Generator question - no power
 

Looking for generator repair advice...
I have a Winco 900-watt Tri-Fuel generator with about 320 hours on it for
home standby use. It's worked well for years - it easily powers everything
in the house except the central AC. During a power outage last night, after
it had been running for about five hours, I turned on the basement light
switch, the lights flashed momentarily and then went out. The only other
load in the basement is a dehumidifier that I always keep running when on
generator power as it helps stabilize the output. I then found that the
breaker for the basement had tripped. We've been in the house over 20 years
and I've never seen that breaker trip. I reset the breaker and then the
entire house went dark. The generator kept right on running with no
noticeable change in sound (i.e. it didn't sound like it was working harder
or easing up). I tried resetting the breakers on the generator, plugged a
light into the outlets on the generator panel - but nothing worked. I turned
it off for a while to see if maybe the problem was heat-related. Still no
luck. It starts up just fine but produces no power. It seems unlikely that
the problem would be a loss of residual magnetism. It gets exercised
regularly, and it was running for five hours when it failed. Does anyone
have any suggestions for things to look for?

btw: After the main power came on, I turned on the breaker for the basement
and everything functioned normally.

tia

Generator question - no power
 

On Aug 22, 6:15*pm, "Nick Danger" wrote:
Looking for generator repair advice...
I have a Winco 900-watt Tri-Fuel generator with about 320 hours on it for
home standby use. It's worked well for years - it easily powers everything
in the house except the central AC. During a power outage last night, after
it had been running for about five hours, I turned on the basement light
switch, the lights flashed momentarily and then went out. The only other
load in the basement is a dehumidifier that I always keep running when on
generator power as it helps stabilize the output. I then found that the
breaker for the basement had tripped. We've been in the house over 20 years
and I've never seen that breaker trip. I reset the breaker and then the
entire house went dark. The generator kept right on running with no
noticeable change in sound (i.e. it didn't sound like it was working harder
or easing up). I tried resetting the breakers on the generator, plugged a
light into the outlets on the generator panel - but nothing worked. I turned
it off for a while to see if maybe the problem was heat-related. Still no
luck. It starts up just fine but produces no power. It seems unlikely that
the problem would be a loss of residual magnetism. It gets exercised
regularly, and it was running for five hours when it failed. Does anyone
have any suggestions for things to look for?

btw: After the main power came on, I turned on the breaker for the basement
and everything functioned normally.

tia

alt.energy.homepower is where alot use and know generators

Generator question - no power
 

"Van Chocstraw" wrote in message
...
Nick Danger wrote:
Looking for generator repair advice...
I have a Winco 900-watt Tri-Fuel generator with about 320 hours on it for
home standby use. It's worked well for years - it easily powers
everything in the house except the central AC. During a power outage last
night, after it had been running for about five hours, I turned on the
basement light switch, the lights flashed momentarily and then went out.
The only other load in the basement is a dehumidifier that I always keep
running when on generator power as it helps stabilize the output. I then
found that the breaker for the basement had tripped. We've been in the
house over 20 years and I've never seen that breaker trip. I reset the
breaker and then the entire house went dark. The generator kept right on
running with no noticeable change in sound (i.e. it didn't sound like it
was working harder or easing up). I tried resetting the breakers on the
generator, plugged a light into the outlets on the generator panel - but
nothing worked. I turned it off for a while to see if maybe the problem
was heat-related. Still no luck. It starts up just fine but produces no
power. It seems unlikely that the problem would be a loss of residual
magnetism. It gets exercised regularly, and it was running for five hours
when it failed. Does anyone have any suggestions for things to look for?

btw: After the main power came on, I turned on the breaker for the
basement and everything functioned normally.

tia

Sounds like the utility power came on and fried your generator. Did you
have the MAINS off?


The generator is connected through a transfer switch - installed by licensed
electricians with town permit, inspection, etc. It is physically impossible
for mains power and generator power to get into the house wiring at the same
time. The mains power didn't come back on until 1.5 hours after the
generator died.

Also - I had a typo in my original post. The generator is 9000 watts, not
900.

