Generators

sawmill
sawmill Solar Expert Posts: 93 ✭✭✭
in Solar Beginners Corner #1
How may one determine the quality of electricity coming from a motor driven AC generator? Is it necessary to use a scope? I realize that many things are forgiving of exact voltage and frequency but the square wave in sensitive electronics seems to be a no-no.
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  • Cariboocoot
    Cariboocoot Banned Posts: 17,615 ✭✭✭
    #2
    Re: Generators

    Conventional generators put out sine wave; they can't do otherwise.

    Inverter-generators put out sine wave. It's possible there's some really cheap ones out there that don't, though.

    Most everything has a good tolerance for Voltage, perhaps less so for frequency. The actual wave form is a matter of harmonic distortion (Total Harmonic Distortion or THD) which if given at all will be shown as something like +/-5% (which is about the acceptable limit for most things).

    A square wave, such as the output from an MSW type inverter, will 'look' like a sine wave with large THD (depending on exactly what sort of waveform you're looking at).
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