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Lathe electronics run off a generator?

R

Roger Chandler

Joined
Nov 26, 2009
Messages
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Location
Rockingham, Virginia
Calling Mr. Boehme.........calling Mr. Boehme.............

I have on order an 8000 running watt, 10000 starting watts generator [Generac XG8000e] and was wondering in the unlikely event I have a power outage while I have a project on the lathe, if it would be okay to use back up power from the generator to run the lathe to finish it. I did not know if it would hurt the inverter, fry circuit boards, etc?

My big lathe has a brushless 2 hp D/C motor with inverter and my midi has a 1 hp A/C motor with inverter. Any issues you think might put my lathe electronics at risk?

Any others with solid electrical knowledge are welcome to chime in!!! Thanks!
 
Reporting for duty, sir (click heels and salutes).

Probably OK. It would be good to check the specs on the generator as well as the motor controller. Some cheap generators might use DC generators and then have electronics to change it to a pseudo AC output that might be anywhere from a square wave to something that does a decent job of simulating a sinusoidal AC output. The optimal generator would be one that outputs true sinusoidal AC power just like what you get from the power company. I suppose that you will be running things like the refrigerator, HVAC, and a few other household motors in addition to lighting. Some of the newer appliances use BLDC (brushless DC) motors. I worked a lot with modeling analysis of BLDC motors in servo control applications, but not where the power source was 60 Hz AC. That is why I suggested looking at the specs on the motor controller to see what restrictions might exist on the controller. I am almost certain that it will work fine. It is not a matter of concern about the motor, but will it be satisfactory for the electronic controller. If the controller has no problem then the output power
to the motor will be fine.

I have also been considering a back up generator after being without power for a couple days during a severe storm last month. The ones that I looked at generated clean AC so that I wouldn't have to deal with any potential headaches.
 
Bill Boehme said:
Reporting for duty, sir (click heels and salutes).

Probably OK. It would be good to check the specs on the generator as well as the motor controller. Some cheap generators might use DC generators and then have electronics to change it to a pseudo AC output that might be anywhere from a square wave to something that does a decent job of simulating a sinusoidal AC output. The optimal generator would be one that outputs true sinusoidal AC power just like what you get from the power company. I suppose that you will be running things like the refrigerator, HVAC, and a few other household motors in addition to lighting. Some of the newer appliances use BLDC (brushless DC) motors. I worked a lot with modeling analysis of BLDC motors in servo control applications, but not where the power source was 60 Hz AC. That is why I suggested looking at the specs on the motor controller to see what restrictions might exist on the controller. I am almost certain that it will work fine. It is not a matter of concern about the motor, but will it be satisfactory for the electronic controller. If the controller has no problem then the output power
to the motor will be fine.

I have also been considering a back up generator after being without power for a couple days during a severe storm last month. The ones that I looked at generated clean AC so that I wouldn't have to deal with any potential headaches.
Click to expand...

Thank you, thank ya' and muchos gracious!!! 😀 I appreciate your input, Bill.........I will take a look at all the labels on the motors and try to get info on the inverters the best I can. I don't know if the China manufactures divulge complete info or not, but I will make a call to Grizzly industrial at least!
 
The thing about China manufacturers is that often they barely know anything about what they are building because the product wasn't designed by them. If user manuals are any indication, Americans are much more interested in information than a lot of other countries, especially China.
 
Roger Chandler said:
Calling Mr. Boehme.........calling Mr. Boehme.............

I have on order an 8000 running watt, 10000 starting watts generator [Generac XG8000e] and was wondering in the unlikely event I have a power outage while I have a project on the lathe, if it would be okay to use back up power from the generator to run the lathe to finish it. I did not know if it would hurt the inverter, fry circuit boards, etc?

My big lathe has a brushless 2 hp D/C motor with inverter and my midi has a 1 hp A/C motor with inverter. Any issues you think might put my lathe electronics at risk?

Any others with solid electrical knowledge are welcome to chime in!!! Thanks!
Click to expand...

Roger, my only concern would be the speed of the engine on the generator. It's RPM will determine the output frequency of the generator in most cases. Therefore as the load on the gen. changes so does the Freq. Some gens. have a electronic governor to control the rpm but the cheap units will use wind from the cooling system to run the governor/throttle.
If you are looking for a nice steady speed on your lathe no mater what the loads is, you are in for a surprise, as you cut on the lathe the load will change, so the rpm of the engine will change....Need I go on???
Turn safe!!! My suggestion is this, when the power goes out take a rest, save a ton of money, enjoy the peace and quiet....
 
Last edited:
Syd Sellers said:
Roger, my only concern would be the speed of the engine on the generator. It's RPM will determine the output frequency of the generator in most cases. Therefore as the load on the gen. changes so does the Freq. Some gens. have a electronic governor to control the rpm but the cheap units will use wind from the cooling system to run the governor/throttle.
If you are looking for a nice steady speed on your lathe no mater what the loads is, you are in for a surprise, as you cut on the lathe the load will change, so the rpm of the engine will change....Need I go on???
Turn safe!!!
Click to expand...

Not necessarily, Syd. One of the reasons that most lower cost generators output DC is that then feeds into a power inverter that converts it to a PWM synthesis of 60 Hz AC. The frequency is completely independent of the motor speed. Some more sophisticated systems with AC generators use constant speed transmissions between the motor and generator. The frequency regulation on most generators is adequate for operating home appliances. The electronic controllers and inverters used on woodturning lathes don't really care what the frequency of the line voltage is. If the voltage sags, that might limit the maximum motor torque, but otherwise there would not be anything noticeable.
 
Bill, I agree, if Roger is getting the latest generation of gens made for the RV crowd, he will be just fine. The size of the unit he mentioned made me think it maybe of the older generation and not so sophisticated.
Good luck Roger,
Happy turning....
 
Syd Sellers said:
Roger, this looks like the type made for the construction industry, running skill saws and the like....
Not my first choice for running item that are full of electronics. Ask your supplier if he would run his TV and computer off of it....
Stay safe....
Click to expand...


Thanks for the input, Syd..........I was asking this question just in the event I might want to consider it..........it is not a likely scenario.........so I will check it out as far as running a table saw or other machine before I ever attempt with my lathe with inverter.........putting it under load should give me some indication. Back up power for the house and running tools on a job site is why I got this .......turning.......not a priority with this at all. but was just wondering if it was feasible!
 
Roger Chandler said:
Thanks for the input, Syd..........I was asking this question just in the event I might want to consider it..........it is not a likely scenario.........so I will check it out as far as running a table saw or other machine before I ever attempt with my lathe with inverter.........putting it under load should give me some indication. Back up power for the house and running tools on a job site is why I got this .......turning.......not a priority with this at all. but was just wondering if it was feasible!
Click to expand...

Roger, thanks for filling me in on your intentions because I was beginning to worry about what would happen to a hi end lathe running on the low end power source.... As I said earlier, the new Honda gen sets made for the RV world is what you need to have a look at. These units as Bill said will put out 120 volts 60 Hz no matter what is going on and I would not think twice about running my lathes with one.

Good luck, happy turning...
 
The generators Syd is referring to is the Honda EU series. Which range in size from the EU-1000 (1000 watts surge) to the EU-7000 (7000 watts).
Since they obtain their 60cycle from a specially designed circuit many of the models can be connected together, eg I have two EU-2000's that I connect together giving my 4000 watts of available power.
Only the very largest, the 6500 and 7000 produce 220VAC however.

Please note, there are (now) many companies producing inverter-generators, not ALL of them contain this circuit, do NOT assume that the inexpensive "clone" brand you just bought has this circuit and that you can connect them.
 
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