for my weekly generator fix!
Hang on, which time zone are you in, person from the future?
@@guygillmore2970 see there's this thing called the international date line just west of Hawaii. 😁
I'm in Australia.
I have never seen carb mounting bolts be that difficult to get out before. It definitely looks like this machine was stored outdoors at some point for a significant period of time.
Yeah, guessing loctite. Or rtv. Someone with a sense of “humor”
I seen one last year that someone put loctite on
Hello James I’ve been enjoying your videos for years and never make it over 24 hours from your posts! Thank you for your clear methodical process. We need more knowledge in the world and in your small way “shine light” ❤
I've got the 5550 version of this same generator. Ran it many times for several days as we have freq outages. Been great generator for many years. Those gas caps get unreadable so quickly though. :)
Yes they do
James, you are awesome. You are an outstanding human being. I have learned so much from your channel. I am at a loss for words.
Thank you for taking the time to explain every little detail of every incremental step you take!
Tony Punch
Love the blue screen on that DVOM
The cat wants too help lol.I love the black kitty
“I actually have another rectifier from another unit I think is good.” Of course you do! Lol. Wondering what kind of inventory software you use. Hahaha. Love the videos James!
Excellent video - awesome explanation of how the field works too! Thanks for sharing!
You should try household ammonia for parts cleaner. You could add dishwashing liquid mixed with ammonia for oily stuff. I use ammonia to clean 6 figure jewelry. It works great in a sonic washer.
Again, beautiful! Thank-you! Very nice mid-video tutorial!
Your videos really help me had a storm responder with a bad govern, someone worked on it before me without telling me .After fixing it would just idle ,found spring on number 2 spot move to 5 spot working thanks to you . Got it apart and back together with your help. Only one thing you didn`t make the heavy sound when removing the coil or armature , they are heavy .
Great subject, excellent editing and explanations. Good job as always James. One of your best.
Fantastic information as always James, thank you for bringing us along!!
There are two welch plugs missing on the carburetor.
EDIT: Well I guess the missing welch plugs didn’t cause any issues with the carburetor. Great job. Love watching your videos. Keep up the great work.
When you said Rectifier first thing I thought of Was Big Clive channel Full Bridge Rectifier in Clives Voice 😂😂 @James Condon
Thanks for the education on the older gen models, this will be something I'll keep in mind next time I have one of these
Great video James. Always an excellent learning experience with your tutorials. Thanks for your work.
Great detail and description, thanks
Wow , now us viewers are learning ! I had heard about flashing the field some years ago but to be honest I really didn't know what it actually meant. Thanks for the great tutorial/ lesson- now we know !!
Thank you James. Always interesting fixes.
Thank you James for this combo video. I'm learning so much about the types of generators, their construction and possible issues. Making these shows is as much work as fixing the machines.
Many thanks for all your hard work. By the way I had to special order Evapo-Rust here in New Zealand, but because I lobbied our local Farmlands store will stock it.
It’s great stuff, but expensive here and probably twice as expensive in New Zealand.
@@jcondon1 Thanks James. 5L cost 55,- NZD in USD that is 32.50. In Europe for example it cost 55,-Euro.
Yes, expensive but my wire brush and machine don't fit thru the filler neck of the tank. 😂.
By the way, vinegar + two weeks did a very good initial cleanup for me.
Thanks again for all your work. Cheers Reiner
Thank you James‼️
Thank you for making this video:) I've just been working on a bridge rectifier generator. This video is very well done and very informative. Thanks again!
Got that same 3550, had it for 18 years now, always been a reliable machine.
Rusty generators - One thing i learnt living the sailors life, by adding sacrificial anodes one can can manage/mitigate metal oxidization e.g. steel = Nickel and for Aluminum castings = zinc.
Galvanic oxidation, often attributed to the electrolytic effect of seawater, extends beyond coastal environments and occurs wherever there's an exchange of irons in the presence of dissimilar metals or atmospheric electric circuits. Thus, it's not solely confined to sea or ocean locales. Galvanized electroplated metal coatings, often viewed as protective, are essentially an sacrificial anode coating, which will eventually oxidize into the ether, as we observe. They only temporarily mask the effects.
Generators, for instance, are not typically built around a galvanized support frame. This comment aims to expose this reality, hoping everyone might take the opportunity to protect their investment and prolong structural integrity and service life. This concept can be applied to cars, wheels, machinery, trailers, sheds-any type of metal structure.
