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Part Three Of Series: Understanding AC Generators

By George Stratton AC current. Some very
G.E. Jones Electric Co., Inc. dangerous conditions
Amarillo, Texas exist. There are rotating
Technical Education Committee Member things like fans and
belts on engines that
Editor’s Note: This is the third in a three-part can remove your ex-
series about AC generators. tremities in a heartbeat,
not to mention very
*** EASA hot parts. Also, on the
Okay, after reading the first two parts MEMBER other end of the gen-
of this series, you should know how an
AC generator functions. If you don’t, then
BENEFIT erator, the protective
covers may need to be removed in order to
I give up! Let’s get into troubleshooting. check things like voltage and frequency.
First things first. As we have covered, there are
several things that take place in order to generate Here’s a flowchart that might help:

Cautions! Component Testing Suggestions

• Dangerous voltage levels will be present at
open terminals. Rotating Exciter See the notes that follow
Machines this flowchart for generator
• Always use extreme care when working component testing hints.
around rotating electrical equipment!
Loose clothing and long hair can get caught
in the machinery and can cause severe injury!
Is there any AC voltage present
• We sincerely want all of you to grow old and at the output? We call this
residual voltage. It comes about
enjoy your grandbabies, so be careful! because of the unexcited,
residual magnetism of the
rotating field. It's what gets things
started.

Sometimes the residual magnetism of the rotating field and/or

There is a test setup that I recommend for troubleshooting the exciter is lost. It can be knocked out if the generator was
AC generators. You need a 120-volt, 10 amp variac dropped or jarred when being moved. Sometimes it goes
(variable transformer) and a diode bridge wired to the away when the generator is shut down while pulling a heavy
output. If the generator checks good (not grounded with the load. Sometimes it just goes away.
wye disconnected from ground) simply remove the exciter
field wires from the regulator. Attach them to the test setup
and start the prime mover. Now slowly turn up the variac
increasing the DC voltage to the exciter while monitoring Restore the
the AC amperage draw of the variac. If everything goes well Still won't gen
residual
you should be able to see the AC voltage rise to a normal magnetism.
level with a fairly small amount of excitation.

Volts come The "smoke's" not The variac must be turned very high in order to reach the desired voltage level.
up OK. all gone yet Be sure that you monitor the current being drawn. Ten amps are generally plenty
because all of a of current for most gensets. It's always a good idea to fuse the output.
sudden there is a lot
of it coming out of
Change the generator.
Check the Test the diode bridge Good If the exciter is a DC
the Good
regulator. exciter field. on the rotating generator check for
rectifier, if it's a brushes that are
Usually a shorted
Bad brushless exciter, for stuck in their holders
exciter rotor or a
a shorted diode(s). on the exciter comm
shorted AC stator.
Time to and the collector
Time to Sometimes you don't
replace the Bad rings ... especially if
replace the even need the variac.
"smoke." the genset has been
"smoke." Just start the Good
Rewind it. Replace the stored for a long
Rewind it. generator with the
defective diode(s). period of time.
regulator connected.

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Part Three Of Series: Understanding AC Generators . . . Continued From Page 1

Component Testing Suggestions (Continued from previous page)

The generator runs smooth

then shakes as the excitation
voltage is increased.

Start over ... you Check the main rotor. It Time to replace
missed something. Good could have one or more Bad the "smoke."
Or someone else did! shorted pole pieces. Rewind it.

Static Exciter
Machines

Again ... We're going to assume

that we all know that the prime
mover is moving.

No
Output

Is there any AC voltage present at

the output? We call this residual
voltage. It comes about because of
Yes the unexcited, residual, magnetism No
of the rotating field. It's what gets
things started.

Sometimes the residual magnetism of the rotating field

If the generator checks good (not grounded with the wye
disconnected from ground) remove the leads of the collector
rings. Attach test setup to the collector rings and start the
prime mover. Now slowly turn up the variac increasing the
DC voltage to the rotating field while monitoring the AC
amperage draw of the variac. If everything goes well you
should be able to see the AC voltage rise to a normal
level with a fairly small amount of excitation. Still won't gen
is lost. It can be knocked out if the generator was
dropped or jarred when being moved. Sometimes it
goes away when the generator is shut down while
pulling a heavy load. Sometimes it just goes away.
Restore the
residual
magnetism.

