Do electric generators charge the battery used to start the engine?
battery July 15th, 2009The battery on my generator just went dead so I hooked the battery charger onto it. I’m not sure if the battery is fully charged yet. Will the generator charge the battery up the rest of the way if I have enough charge to get the engine started?? I didn’t know if the generator worked similarly to a car charging the battery with the alternator. Thanks for your help!!
This depends on the engine. If the engine was equipped with a generator to charge the battery, it will charge the battery, given enough time. Most generators that have electric start will have a generator but I have seen one that did not (I think it was an 8hp, larger ones are more likely to have it).
If you trace the wiring from the battery, you will see that the heavy Pos cable will go to the solenoid (a big relay) and from there will be a couple of smaller wires that go to the key or start button. If you see additional wiring going to a metal box (often with cooling fins), this is probably the charging regulator so you could conclude that it will charge the battery.
If you have a voltmeter, connect it across the battery (without the battery charger) and measure the voltage. Start the engine and check the voltage again. If it is higher, this indicates that the engine is charging the battery. Ideally, it would be about 14 volts (at least 13.5) which will charge the battery. If it is under 13 volts and does not climb up from there, it is probably not charging (or is charging very very slowly).
July 15th, 2009 at 10:01 am
Yes, the generator work similar to an alternator that it charges the battery directly. You have to find out why the battery went dead in the first place.
A lot of people don’t know that you have to polarize the voltage regulator when one install a new generator. I remember it’s something like, using a jumper wire, touch(connect) ‘A’ with one end of the wire and then touch ‘B’ with the other end. That’s it.
http://www.42fordgpw.com/polarize.html
References :
July 15th, 2009 at 10:21 am
This depends on the engine. If the engine was equipped with a generator to charge the battery, it will charge the battery, given enough time. Most generators that have electric start will have a generator but I have seen one that did not (I think it was an 8hp, larger ones are more likely to have it).
If you trace the wiring from the battery, you will see that the heavy Pos cable will go to the solenoid (a big relay) and from there will be a couple of smaller wires that go to the key or start button. If you see additional wiring going to a metal box (often with cooling fins), this is probably the charging regulator so you could conclude that it will charge the battery.
If you have a voltmeter, connect it across the battery (without the battery charger) and measure the voltage. Start the engine and check the voltage again. If it is higher, this indicates that the engine is charging the battery. Ideally, it would be about 14 volts (at least 13.5) which will charge the battery. If it is under 13 volts and does not climb up from there, it is probably not charging (or is charging very very slowly).
References :