>-----Original Message-----
>From: piclist-bounces@MIT.EDU [mailto:piclist-bounces@MIT.EDU] 
>Sent: 08 December 2005 09:15
>To: Microcontroller discussion list - Public.
>Subject: Re: [EE] Stabilising an el cheapo IC driven alternator ~~n
>
>
>> Use a cheap UPS? May have better regulation (repeat, may). Your 
>> generator, if it's the same one I'm thinking of, I think also has a 
>> 12VDC output, use it to charge the battery in the UPS. 425VA UPS is 
>> around US$67, or 660VA around US$76. Have thought of the 
>same idea for
>> keeping
>> my UPS/PC running during longer power outages.
>
>Quite possibly the same.
>GMC. Chinese. "2 HP" petrol motor.
>750 W large lable but 550 W fine print avg and 750W peak.
>12V output (nominally 14V) is rated at "less" - maybe 6A? from memory
>
>A battery charger into a battery and an inverter (all of which I have) 
>would work, but is more annoying than I'd like to have to use.

This sounds suspiciously like the generator set I posted about some time back, wrt to the unusual alternator configuration.  Is it a two stroke engine?  The one I was fixing had awfull frequency  changes with transient loads as well, but to be honest what can you expect from a mechanical governor in a $65 generator set?

If it's the same, the voltage regulation is so poor simply because there is no "active" regulation to speak of.  The field coil is driven from the high voltage output via a current limiting capacitor, and I suspect something like magnetic saturation is used as a crude regulator.  I did think a proper electronic regulator could probably be cobbled together given sufficient motivation (which I didn't have at the time).

Regards

Mike

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