Generator question - no power
 

"Nick Danger" wrote in
:


"Van Chocstraw" wrote in message
...
Nick Danger wrote:
Looking for generator repair advice...
I have a Winco 900-watt Tri-Fuel generator with about 320 hours on
it for home standby use. It's worked well for years - it easily
powers everything in the house except the central AC. During a power
outage last night, after it had been running for about five hours, I
turned on the basement light switch, the lights flashed momentarily
and then went out. The only other load in the basement is a
dehumidifier that I always keep running when on generator power as
it helps stabilize the output. I then found that the breaker for the
basement had tripped. We've been in the house over 20 years and I've
never seen that breaker trip. I reset the breaker and then the
entire house went dark. The generator kept right on running with no
noticeable change in sound (i.e. it didn't sound like it was working
harder or easing up). I tried resetting the breakers on the
generator, plugged a light into the outlets on the generator panel -
but nothing worked. I turned it off for a while to see if maybe the
problem was heat-related. Still no luck. It starts up just fine but
produces no power. It seems unlikely that the problem would be a
loss of residual magnetism. It gets exercised regularly, and it was
running for five hours when it failed. Does anyone have any
suggestions for things to look for?

btw: After the main power came on, I turned on the breaker for the
basement and everything functioned normally.

tia

Sounds like the utility power came on and fried your generator. Did
you have the MAINS off?


The generator is connected through a transfer switch - installed by
licensed electricians with town permit, inspection, etc. It is
physically impossible for mains power and generator power to get into
the house wiring at the same time. The mains power didn't come back on
until 1.5 hours after the generator died.

Also - I had a typo in my original post. The generator is 9000 watts,
not 900.



do the makers of your generator have a website,and does it have any service
data,FAQ,or other useful info?

--
Jim Yanik
jyanik
at
kua.net

Generator question - no power
 

On Aug 22, 6:15*pm, "Nick Danger" wrote:
Looking for generator repair advice...
I have a Winco 900-watt Tri-Fuel generator with about 320 hours on it for
home standby use. It's worked well for years - it easily powers everything
in the house except the central AC. During a power outage last night, after
it had been running for about five hours, I turned on the basement light
switch, the lights flashed momentarily and then went out. The only other
load in the basement is a dehumidifier that I always keep running when on
generator power as it helps stabilize the output. I then found that the
breaker for the basement had tripped. We've been in the house over 20 years
and I've never seen that breaker trip. I reset the breaker and then the
entire house went dark. The generator kept right on running with no
noticeable change in sound (i.e. it didn't sound like it was working harder
or easing up). I tried resetting the breakers on the generator, plugged a
light into the outlets on the generator panel - but nothing worked. I turned
it off for a while to see if maybe the problem was heat-related. Still no
luck. It starts up just fine but produces no power. It seems unlikely that
the problem would be a loss of residual magnetism. It gets exercised
regularly, and it was running for five hours when it failed. Does anyone
have any suggestions for things to look for?

btw: After the main power came on, I turned on the breaker for the basement
and everything functioned normally.

tia

Did you try plugging something directly into the unit or take a meter
and try to trace power, it could be simple like a wire came loose, are
generetor brushes ok.

Generator question - no power
 

Not much comes to mind. Plug something else into the
generator, and see if the genset is putting out power.

--
Christopher A. Young
Learn more about Jesus
www.lds.org
..


"Van Chocstraw" wrote in
message
...
Nick Danger wrote:
Looking for generator repair advice...
I have a Winco 900-watt Tri-Fuel generator with about 320
hours on it
for home standby use. It's worked well for years - it
easily powers
everything in the house except the central AC. During a
power outage
last night, after it had been running for about five
hours, I turned on
the basement light switch, the lights flashed momentarily
and then went
out. The only other load in the basement is a dehumidifier
that I always
keep running when on generator power as it helps stabilize
the output. I
then found that the breaker for the basement had tripped.
We've been in
the house over 20 years and I've never seen that breaker
trip. I reset
the breaker and then the entire house went dark. The
generator kept
right on running with no noticeable change in sound (i.e.
it didn't
sound like it was working harder or easing up). I tried
resetting the
breakers on the generator, plugged a light into the
outlets on the
generator panel - but nothing worked. I turned it off for
a while to see
if maybe the problem was heat-related. Still no luck. It
starts up just
fine but produces no power. It seems unlikely that the
problem would be
a loss of residual magnetism. It gets exercised regularly,
and it was
running for five hours when it failed. Does anyone have
any suggestions
for things to look for?

btw: After the main power came on, I turned on the breaker
for the
basement and everything functioned normally.

tia

Sounds like the utility power came on and fried your
generator. Did you
have the MAINS off?