I installed a transfer switch to hook up a powermate generator to a house and it blew out some surge protecters etc. , I checked the gen voltage and found it to be over 300 hot to hot , I got a new regulator and put it in and when taking out the old one I foumd the positive red wire had been pinched under the screw that holds the brushes on , could that have ruined something else on the generator , even after I put the new voltage regulator on it is showing between 272 and 289 volts . what else could be wrong with generator ,it is a year out of warranty but barely used . Thanks
hotwire, the measurements that you took...is that supposed to read 240 volts?
If so, you might check what rpm the motor is running at. I believe you will want 3,600 rpm, unless it is an inverter generator, which I don't think it is. I'm not familiar with a powermate, but we do have three generators here which we use as backup power as we are on solar.
If you haven't had the problem until recently, it seems very odd that you didn't given that the hot wire seemed to be grounded. You would think that would blow a breaker in the machine.
If you still have the original manual for the machine, you could check the wiring diagram as well.
If the motor is running too quickly, I believe it will generate higher voltage. Not only that, but the cycles - which you want to read as 60 - will also be out of whack.
Perhaps one of our good electrical guys can chime in with better assistance.
Unless there is a substancial load on the genny the output is bound to be high.
You cannot measure accurately with no or little load.
Put at least 50% capacity on load then measure.
It will still be a little high, but not 300v.
The output voltage depends on load and speed.
A couple of things crossed my mind about your problem last night...
If you check the hertz, and if that is high, it indicates the motor is running too quickly. Just back the speed down until it reads 60.
Another thing would be to check the voltage on each leg, i.e. ground to red, ground to black. They should be the same and hopefully 120.
We have 3 Honda generators here, two are inverters the third the old fashioned 3,600 rpm type. All of them read 120 volts + or - 1. The high speed type I did have to adjust to get the hertz at 60, but you don't need to do that with the inverter types, they are deadly accurate.
We also have a new brand X genny, it's strictly a backup, only puts out 120 - no 240 - and it reads right about 120 as well.
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