Volts come The "smoke's" not The variac must be turned very high in order to reach the desired voltage level.
up OK. all gone yet Be sure that you monitor the current being drawn. Ten amps is enough to
because all of a operate the genset at no-load. It's always a good idea to fuse the output.
sudden there's lots
of it coming out of
Change the generator.
The generator runs smooth
the then shakes as the excitation
regulator. voltage is increased.
Usually a shorted
exciter rotor or a
shorted AC stator.
Sometimes you don't Start over ... Check the main
Time to
even need the variac. you missed rotor. It could
Good Bad replace the
Just start the something. have one or
"smoke."
generator with the Or someone more shorted
Rewind it.
regulator connected. else did! pole pieces.

The prime mover is the backbone of the AC
generator. As stated before, the prime mover must
maintain the frequency as well as carry the load.
So, the testing of the prime mover is very straight-
forward. Actually simply observing the reaction of
the prime mover to a change in the load is all that is
needed. If the prime mover slows without recover-
ing when a load is applied, then the governor is not
reacting properly. A frequency meter can be
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Part Three Of Series: Understanding AC Generators . . . Continued From Page 2

handy. Remember, the hertz, cycles, or frequency Table 1 Rotating Rectifier Test
is a direct result of the speed of the prime mover.
Normal Abnormal
The main AC winding is pretty much the +On -On Reading Reading
same as single or three-phase motor windings.
L1 +
Just test these the same way that you would a L2 +
5-10 OHMS Infinite or
motor winding. Depending on the brand of the RX1 Shorted
L3 +
generator there may or may not be some special + L1
Open or
windings installed along with the main winding + L2 Infinite
Shorted
+ L3
that provide power that particular voltage regu- L1 -
lator converts into DC voltage for the exciter Open or
L2 - Infinite
Shorted
field. These are generally seen when the excita- L3 -
tion voltage is very low (less than 10 VDC). - L1
5-10 OHMS Infinite or
- L2
These windings need to be noted before rewind- RX1 Shorted
- L3
ing the generator stator. Another thing to note
here is that there are a lot of star/wye connected +
generators out there. It is common practice to
From L1
ground the star/wye. When you test the stator the L2 Supression
To
the
exciter Device
for a ground be sure to disconnect the star/wye rotor L3 main
rotor
from the ground lug or you might think that the
stator is bad and waste a lot of time. -

Use Voltage Drop Method Figure 12

The best way to test the main field is to use
the voltage drop method. This test works very
well to determine whether or not there is smoke
left in it. Simply apply 115 VAC to the two rotor
leads. Voltage measurements are taken across
each coil. If one or more of the coils are bad you
will see lower voltage reading than the voltage
readings of the good coils. The measurements
should be +/- 10%. You can also use DC voltage.
I’ve been known to use a constant current DC
welder. I like it because the open circuit voltage
is high enough to give us good resolution. Also
because of the constant current nature of the
beast, the voltage just droops if the load is too
great. The measurements with the DC power
supply should be in the +/- 5% area. You can
even use an automotive battery in the field.
The DC exciter is virtually the same as a DC
motor or generator. The exciter field, whether it’s a
brushless exciter or otherwise, can be tested exactly
the same way that the main rotor is tested. The
EASA Technical Manual gives you some good
guidelines on troubleshooting DC equipment in the
field. See Section 4: DC Machines. Also, the Rec-
ommended Practices section in the Technical
Manual come in handy. Further, as mentioned pre-
viously, the DC generator type exciter is somewhat
of a maintenance problem with the brushes and the
commutator. There are solid state exciters available
that don’t take a rocket scientist to install.
In order to supply DC to the main rotor, the
brushless exciter requires a rotating rectifier because
the exciter armature is actually a three-phase wind-
ing. This rectifier is no more than a three-phase
diode bridge that rotates along with the main field
and the exciter armature, all integral parts of the ro-
tor assembly. The rotating rectifier is really simple
(Figure 12). The rectifier is made up of a positive
plate and a negative plate having 3 diodes each. One
plate uses 3 positive anode diodes; the other plate
has 3 positive cathode diodes. I have seen cases
where the user has missed the polarity difference
when a bad diode was replaced. The thing just won’t
put out! This is something that can usually be
checked quickly, but overlooked often. I am includ-
ing a chart, Table 1, to help you test the rectifier.
Testing the exciter armature, like the main AC
stator, is usually easy. They pretty much fail like
three-phase motors—with one exception—that be-
ing overspeed.
Here’s something interesting to note about the
brushless exciter. In almost every case the exciter
will have more poles than the main field. For ex-
ample, a 4-pole (1800 rpm) generator may have 6, 8,
or even more poles. Driven at 1800 rpm, a 6-pole
exciter will generate 90 Hz, an 8-pole 120 Hz, and
so on. Manufacturers do this to get more power from
a small package. Also, the higher frequency has a
smoothing effect on the output. If someone rewinds
the exciter, and assumes that the poles would match
the main generator poles, the output voltage will be
very low or worse.
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Part Three Of Series: Understanding AC Generators . . . Continued From Page 3

