Hi. I am brand new to the site and would like to know if anyone has had an issue with the Honda EX1000 generator putting out 180 volts at higher rpms. I had to turn down the idle (governor) screw to get it down to 125 volts from 180 volts. Is this normal or anything I should be worried about? Thanks.
Honda EX1000 Generator Putting Out 180 Volts
- Thread starter 1allisman
- Start date
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Rene T
Site Team
1allisman said:
Try another Volt Meter.
Oh, welcome to the forum.
muskoka guy
Well-known member
If another volt meter says the same voltage, could be your regulator is shot.
T
TonyDtorch
Guest
a dying battery in a volt meter will do that too.
taoshum
Well-known member
1allisman said:
load or no load? Try it with a cheap 100 watt bulb...
John From Detroit
Well-known member
Had to look it up but that is a traditional generator.. Now volt meters come in two flavors (AC volt meters that is) Peak reading and RMS.. So what is the difference? On a pure sine wave a peak reading meter reads 1.414 times the RMS voltage and generally then multiplies by .707 so as to display the RMS voltage. where as the RMS meter uses an intergreator to directly determine the RMS voltage.
What does that have to do with your readings?
Well. Generators fall into 3 categories
1: Traditional "Contractor" type generally "open frame" in these generators the motor generally runs at 3600 RPM so as to show 60 HZ on that frequency meter they put on your EX-1000
2: Larger generators like my ONAN where the motor runs at a fraction of 3600, 1800 in my case, I've seen some 1200 rpm models as well.
3: Inverter generators like the Honda EU 1000i where the motor speed has NOTHING to do with the output frequency, that is set by a rock (Piece of quartz) inside the inverter module.
IN reverse order:
The inverter generators produce power that is as clean as it gets.> Think a very good FLUTE type note (A flute is a sine wave, pure sine wave)
Low speed motor generators (LIke my Onan 5500 watt) also tend to produce fairly clean power (I once scoped mine to see how clean) Though not as good as the Pure Sine Wave Inverter, still very sweet.
3600 RPM direct drive generators (Generally smaller portables) can be downright nasty producing some serious voltage spikes... A PEAK READING meter can be fooled by those spikes.. Note that peak reading meters are less expensive than True RMS (I have both types on hand in the RV. some of the True RMS types carry price tags of 200 or more,,, not that I paid that much (Fire sale) but that's the sticker,, Peak reading.. Free at Harbor Freight from time to time) kind of "Cheaper".
A good test is a 60 watt or 100 watt now days incascedent light..
at 180 volts it will have a tendency to act like a flash builb.
But compare the light to what you see when you plug in to the hole in the wall at home.. Same light = same RMS voltage it is an RMS indicator
Lots brighter the voltmeter is telling the truth.
IN ANY CASE. Using that portable to run electronics.. Bad idea.
What does that have to do with your readings?
Well. Generators fall into 3 categories
1: Traditional "Contractor" type generally "open frame" in these generators the motor generally runs at 3600 RPM so as to show 60 HZ on that frequency meter they put on your EX-1000
2: Larger generators like my ONAN where the motor runs at a fraction of 3600, 1800 in my case, I've seen some 1200 rpm models as well.
3: Inverter generators like the Honda EU 1000i where the motor speed has NOTHING to do with the output frequency, that is set by a rock (Piece of quartz) inside the inverter module.
IN reverse order:
The inverter generators produce power that is as clean as it gets.> Think a very good FLUTE type note (A flute is a sine wave, pure sine wave)
Low speed motor generators (LIke my Onan 5500 watt) also tend to produce fairly clean power (I once scoped mine to see how clean) Though not as good as the Pure Sine Wave Inverter, still very sweet.
3600 RPM direct drive generators (Generally smaller portables) can be downright nasty producing some serious voltage spikes... A PEAK READING meter can be fooled by those spikes.. Note that peak reading meters are less expensive than True RMS (I have both types on hand in the RV. some of the True RMS types carry price tags of 200 or more,,, not that I paid that much (Fire sale) but that's the sticker,, Peak reading.. Free at Harbor Freight from time to time) kind of "Cheaper".
A good test is a 60 watt or 100 watt now days incascedent light..
at 180 volts it will have a tendency to act like a flash builb.
But compare the light to what you see when you plug in to the hole in the wall at home.. Same light = same RMS voltage it is an RMS indicator
Lots brighter the voltmeter is telling the truth.
IN ANY CASE. Using that portable to run electronics.. Bad idea.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
Assuming your meter is accurate (see comments by others), yes that is a problem, and a severe one too! 180v will damage any US standard appliance plugged into it, so DON'T!
The voltage and frequency of the power from a standard mechanical generator like the EX1000 is determined by the engine RPMs. 3600 rpms is typical for this sort of genset, but some models run at another speed. There is a built-in monitor/regulator that adjusts engine power to maintain a constant rpm value that will produce 120v under load. It should stay within a several volts of that target at all times, load or no load. It sounds as though your regulator has failed or the linkage to the engine throttle has jammed.
The voltage and frequency of the power from a standard mechanical generator like the EX1000 is determined by the engine RPMs. 3600 rpms is typical for this sort of genset, but some models run at another speed. There is a built-in monitor/regulator that adjusts engine power to maintain a constant rpm value that will produce 120v under load. It should stay within a several volts of that target at all times, load or no load. It sounds as though your regulator has failed or the linkage to the engine throttle has jammed.
Thanks for all the good info. After turning down the engine speed with the governor screw, I got it to 125 volts. I then plugged my skill saw in and tried that. Voltage dropped to 98 volts then returned to 120 volts with the saw running. I like the light bulb test. I will do that next.
Gary RV_Wizard
Site Team
The saw is an excellent test, providing a major load and then leveling off (except if actually sawing something). If the voltage returned to the proper level (125 is borderline high) with the load on, the regulator and governor must have worked, to a degree at least.
Are you sure nobody mucked with the adjustments before?
Are you sure nobody mucked with the adjustments before?
captaindomon
Well-known member
I had this happen with a generator as well, one that fed through my house through a manual transfer switch. Blew out a bunch of LED light bulbs and some other stuff, including the power control on the furnace. Not fun.
Anyhoo, with me the problem was that the wires connecting the windings to the outlet on the generator were not connected to the windings correctly. Because of the way most non-inverter generators work, they provide two 120v legs-to-neutral with opposite frequency polarity, with 240v across the hots of the legs. If they are not connected correctly, one of the legs will be like 180 v and one will be like 80 volt or similar. An electrician friend helped me to diagnose the problem.
So you might want to double-check that, because you might be mis-wired and pulling the governor way down too low because you have a windings issue. Good luck!
Anyhoo, with me the problem was that the wires connecting the windings to the outlet on the generator were not connected to the windings correctly. Because of the way most non-inverter generators work, they provide two 120v legs-to-neutral with opposite frequency polarity, with 240v across the hots of the legs. If they are not connected correctly, one of the legs will be like 180 v and one will be like 80 volt or similar. An electrician friend helped me to diagnose the problem.
So you might want to double-check that, because you might be mis-wired and pulling the governor way down too low because you have a windings issue. Good luck!
