- May 13, 2003
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I'm with the Army in Iraq, working as a generator mechanic. My shop just got in a dead generator, if we repair it it's ours to keep. What we're thinking about doing is dropping it in next to the one running our shop as a backup. My thought was hey, we really don't do much (can't speak for anyone else in-country, but personally I'm working on that 10000 lifetime wins medal in c&c generals), why not try something nifty. I'm thinking about an auto-switchover box for the generators.
I think turning it ON would be relatively simple. There's a component called the magnetic pickup, basically uses magnets to run a couple solenoids (crank-disconnect and whatnot) and the rpm meter. I don't think it would be too tough to hook a solenoid up, when it drops past a certain point the solenoid closes and runs the starter on the other gen. The only catch is because of all the dust in the air generators sputter quite a bit over here, it's not a big thing for one to drop down to where it's not even generating power then catch itself and pick back up. But I think with a multimeter and the manual throttle I could figure out a decent limit for it.
The real problem, in my opinion, is finding a way to turn on the circuit breaker. I can't just leave it on because when the gen starts up it does this thing called flashing the field, basically sends raw voltage to the windings and gives them an initial charge. Unfortunately, however, it always jumps above the voltage it's set to put out, then settles back down, during the field flash. I'd need a way to monitor this, probably with a built-in time delay, then cut on the switch when the voltage settles down. Just for kicks let's say the switch is going to have to handle somewhere in the range of 5KW, 440V.
Is this possible? I have access to pretty much any components I want IF I can get a decent plan drawn up for it, but I don't have too incredibly much know-how.
I think turning it ON would be relatively simple. There's a component called the magnetic pickup, basically uses magnets to run a couple solenoids (crank-disconnect and whatnot) and the rpm meter. I don't think it would be too tough to hook a solenoid up, when it drops past a certain point the solenoid closes and runs the starter on the other gen. The only catch is because of all the dust in the air generators sputter quite a bit over here, it's not a big thing for one to drop down to where it's not even generating power then catch itself and pick back up. But I think with a multimeter and the manual throttle I could figure out a decent limit for it.
The real problem, in my opinion, is finding a way to turn on the circuit breaker. I can't just leave it on because when the gen starts up it does this thing called flashing the field, basically sends raw voltage to the windings and gives them an initial charge. Unfortunately, however, it always jumps above the voltage it's set to put out, then settles back down, during the field flash. I'd need a way to monitor this, probably with a built-in time delay, then cut on the switch when the voltage settles down. Just for kicks let's say the switch is going to have to handle somewhere in the range of 5KW, 440V.
Is this possible? I have access to pretty much any components I want IF I can get a decent plan drawn up for it, but I don't have too incredibly much know-how.