Chargeverter problem

Sounds like the manufacturer of the gennys are padding their numbers.
If the gen is new(ish) I would complain to the seller and get it exchanged.
Prob. for another brand ^^.

400bird said:

You never reported actual readings of 37 amps. All the measurements previously were 15-18.4 amps.
You don't add the L1 and L2 amperage measurements, just like you don't add current measurements taken on DC + and DC -

At 18.5 amps you're at about 50% of rated load on the generator.

Did you adjust the voltage and frequency as the manufacturer previously recommended?

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Don’t know why I was trying to add both lines for amps. This is why I’m not an electrician.

Have not adjusted anything yet.

LydMekk said:

Sounds like the manufacturer of the gennys are padding their numbers.
If the gen is new(ish) I would complain to the seller and get it exchanged.
Prob. for another brand ^^.

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13 hours on it.

Jack Rabbit Off Grid said:

13 hours on it.

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Return it.
It's not living up to it rating.

You could do what I did this week to mine. I adjusted the hz unloaded to 63. And adjusted the voltage unloaded to 245. Now when it's loaded charging it sits right at 60 hz and 120 per leg dead on. She's happy now.

myles said:

You could do what I did this week to mine. I adjusted the hz unloaded to 63. And adjusted the voltage unloaded to 245. Now when it's loaded charging it sits right at 60 hz and 120 per leg dead on. She's happy now.

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On my list but don’t think it’s my problem.

timselectric said:

Return it.
It's not living up to it rating.

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With your guys help schooling on the electrical side I now believe it’s a fuel issue. While the generator is new the fuel supply components are not. They were left by a previous owner of another off grid property purchase I flipped a year ago or so. They were on an old 14k generator that was worn out smoked and didn’t run correctly. I now believe part of its problems are now part of my current problems. That whole system got replace by the current owner and I kept all the left overs.

I’m going to buy a new regulator And go though the whole fuel system and see what happens.

Thank you everyone that has been helping me. I will update this post soon as I get all the new fuel components replaced.

I had been thinking power factor, more VA load on inverter than wattage suggests. Except Chargeverter ought to be near 1.0 PF.

Fuel delivery sure could do it. My Bronco II was idling and driving on the streets just fine, but limited above a certain speed on the freeway. Replacing filter fixed it. With hose disconnected you should be able to see if it flows freely. Although if it has a pump, that needs to be operated or bypassed too. My trencher has an electric pump which was easy to replace.

Does the generator have gasoline and carburetor? Easy to bypass all components before that for testing.
Any part of air inlet and exhaust that are also remaining from previous setup?
If an engine gets tilted on its side during transport, oil can saturate air filter, blocking flow.

Has anyone measured Chargeverter AC input power factor for 240 vac and 120 vac operation?

Many generators' LED wattage readouts are actually VA, not true watts. Reading out true watts is more involved electronics and would generate more customer complaints of generator not providing its claimed wattage rating.

RCinFLA said:

Has anyone measured Chargeverter AC input power factor for 240 vac and 120 vac operation?

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It just so happens I use Iotawatt to monitor incoming AC from my Champion 100297 open frame generator -> EG4 Chargeverter. Iotawatt monitoring shows the PF.

Chargeverter set to 100a and during this run showing 99.8a -> 51.9v battery bank....


This iotawatt is showing PF 100% on generator AC input -> Chargerverter. It's ~150ft of 6awg wire from generator to Chargeverter.


Charging watts to the battery... Midnite Classic incoming PV + Batrium shunt showing overall watts to the battery....



5080w of charging / 5618.5w of generator input ~90% efficiency.

Note: Chargeverter display shows 51.9v and Batrium shows 51.28v. That's 51.9 * 99.8a = 5180w vs 51.28v * 99.8a = 5118w. It's about 10ft from Chargeverter to Batrium shunt / main buss - so it's more likely just differences in voltage measurements. In any case, it sure looks like the full 99.8a of charging is getting thru to the battery.

Problem solved.

Ordered a new regulator, got it swapped then test ran with the same problem. Changed out the fuel line from the regulator to the generator and bang! Runs perfect. Currently charging @95 amps. I haven’t bothered checking voltages and amps from the generator since it seams to work.

So I guess the line has some sort blockage. I’m just going to throw it away and buy new. This is what I get for being cheep. But I do like to reuse and recycle stuff whenever I can.

Thank you to everyone that schooled me on the electrical side.

Dave.

Awesome! Glad you got it fixed. I was just about to go off with carburetor diagnosing advice until you posted this, too. ?