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Jon Elson[_3_]

wrote:

So how do they get the good clean AC from these big generators?
Those big power house alternators have more slots in the stator. The
winding pattern is set up such that the middle of the magnetic pole has more
turns, due to ovelapping sets of coils, than the ends of the pole. This
creates the proper wave shape. Smaller alternators can't have as many
slots, and thus separate coils, so the induced waveform has some "jumps" anf
"flat spots" in it.

Until the voltage regulator failed on my generator it ran my stuff
at home just fine. The fridge, freezer, lights, phone and router. I
didn't try any computers. So maybe I don't need to even consider
filtering the generator output.
Right, the inductance of typical motors smooths out the small imperfections
in the voltage wavem and you pretty much get a sine-wave current.
But I do see a lot of generators that advertise "pure sine wave
output" from an inverter that is part of the generator electronics. So
maybe a pure sine wave is important for some electric or electronic
stuff. Clocks for example.
Well, some inverter generators produce horrible square waves or stepped
approximations of sine waves, that might cause problems for a variety of
equipment.

Running clocks off the typical generator will be a waste of time, the
frequency control will be awful.

Jon