# Ok heres my problem



## phillipmc (Jan 27, 2008)

Well 1 I live on east coast of North Carolina. So as you probably seen on the news about Hanna, Well anyways Im working on a 3500 Watt Generator. Its 1 that was given to me and i want to fix it so my sister and brother inlaw can use it during the storm. I got the engine running great. But the generator part will not produce current. I remember reading somewhere on how to re engergize something inside of it, but for the life of me cannot remember what. I have done several searches on this forum with no luck. Could someone be so kind as to tell me what to do or point me to the correct thread ? Thanks


----------



## 30yearTech (Sep 14, 2006)

*This may be the info you are looking for...*

This is a tip I copied from another site. It often restores power with conditions you describe. As an alternative to flashing a rotor winding with a battery applied to the brushes, an electric drill may be used.

Follow these steps to flash the generator:

* Plug the electric drill into the generator receptacle. (Cordless drills do not work)

* If the drill is reversible, move the direction switch to the forward position.

* Start the generator

CAUTION
Do not get your hand or other materials caught in the chuck. As soon as the field is excited, the generator will produce power and the drill will turn on.

* While depressing the trigger on the drill, spin the drill chuck in reverse direction. This will excite the field and the generator will now produce electricity. If spinning the chuck one direction does not work, try spinning the chuck in the other direction as you may have the reverse switch positioned backwards.

The reason this works is because the electric motor in the drill will act as a small generator when spun backwards. The magnets in the drill's motor induce a voltage into the motor windings, which is fed back through the trigger, cord and into the generators receptacle. From there it goes into the power winding of the stator. The voltage going through the power winding creates a magnetic field, which is intensified due to the iron core of the stator laminations. The rotor intersects this magnetic field as it is spun past the power winding, thus inducing a voltage in the rotor winding. Once current flow is present in the rotor winding the rotor has been flashed.

If flashing the field does not make the generator work, you may have additional problems, besides a lack of magnetism in the rotor. Further testing will be needed.


----------

