I have a APP 6000 portable generator. Someone changed the engine rpm. Will I damage the unit if I run the engine at lower rpm. What is the correct/recommended setting?
I have a APP 6000 portable generator. Someone changed the engine rpm. Will I damage the unit if I run the engine at lower rpm. What is the correct/recommended setting?
3600 rpm
When you say that someone changed the engine RPM, do you mean that the output was changed from 110V 60 Hz to 240V 50 Hz? That is a normal thing with that universal model. I do not own one, and have not used one, but according to a quick look on Google it is a very simple thing to change and in the manual. Perhaps if you don’t have a manual you can download one from the manufacturers website. These generators are fitted with an automatic voltage regulator – which means the engine revs should not be user adjustable, apart from the above mentioned deliberate change when swapping over from one voltage range to the other.
Good luck.
Edit – a two pole alternator needs to be spun at 3000 RPM for 50 Hz, or 3600 for 60 Hz. No load revs are normally set at slightly higher than this (1 or 2 Hertz) so that under load the output is bang on the desired frequency. One of the problems in remote mining camps and communities relying on diesel generators for power, the digital clocks used by the workers and some complicated electrical machinery won’t keep good time, sometimes losing (or gaining) five minutes a day. This is due to the clocks trying to use the 50 Hz signal as a time check – and why installing line filters or using inverter based generator units is increasingly popular. If you are turning the alternator at the wrong speed for the voltage selected then the alternator will probably be fine, but the equipment you plug into it may not like it at all.
Under full load 119 to 121 volts USA depending what country and voltage.
When setting speed on Gen-sets you have to use a HTZ meter. It need to be set to about 61 htz under no load. When unit is loaded down it should stay around 60 htz. You will not hurt the Gen but could damage some electrical systems with the incorrect voltage and htz.