Re-Energize Dead Generator

[techguy2]

Does anyone know how to safely re-energize a dead generator?

I have an old brush type coleman generator. This is from 2000 or so and has about 4 hrs total on it. I received it from a family member who moved out of his home to a retirement type apartment complex. The generator was bought for y2k and had not been run since... but the gas was still in it.

I managed to get the motor running rather nicely, but it is producing no power. Checked the brushes and wiring, all looks good.

I know these types of genheads have a tendency to demagnetize and must be re-energized in order to work. The internet recipes i have found involve hooking the thing to household current while it is running utilzing a double male cord... I would rather NOT to try this if I can find a better way.

I have heard reference to a way to accomplish using 2 d cell batts directly to the brushes... sounds better than 120v house current.

Can anyone elaborate?

[Weatherman]

I have no experience with this problem, but I do have a suggestion. If you decide to try connecting the generator to 120 VAC, you should either do that through a fused circuit, or use a low wattage inverter to produce the AC so the power will be limited by the inverter. Good luck!

[Sturdly]

...To flash the field on a small home use generator, I was told to get an ext. cord & cut off the female end of it & strip the wires & connect the wires to a 12 volt car or lawn tractor battery, & plug the male end of the cord, into the 120 A.C. side of the generator.

I was told to make SURE that the black wire which is POS/HOT on an A.C. cord, gets connected to the RED/POS. side of the auto battery, & the white wire on A.C. cord gets connected to the BLK./NEG. side of the battery. If the ext. cord wires are not black & white, then the smaller prong of the plug is the POS./HOT

Plug the other end of the ext. cord into the generators 120 volt side & remove spark plug wire, & pull the starter cord 4-5 times, then remove the ext. cord, reconnect the spark plug wire, start the unit & plug something of 120 A.C. volts in to see if it works...

http://www.doityourself.com/forum/outdoor-gasoline-power-equipment-small-engines/188605-recharging-generator-field.html

[minimus]

The genny works on residual magnetism to excite itself. Re-magnetize the stator with 12 volts dc, just takes a couple taps/sparks to do it.

Pull the brush end bell housing off to see the stator commutator the brushes ride on. Polarity doesn't matter, just tap the jumper cables from a battery on it a couple times, it'll come back to life.

[Jimfrancisco]

Ask on Smokstak.com - if it needs flashed, they will know how.

[Fullpower]

Plug in a normal regular old power drill to generator.
start gen engine, hold down trigger of drill, give the drill chuck a sharp twist with your hand,
that should tickle the field widing on the the generator, which will immediately put out the normal 60 cycle ac, and the drill motor will immediately run at full speed.
( take care to keep small children, pets, and intoxicated persons away from the area, wear eye protection, hearing protection, and be very sure not to wear jewelry, dangling long sleeves,or allow your hair or genitals to become entangled in moving machinery.
. Only run or refuel generator outdoors, and away from flames, sparks or energized electrical equipment.
. Be alert to the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can result in head ache, lightheadedness, sleepiness, convulsions and death.
.No warranty exressed nor implied.
Your Mileage maty vary.
..Fullpower is not responsible for and accepts NO liability for incidental damage, accidental dismemberment, property loss due to fire, flood, earthquake,Tsunami, hurricane, typhoon, tornado, solar flares, asteroid or meteor strikes, falling objects, mold, mildew, poison gas, nuclear, biological or chemical agents or fallout,rebellion, insurrection, civil disturbance, war, currency manipulation, or law enforcement operations.

[techguy2]

Plug in a normal regular old power drill to generator.
start gen engine, hold down trigger of drill, give the drill chuck a sharp twist with your hand,
that should tickle the field widing on the the generator, which will immediately put out the normal 60 cycle ac, and the drill motor will immediately run at full speed.
( take care to keep small children, pets, and intoxicated persons away from the area, wear eye protection, hearing protection, and be very sure not to wear jewelry, dangling long sleeves,or allow your hair or genitals to become entangled in moving machinery.
. Only run or refuel generator outdoors, and away from flames, sparks or energized electrical equipment.
. Be alert to the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can result in head ache, lightheadedness, sleepiness, convulsions and death.
.No warranty exressed nor implied.
Your Mileage maty vary.
..Fullpower is not responsible for and accepts NO liability for incidental damage, accidental dismemberment, property loss due to fire, flood, earthquake,Tsunami, hurricane, typhoon, tornado, solar flares, asteroid or meteor strikes, falling objects, mold, mildew, poison gas, nuclear, biological or chemical agents or fallout,rebellion, insurrection, civil disturbance, war, currency manipulation, or law enforcement operations.

I did try that, but none of the drills I have will produce power like that... none of them are magnet based.

