Generators

[fincaman]

Hello all here in Spain we often suffer from low mains voltage and have to resort to generators but these can often give out a poor waveform and give erratic results when using dimmers i.e. lights going on and off at random ETC. I have looked into the Honda inverter range but they are very expensive and I wondered if there was a halfway house i.e. a range of ordinary generators that will work with dimmers.

 

Regards

 

Kevin

[Stuart91]

We've had good results with Kipor generators. Their larger units have voltage regulation. I haven't run any serious dimming off them but they certainly seem stable enough when used with PA systems. Certainly much cheaper than the Hondas, so might be worth a look.

[Gerry]

We've had good results with Kipor generators. Their larger units have voltage regulation. I haven't run any serious dimming off them but they certainly seem stable enough when used with PA systems. Certainly much cheaper than the Hondas, so might be worth a look.

Kipors are a copy of Hondas.

Cheers

Gerry

 

Hello all here in Spain we often suffer from low mains voltage and have to resort to generators but these can often give out a poor waveform and give erratic results when using dimmers i.e. lights going on and off at random ETC. I have looked into the Honda inverter range but they are very expensive and I wondered if there was a halfway house i.e. a range of ordinary generators that will work with dimmers.

 

Regards

 

Kevin

Hi Kevin

You can always borrow mine, the one I used on the show last year.

Cheers

Gerry

[fincaman]

We've had good results with Kipor generators. Their larger units have voltage regulation. I haven't run any serious dimming off them but they certainly seem stable enough when used with PA systems. Certainly much cheaper than the Hondas, so might be worth a look.

Kipors are a copy of Hondas.

Cheers

Gerry

 

Hello all here in Spain we often suffer from low mains voltage and have to resort to generators but these can often give out a poor waveform and give erratic results when using dimmers i.e. lights going on and off at random ETC. I have looked into the Honda inverter range but they are very expensive and I wondered if there was a halfway house i.e. a range of ordinary generators that will work with dimmers.

 

Regards

 

Kevin

Hi Kevin

You can always borrow mine, the one I used on the show last year.

Cheers

Gerry

 

Thank's Gerry see you tomorrow

 

 

 

Regards

 

 

 

Kevin

 

We've had good results with Kipor generators. Their larger units have voltage regulation. I haven't run any serious dimming off them but they certainly seem stable enough when used with PA systems. Certainly much cheaper than the Hondas, so might be worth a look.

 

It wasn't the amount of power that was the problem, the dimmers just didn't like what was coming from the generator, I was only using 2.4 kw on a 3.6 kw generator but I got all sorts of problems, lights going on and off and flickering and general erratic behaviour , I presume it's due to a poor waveform, spikes etc. I have looked at the Kipor range and they look great but would AVC be OK or would I be better going for an inverter ?

 

 

 

Regards

 

 

 

Kevin

[Brian]

... but I got all sorts of problems, lights going on and off and flickering and general erratic behaviour , I presume it's due to a poor waveform, spikes etc.

The problem is often a poor waveform and/or noise at the zero-crossing point. Any distortion here can cause the dimmers to 'miscalculate' where they are in the waveform.

[adamharman]

Not used the smaller Kipor generators but very happy with my 18kva super silent one. Even running near full load with dimmers, PA and some big halide floods, the output is steady and the noise boy has never complained about his power.

It is actually pretty quiet too, wasn't sure if I should believe the chinese when they said "super silent" but it's comparable with much more expensive ones I've hired in the past.

[Tomo]

...I was only using 2.4 kw on a 3.6 kw generator...

That sounds like one of the 'suitcase' sized units with one or two 'd0mestic' sockets on them.

This size of set is usually intended for light use on a campsite with purely resistive loads like kettles and switched lighting, not professional use.

 

Generators that small almost never have much in the way of voltage or frequency regulation.

The alternator set is also so small that the frequency will wander quite a lot as the load changes, and that is very bad for dimmers.

 

SCR/Triac dimmers basically work by predicting when the zero-cross event is going to happen and firing the SCR/Triacs accordingly.

If the supply frequency is unstable, then that prediction will often be wrong!

 

Bigger generators tend to have a better AVR and much more stable frequency - if only due to the mass of the alternator set.

[fincaman]

...I was only using 2.4 kw on a 3.6 kw generator...

That sounds like one of the 'suitcase' sized units with one or two 'd0mestic' sockets on them.

This size of set is usually intended for light use on a campsite with purely resistive loads like kettles and switched lighting, not professional use.

 

Generators that small almost never have much in the way of voltage or frequency regulation.

The alternator set is also so small that the frequency will wander quite a lot as the load changes, and that is very bad for dimmers.

 

SCR/Triac dimmers basically work by predicting when the zero-cross event is going to happen and firing the SCR/Triacs accordingly.

If the supply frequency is unstable, then that prediction will often be wrong!

 

Bigger generators tend to have a better AVR and much more stable frequency - if only due to the mass of the alternator set.

 

Well no it was quite a monster in a tubular frame, two men could move it with difficulty and any way I tried it with two towers 1 X 4 way dimmer on each with one 600w can plugged into each (termination used), address 1 and 3, the shuko op socket was marked 16A, I have now established beyond reasonable doubt that it is my Stairiville dimmers that just don't like the op from normal generators. Today I tried them on Gerry's (who has contributed to this post) 2KW gen with the same results, his dimmers work fine on the same generator. The annoying thing is that I bought more expensive dimmers in the hope of getting better results !!!

 

 

 

Regards

 

 

 

Kevin