[RE-wrenches] Kohler generator 1/2 voltage

[Dana]

My neighbor bought a used 8.5 ONAN.  It had been in standby-backup mode for all its life close to the Pacific. Other than the usual costal crud buildup he had to cleanup he had to replace exactly that - the voltage regulator & they are getting harder to find.
His mechanic also switched the distributor over to a solid state.
They found that the gen had been wired with the 2 - 120 legs [240 vac] and that the original owner [or installer?] had not used the neutral. He has been running it into a transformer this way for 120 output [1 - SW4024] only & getting smooth 120 vac. We are not sure but this may have led to premature voltage regulator failure or was it just time near the coast?
We will be rectifying this wire setup though it does not seem to have been damaging to the gen, the brushes all look even.



Dana Orzel                              Great Solar Works, Inc. 
C - 208.721.7003                       dana at solarwork.com
Idaho Contractor - # 028765         Idaho PV # 028374
NABCEP # 051112-136                       www.solarwork.biz
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-----Original Message-----
From: RE-wrenches <re-wrenches-bounces at lists.re-wrenches.org> On Behalf Of Kirk Herander
Sent: Thursday, November 08, 2018 12:20 PM
To: re-wrenches at lists.re-wrenches.org
Subject: [RE-wrenches] Kohler generator 1/2 voltage

Hello,
I got called in to debug an old off grid system with a Kohler 8.5 RES generator. Across L1-L2 is 120vac. From both L1 & L2 to common gnd/neutral is 60v. I verified the windings are connected for 120/240 operation(in series with center tap for G/N). These voltages are the same on the genny side of its breaker when turned off (no inverter connection). I am having trouble envisioning a scenario of mis-wiring if indeed each one of the windings is producing 120 VAC. Seems odd to me that a bad regulator would cause this, but who knows. Alternator? Ideas? Thanks.

Kirk Herander, VT Solar, LLC

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