[Unca Walt]

Plug in a normal regular old power drill to generator.
start gen engine, hold down trigger of drill, give the drill chuck a sharp twist with your hand,
that should tickle the field widing on the the generator, which will immediately put out the normal 60 cycle ac, and the drill motor will immediately run at full speed.
( take care to keep small children, pets, and intoxicated persons away from the area, wear eye protection, hearing protection, and be very sure not to wear jewelry, dangling long sleeves,or allow your hair or genitals to become entangled in moving machinery.
. Only run or refuel generator outdoors, and away from flames, sparks or energized electrical equipment.
. Be alert to the effects of carbon monoxide poisoning, which can result in head ache, lightheadedness, sleepiness, convulsions and death.
.No warranty exressed nor implied.
Your Mileage maty vary.
..Fullpower is not responsible for and accepts NO liability for incidental damage, accidental dismemberment, property loss due to fire, flood, earthquake,Tsunami, hurricane, typhoon, tornado, solar flares, asteroid or meteor strikes, falling objects, mold, mildew, poison gas, nuclear, biological or chemical agents or fallout,rebellion, insurrection, civil disturbance, war, currency manipulation, or law enforcement operations.

BINGO! Give that man a gold star!

What a lostsa folks just dunno it that an electric motor turns into a generator if ya spins the electric motor. Efficiency is less than optimal but it works.

The POW's at the famous Colditz Castle had electricity to run their FOUR radios by running an electric motor with a big, man-powered belt/wheel setup.

[techguy2]

BINGO! Give that man a gold star!

What a lostsa folks just dunno it that an electric motor turns into a generator if ya spins the electric motor. Efficiency is less than optimal but it works.

The POW's at the famous Colditz Castle had electricity to run their FOUR radios by running an electric motor with a big, man-powered belt/wheel setup.


Only small electric motors that have permanent magents will do that. Most modern 120v ac motors will not generate power.

I tried all the drills I had, no love. Even spun them with a cordless with the corded drill hooked to a multimeter...no love.

[brewer]

This website offers 2 methods... www.endtimesreport.com.
For the corded drill method maybe use a cordless drill sharing the same drill bit to give that corded drill some extra spin or use a short length of paracord on the chuck like a pull start gas motor.
I've never had to use any of these methods.

[techguy2]

This website offers 2 methods... www.endtimesreport.com.
For the corded drill method maybe use a cordless drill sharing the same drill bit to give that corded drill some extra spin or use a short length of paracord on the chuck like a pull start gas motor.
I've never had to use any of these methods.

Posted above... tried it, didnt work.

[brewer]

Techguy, please let us know how you finally fix the problem.
I've got a gen for back-up short term power outages, a dead gen would be a huge PITA.
thanks

[minimus]

BTW ... to keep from having to re-magnetize the stator, next time shut down all loads before you shut off genny.

[techguy2]

BTW ... to keep from having to re-magnetize the stator, next time shut down all loads before you shut off genny.

I usually do, this one was given to me, and I dont have a gas generator, only diesel, so this is a nice backup.

[minimus]

Only small electric motors that have permanent magents will do that. Most modern 120v ac motors will not generate power.




Any plane old AC induction motor can be converted into a pure sign wave generator.

Just add enough motor run capacitors across the leads, the caps will excite the stator.

I took a 1 1/2 hp 115 volt belt drive motor, 3400 rpm, direct drove it from a 5 hp tiller engine, used 200 mfd of run capacitors across the motor leads and got 1500 watts out put at 120 vac.

It puts out a beautiful sign wave and cannot overload. If I load it up too much it robs voltage from the run caps and quits putting out power, as soon as I reduce load it re excites again.

That how you built a nice, self regulating, brushless generator. No circuit breakers, no fuses, no BS.

[techguy2]

Any plane old AC induction motor can be converted into a pure sign wave generator.

Just add enough motor run capacitors across the leads, the caps will excite the stator.

I took a 1 1/2 hp 115 volt belt drive motor, 3400 rpm, direct drove it from a 5 hp tiller engine, used 200 mfd of run capacitors across the motor leads and got 1500 watts out put at 120 vac.

It puts out a beautiful sign wave and cannot overload. If I load it up too much it robs voltage from the run caps and quits putting out power, as soon as I reduce load it re excites again.

That how you built a nice, self regulating, brushless generator. No circuit breakers, no fuses, no BS.

Sweet.... I'll have to give that a shot....here motor motor motor motor.....

[Jimfrancisco]

Did you try www.smokstak.com ? I can guarantee they'll get it up and running - half of them are ex-genny techs.

[Striker]

TechGuy,

If the Battery method does not work - then there is a good chance your start capacitor needs to be replaced (based on the age of the generator this is a good bet). Typically a pretty cheap thing to replace ($20 - $30). Just give coleman a call and order the part. I had to do the same with a couple of my generators over time. Again, this was the solution assuming exciting the field does not work. You might as well order a set of replacement brushes while your at it - though it may not be required assuming there is no corrosion but always good to have a proper spare if you intend to use this generator in the future.

Striker