The relentless migration of electrons and irons coerced away through coatings into the atmosphere resembles a form of energy storage, akin to a battery. This process mirrors a battery, with the Earth serving as a grounding or negative terminal. One could assume this is the reason we have vast naturally preserved metal resources/commodities stored underground and available for mining-the only reason why they exist at all.
To gain insight into the dynamics of metal interactions, one can refer to metal nobility tables. For instance, internal gearbox steel components inherently lose electron irons while simultaneously borrowing electrons from lesser noble metals. This exchange process could be facilitated by the presence of oil, which acts as an electrolyte transport system, especially from metals such as aluminum housings.
Initially, the sacrificial metal coatings, being of lesser nobility, would give up their electrons to the aluminum. This progression, from lesser to noble metals, appears somewhat unnatural, yet it adheres to the natural law of entropy. It's a fascinating interplay of material properties and chemical processes within mechanical systems.
RANDOM!: I just fixed my girfriends kitchen machine because of you! Dirt between bryskes and stator! Thank you, and love your expertise! Would love a deep tutorial on the electric parts on a generator. Like AVR, can you by other brands of AVR, and maby a drawing of when does current go through what part at which time! Im starting to understand generators and some parts, but not how😅 Thank you for teaching us!
I love your Explanations on How and why things work ,Your Channel reminds me of a program I used to watch as a Kid called Mr,Wizard his name was Don Herbert and he did similar things as you and used similar ways of teaching by demonstrating how things work I love your videos for this reason
Thanks James. 👍
Still learning at 64! Thanks for this info.
Man you helped me so much watching you work on the Carb. Surging back and forth on engines have drove me nuts and never thought of a vac lk from throttle linkage. AWESOME VIDEO. Thank you!!!
New subscriber..... This was a great informative and educational video !! Love that you can be a teacher and explain the steps!! Very thorough.. Appreciate this !
You can fill your ultrasonic cleaner with water but place your parts in a ziplock bag with water and degreaser. You’ll use 1/3 the amount of product. You can also use a glass jar.
Yes
Great video and I enjoyed your cat helper who showed up in some scenes!
As an electrical engineer Just food for thought. You can use an old TV CRT degausing Coil to magnetize the stator again if you have access to enamel magnet wire you can make your own
You really did an outstanding job, showing your work and explaining your thinking. A+++!
Excellent video I’m getting ready to throw my generators under load for 30 minutes. Got an exercise them if you want them to work when you need them.👍
Another great learning video James. I so enjoy watching your processes. I have learned many things from you but mostly how not to screw up like I would normally do. LOL
OMG awesome video,two saved generators
Amazing recoveries. Thanks for the demo on electromagnetism. That was a great tutorial.
Another great display of your genius. Great video. I learned allot from it. Well done!
Great job as always. I'm always learning something new.👍
Always fun to check your videos.
You often repair old generators . How they compare with new generation with inverter concerning efficiency ?
Because if the efficiency difference is greater than 25% , it could impact our decision to repair or buy new one.
Compare tests should be fun to add to your next videos.
coffee with JC never disappoints
Took two coffees and a muffin to get through this one Jim!
A 2 in 1 video, that's great both generators were an easy fix, just flashing the field and replacing the rectifier and carb clean on the first one. Very nice work!
Fun video! Thank you, very interesting for sure.
Jim, John Deere also uses that bushing on their gas tanks under the fender pan. A few engines of other makes use them on riding mowers, too, which you might already know.
Too bad this video wasn't out 3 days ago I just took my generator in for repair. Same issue as mine. I could have done it myself and saved $150 with your knowledge of course.
Very good! I did learn more 🙂 Wow, a 2 for 1 is sweet. Excellent job site generators.
Great fix James and content😊
cool stuff. thanks!
Most interesting! Thank-you!
Top job, James !
Good job buddy I learned a bunch. Thanks
The drill method works in some cases but it's actually easier to take either a 9-volt battery or a 6 volt lantern battery, 1 ohm 3-watt resistor, and a 1N4007 diode on the positive with the banded side toward the brush head. You can flash the brushes easier. The diode prevents voltage from feeding back into the battery and the resistor prevents the inductive spark from happening as it limits the current.
For brushless generators, an extension cord two prong with a momentary switch going to the capacitor leads you can re-excite those generators in that manner
Sounds like a good tool to build.
@@jcondon1 for sure! I keep the 1 ohm three-watt resistors on hand all the time because they are common in tube amplifiers when measuring the power tubes. I guess my music repair stuff also has applications for the small engine stuff too! 😁
Well done!
I was waiting for your next video and get two in one :-) Many thanks James
Excellent fix 👍
Very Well Made Repairs Video! Thanks 👍👍😁😎