Newbie Generator Question

I’ve been searching the forums for days, off and on, and have had no luck finding how to auto gen start my generator. I have an AIMS inverter/charger (PICOGLF60W48V120V, 6000 Watt Pure Sine Power Inverter Charger - 48 Volt to 120 Volt) and a Champion generator (Model #100204, 2800W/3100W Dual Fuel Inverter Generator ).

The inverter/charger has a two-wire connector for auto gen start and the generator has an electric start, but I just can’t figure out where to connect the two wires to the electric start. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I attached the wiring diagram.

Thanks in advance

 

Bruce pretty well nailed it.
Your best bet with that genset would be to either leave it as is, or do a remote start...but you'll still have to let it warm up and stabilize before connecting your loads. Or get a genny that has auto-start capabilities.
Some things are just the way they are...

 

Problem is with out a transfer switch you can only power half the breaker box.
Also you can not connect a 120v only generator to your house. It has to be a generator with a neutral ground bond.
But to install it you have to sever the neutral ground bind at the generator when you wire it in.
I put my neutral ground bond on a switch since I can tie them into the house or use them as stand alone.
The problem is with these 120v only generators is nearly all of them don't make a 120v hot line and a 0v neutral. They make 2 legs of 60v so when you hook it up to your house, if not done correctly you energize all your grounds with 60v of AC. It's called a floating neutral and it literally potential to be very dangerous.

 

The generator can only feed the panel, you have to have some form of switch gear to isolate the panel from the line feed and switch it to the generator. Failing to do will either kill the generator as you try to replace the power plant, fry it when the power plant feeds the generator, or endanger the linemen trying to repair the line. This is not simple stuff and codes, rightfully so, need to be followed and signed off. Either do it manually, then you don't need auto start, or the person you hire to design and install the switch gear had better be able to handle all the job or you should find someone else. It is possible that you wish to have a remote start generator, that allows you to isolate the panel, start the generator from a distance, and transfer the load to the panel once it is warmed up and the rpm stabilized. You should do that anyway as the starting loads are much higher then the run loads and the generator output should be watched while the load is applied. It requires a whole different approach if the panel is only fed by the generator, as on a boat or a remote location, and that my friend is an art in itself.

See generators fried every time we have a storm. Almost all have a 240 output and 2 120 outputs, and this is done by having the neutral, which also may be the ground connected to the center of the 2 120 coils. If you use a suicide cord to connect a 120 outlet to a 120 outlet on the the generator, you will only have half of the rated output available.

I am confused as to how to get 120 out of that generator given the print shown. Looks like it is a 3 phase system and configured with no ground on the center of the 3 coils, and they only show 3 wires out, not 4 or 5 as they usually show on a 3 phase system. While that would give you 120 across any of the coils, it could get a little interesting and a lot of smoke if you don't get the returns right. No problem for 3 phase, but I don't think I would be able to tie all 3 phases into my standard 220 house wiring.

Re reading the original post for the 3rd time, I think he may be trying to set up an off grid system and is trying to connect up an inverter. Is he trying to run the 48 volt inverter on 120 volts, or is he trying to replace the output of the inverter with the generator? Does he have a power company line or is it stand alone?

 

I can't see the sync of phase on this AIMS unit , But I can see smoke !!! , REAL INVERTERS use a sync phase matching for grid tie & gen link !!
This will NOT work .

Sloth

 

Not doing a grid tie system. I will be using the generator mainly to recharge my 48v battery bank only.

 

My fault, the wiring diagram does me very little good, I am old school and when it goes into a black box, replaced as a unit, and comes back out transformed into something else I get lost. The old units I am used to did not shift the output 120 volts when they went to auto start, they instead turned on a motorized battery charger and the regulation in the charger took care of the batteries and protected the generator and the inverter maintained the ac. Honestly have not worked on one of the systems I think he is describing. If he were using a battery charger that started a generator to charge them at some predetermined level of discharge, there are examples going back into the 1890's at least.

 

Don't CARE !!!
POWER is POWER
It's the phasing in !!!
WRONG INVERTER , YA need an outback & a mate now or in 1 year the B17 from Midnight :
http://www.midnitesolar.com/pages/b17/index.php

Outback Power Inc. - Home

 

That's why I said:

Very few I have seen are done correctly.
To me powering up a house panel with a 120v only generator is just poor practice.
The 120v transfer and rewire will cost so much that it would be cheaper and easier to do a 240v generator and simple transfer tie in that could potentially power everything.

 

This is one of those fancy inverter units. Ignore all that 3 phase stuff.

 

@oil pan 4 , it is a 120/240 volt generator...with no grid tie intended.
OOOPS...no, just 120!!!

Just hook the generator up to the V in - through a breaker, similar to what you'd use for a central a/c. Start the gen, let it stabilize, then turn the breaker on.
Keep it simple. Fewer problems, and cheaper all around.

Just my $0.02

 

Generating single phase power, stepping it down to 48v, rectifying it and filtering it is very inefficient and expensive.
The way I would charge a 48v bank is with a modified automotive alternator with a Honda GX200 motor.

 

I don't see any way this is a 120/240v generator.
We are still talking about the 2800/3100 dual fuel inverter correct?

 

Corrected in post above...my error.

 

Above from my post is ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Buy a real unit & live .
Sell off the mistake !

IT's not like I haven't furbared bad & it cost me huge !!
12 years doing this from crap !!