# Truelife 8000 generator



## bear38

has anyone ever hear of a truelife 8000 generator and it has a tigmax motor??? I assume all generators are all basic the same,,,,The generator starts no problem , but it doesn't produce any power, where would I start looking for a problem????


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## paulr44

Never heard of it, but all generators work on the same principal - a magnet, a field, and one of them has to rotate. If it's been sitting a long time, the rotor may have lost it's "residual magnetism." Many units require approx. 6 volts be produced for the unit to self-sustain and grow (produce more power) from there. Some units use battery power, or a bleed from the engine's ignition to excite the rotor. Now you get to the tough part of working on an unfamiliar unit - having schematics is helpful.

SIMPLE TEST: I would suggest you manually excite the generator, using a simple backfeed. Plug an electric drill into one of it's outlets, start the unit and twist the chuck repeatedly, trying to spin it as fast as you can. This will send a current back into the unit, possibly exciting it. If you read other posts about gens, you'll learn you can put 12vdc into the brushes (MUST have wires disconnected - some gen sets send 120 volts to the rotor (well over "saturation voltage), SHOULD know which is positive or negative), and if it makes power let it run awhile to build up the residual magnetism in the rotor. When you apply 12vdc to the brushes, you should see about 60vac from the outlets - this is normal as 12volts isn't enough to saturate the rotor.


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## bear38

well now , that is interesting, never heard of that,,,,maybe i will give you more info,,,,I was using it the run an air compressor , worked great for a couple of days, then the idle didn't increase when the compressor came on,,I found a spring off,thought that was the problem , replaces the spring,,didn't do anything ,ran for awhile,,,then it kicked the breaker where the compressor was plugged in...when it idled it was only giving around 90v. then it just quit , no power at all. there is a in line fuse , checked still good..so it hasn't been sitting , but i'll try the drill thing,,, any other help would be appreciated,,,thxs


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## paulr44

If you're lucky, it may be as simple as servicing the brushes and slip rings. You may want to pull the brushes, check their contact area, and he slip-rings they ride on which need to be clean. The brushes may be worn and one may no longer be in proper contact with a slip ring. While you're in there, take an ohmmeter and check between the two slip rings with the brushes out - you should see typically about 0.1 to 1.5 ohms for most rotors. You should see NO continuity between the slip rings and ground.


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## billsmowers

check the diodes and capaciter had a simular problem with a honda generator which as the diodes

hope this wll help


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## bear38

not to sound dum but where diodes and capaciter ????


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## paulr44

bear38 said:


> not to sound dum but where diodes and capaciter ????


Again, not being familiar with the brand, can't tell you for sure. If it has one, it could be under the cover by the brushes, or could be in the control panel. Capacitors are USUALLY cylindrical. NOT ALL generators have them - it depends if it uses an in-line voltage regulator, or a reactive type. If it has one, to test it you'd need a meter that can read farads. The caps as we call them, usually have a farad, or micro-farad value on them so you know what to expect when testing.

Not all units have diodes you can test - if it has a voltage regulator they're usually built into it. A regulator is a fancy name that when I did generator training, I called it a "controlled rectifier" to help people understand what it really does. Generac actually separated the control module from the diode block on some units to lessen the cost of repair as the diodes are often what fails from heavy use or overloading conditions.

If you can access the brushes with the unit running, you can test DC input voltage at them with a VOM. But please, if there's a fan near that end of the rotor (rare), keep your fingers. Connect jumpers to the brush connections and the VOM to the jumpers before starting the unit. You should see at least 18 to 24 vdc.

Some portable units don't even have brushes (very few brands / models), so without being familiar with Truelife, I can't be sure. As I said - schematics are very helpful - kinda like having a blueprints for a building when you need to find a pipe or wire behind a wall.


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## tom tilson

Paulr44 has pretty well covered all aspects that I know of. As a last effort, if you don't have her running yet, try this: 
Using a piece of lamp cord long enought to reach from the nearest 120vac receptacle and the generator 120vac receptacle, attach a male plug to both ends. Separate the conductors in a way that you can cut into one of them and install a standard lamp socket. Screw in a 75 to 100 watt bulb. Pull the spark plug. plug the two ends into the receptacle and pull the starter rope seven times. If an electric start, crank it over about the same number of turns. Unplug the cord Install the plug and crank the engine. If this does not work, you probably have circuit problems and would i need a schematic diagram and some generator theory to continue.
Hope this helps, please let us know. Tom


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