Champion Generator

[tom3]

Might work for a inverter machine, not for a standard generator I think. Need to maintain near 60 hz output at near rated voltage, would require a constant rpm at varying load.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Finally getting back around to this generator. I've been watching a few video's of bypassing the governor with a direct throttle cable. The procedures on this, looks pretty simple. Just wondering if anyone else has done this?
This gen will be used only for power outages. Once the necessities get plugged in, they won't change much (except for the fridge compressor). So setting the throttle to a good RPM should be ok. Right?

Won't work
The output of the generator must be matched fairly closely to the demand put on it .
When the fridge is not working you will be over generating so unless you have a system to burn off the excess power the generator will short internally & burn up.
The actual power grid uses massive resistance heating coils inside the water supply of the power stations to balance the grid becaue they must always have excess power on hand to compensate for things being switched on & off.
Small gen sets do the same by varying the output to match the demand as close as possible.
This is the big problem with roof top solar and the real reason why electricity grid owners hate them.

 

[PTmowerMech]

Won't work
The output of the generator must be matched fairly closely to the demand put on it .
When the fridge is not working you will be over generating so unless you have a system to burn off the excess power the generator will short internally & burn up.
The actual power grid uses massive resistance heating coils inside the water supply of the power stations to balance the grid becaue they must always have excess power on hand to compensate for things being switched on & off.
Small gen sets do the same by varying the output to match the demand as close as possible.
This is the big problem with roof top solar and the real reason why electricity grid owners hate them.

I understand.

The solar example made me think about why it's important to send power back through the meter (into the grid). Not just to get a reduction on your electric bill. But more importantly, a place to put the extra electricity.

 

[bertsmobile1]

Things with motors in them like old style fridges, freezers washing machines etc can handle it but anything with an IC board can not.
So modern "smart" machines tend to fry the control circuits which is why you store the DC in batteries then use an inverter to convert the DC back into AC which seems really stupid when you first look at it.
I am about to rewire the house either 6 or 12 Volt DC and use auto LEDs for all the lighting direct off the batteries.

 

[PTmowerMech]

Things with motors in them like old style fridges, freezers washing machines etc can handle it but anything with an IC board can not.
So modern "smart" machines tend to fry the control circuits which is why you store the DC in batteries then use an inverter to convert the DC back into AC which seems really stupid when you first look at it.
I am about to rewire the house either 6 or 12 Volt DC and use auto LEDs for all the lighting direct off the batteries.

We've started changing all our bulbs to LED's. But using the same wiring.

Turns out, changing all the old tube type shop lights to LED is easy peasy. Just remove the bulbs and ballast. Install the LED stips. Attach the wires, and you're done. Takes like 5 minutes per fixture.

 

[bertsmobile1]

And the next step is disconnecting the lights circuit at the fuse box, double checking that it is really isolated, both power & ground then joining the power and ground wires to a battery.
An old mower battery will run my lights for nearly a week.
Because the LED lights are just drawing a few milliamps, the old AC switches are fine.
When just using the replacement bulbs you are using about 10 times the power per light as the "globe" has to have some sort of AC-DC converter then a resistor or 3 & a heatsink
So you are buring up power ( a small amount ) to heat your house via the heat generated by the globe.
No where near as much as an old incandesent globe but it is still wasting power which you are paying for.
Using DC fittings means I use the same DC power as the solar cell generates, no conversions so no power losses .
I started doing this to use LED globes I bought for motorcycles that were not successful in opperation .
Then a while latter it became apparent I could use these for the whole house.
So right now I have battery lighting in both the house & workshop.
Then there are 3 generators that I have acquired over the years that were originally kept for spare parts that got rebuilt .
One powers the computers , one powers the fridges & freezer and the other is for workshop tools.
Run like this for a week following a lightning strike that blew the fuse box ,'

 

[PTmowerMech]

I probably should be bringing this all back up. But I didn't have the washers, C clamp, governor all in the right order. So It fried another gov. Took it apart again today and I think I have a little better idea about how all this is supposed to work, now.
The governor stays in place with the small clip, a washer, then the slider. The gov arm doesn't move too much because the springs that go to the throttle plate and the low idle, keep the flat spot on the arm against the slider.

It's possible that the slider came off while I was assembling everything together and didn't put any springs from the linkage until towards the end of assembly.

 

[PTmowerMech]

UPDATE on this long draw out project. Basically, the little clip on the governor shaft was on the wrong side of the cup (weight holder). But, thanks to you guys, and some good links to detailed images, I got this Governor thing worked out.

Couple of things left to figure out.

Any time I plug something into it, it starts surging. But, all I have to do, is hold the governor arm in place for a second, and it stop. But when I turn off or unplug what's plugged into it, it starts surging again. So, I hold the gov. arm in place and it stops.
Note: When the engine surges, the grinder I have plugged into it, doesn't. It keeps the same rpms.

 

[ILENGINE]

Sounds like governor hop due to over sensitivity. Is there more than one hole in the governor arm that will accept the spring. May need to make a position change to reduce sensitivity.

 

[PTmowerMech]

Sounds like governor hop due to over sensitivity. Is there more than one hole in the governor arm that will accept the spring. May need to make a position change to reduce sensitivity.

You hit the nail right on the head. Thanks man. This darn thing is done.
Other crap that got fixed on this:
New fuel tank, rebuilt carb, cleaned and tightened the 110 plug. It was corroded, and so loose that anything you plugged into it, would just fall out in like 5 seconds.
Repaired the mounts. recoil, Air filter housing, Still got got get a new oil sending unit.

I'm glad to be done with this. More more glad of the knowledge I got from this project.

Thanks again for everyone's advice and links.