caused by sudden load changes. My experience is

that the generator continues to operate fine with-
The Tiny Fella Lives Here out them.
Variac
This is a fairly typical, older model, electronic
DC Out to Voltage
Exciter Field Adjust Power Intput Sensing Voltage voltage regulator that you will find on a typical
F+ F- E1 E2 E3 brushless genset. To begin with, apply the input
Transformer
power. If the bulb that you placed in series with the
for voltage
sensing
input power glows brightly, replace the regulator
matching
Place a light bulb
because the output diodes are shorted. Sometimes,
in series here
Place a light
if you can locate them, you can replace the shorted
bulb here
Required AC
Input Voltage
diodes and continue operating the regulator.
If the bulbs of both glow dimly, turn off the
Figure 13 power and remove the input power bulb. Then ap-
ply full voltage to the input power terminals. The
The electronic voltage regulator is a very bulb on the DC output should glow brightly. If
complex device. But, in most cases it is fairly not, the regulator is bad and will require repair or
easy to test one of these. Some replacement. If bright, begin apply-
regulators have terminals for just ing voltage to the sensing terminals
the AC in, DC out, and terminals The suppression device with the variac. As you increase the
for a remote voltage-adjusting is there to protect the voltage, at some point the bulb
rheostat. Some have separate ter- diodes from high volt- should begin to dim as you ap-
minals for the power supply of age spikes caused by proach the desired voltage level. At
the regulator and DC out to the sudden load changes. this point turn the rheostat up and
field and a separate AC input just My experience is that down. The bulb should brighten and
for sensing (multiple sensing the generator contin- dim accordingly. If the bulb contin-
voltage taps available) along with ues to operate fine ues to glow brightly, chances are
the remote rheostat terminals. without them. that the electronics have malfunc-
Some have single phase sensing tioned and the regulator must be
and some have three phase. Fig- repaired or replaced.
ure 13 is an example of how I test If there are no sensing voltage terminals
regulators. Be sure to check with the particular present just do the above except for the variac
manufacturer. I haven’t found one yet that part. Just make sure that you use the voltage re-
doesn’t have some sort of a testing procedure quired by the regulator. As the DC output bulb
that they would share. glows brightly, adjust the voltage adjusting rheo-
Note Suppression Device stat up and down. The DC output bulb should
Please note the suppression device that is glow and dim accordingly. If it doesn’t, just pitch
pointed out in Figure 12. If it’s there, always it and replace it.
check this device for a circuit. It should always I haven’t mentioned anything about testing the
check open. If this device is shorted the genset other types of voltage regulators because most of
won’t gen—at all. The suppression device is there them are obsolete and should be replaced with the
to protect the diodes from high voltage spikes newer, electronic versions.