Generator trips at half wattage?

EternalArianne · #1 12-21-2021, 02:24 PM

My mom just got a 5000W generator and gave me her old one, claiming it couldn't run their fridge and freezer at the same time, it kept tripping the breaker. She claimed it was only 1000W, which made since that it couldn't run those items same time.

Once I got it home I found on the alternator itself it says it is 2500W with starting wattages up to 2800W. Engine is 6.5HP Chinese Honda "clone".

2500W should be more than enough to run both a fridge and freezer same time, so why would it keep tripping the breaker?

R Bedell · #2 12-21-2021, 04:50 PM

Simple. Plug both appliances into a Watt Meter, and see what they are drawing. Add them up and see if the total combined, is below 2500W.

EternalArianne · #3 12-21-2021, 06:02 PM

Ok I asked her for more information and now she is telling me it wasn't tripping the breaker, it was bogging down the engine with both fridge and freezer plugged in. Does that indicate a problem with the governor? Or something else going on?

I tested it with a small "pancake' air compressor and it seemed to work fine but I don't have anything high wattage that is outdoors I could test with it.

Maybe I'm just chasing shadows and they didn't know how to operate it?

ol'George · #4 12-21-2021, 06:14 PM

You could look up the amp draw on the fridge & Freezer and that would tell you what they draw, but do know starting amperage is always higher than running amperage of most all motors.
2500W will do the job keeping a few lights on in the house and run the furnace blower and the refrigerator.
I did it for years before I got a bigger emergency power plant.
She possibly was trying to start everything @ once.

EternalArianne · #5 12-21-2021, 06:33 PM

Yeah that's what I'm thinking they were trying to start everything at once and it was too much starting watts. I'm going to try to get some higher wattage items to test with it and see how it fairs. I don't have a watt meter to know for sure lol

R Bedell · #6 12-21-2021, 06:39 PM

When a refrigerated piece of equipment starts, it experiences Locked Rotor Amperage (LRA) which is about 8 times greater than Running Load Amperage (RLA) for the brief second it takes for a compressor to come up to full RPM.

Billy-O · #7 12-21-2021, 08:58 PM

Does it say anything on the generator about how many amps max where you plug into 120 receptacle? Let's say if you plug a single extension cord into a socket that is rated for 15 amps, and run the cord to both freezer and refrigerator, you could be maxing out on the amperage which would be about 1800 watts. I would think you have two sets of 120 receptacles or a single 240 receptacle. You generator may be 2500 watts but that would be 1250 watts each receptacle times two make 2500 watts....I'm just thinking, not sure.

EternalArianne · #8 12-22-2021, 05:59 AM

You know you might be onto something there? This generator has a single "duplex" 120v outlet and a single "round" 240v outlet. There is a switch to choose between them it won't run both 120v and 240v same time.

But there are ZERO amp markings on the outlets so I don't know if the 120v side is 15 or 20 amp. I'm wondering if you can only get the full 2500w of you use the 240v side?

R Bedell · #9 12-22-2021, 07:49 AM

One can easily tell a 15 Amp Duplex from a 20 Amp Duplex, in a 120V supply. See attachment.

EternalArianne · #10 12-22-2021, 08:13 AM

Ok yeah then it's definitely the 20A outlet. Unless there is some kind of limitation on wattage on the 120v vs 240v side within the generator itself. I can't find any model markings on this thing other than the alternator itself and the engine. Its one of those Chinese knockoff Honda generators so specs are scarce...