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Power stability with PTO generators
This subject came up in the "Receiver hitch for iMatch" thread and I thought I'd start a new one here.
How do PTO generators maintain voltage and frequency stability when powering variable loads (refrigerators and freezers cycling on/off, etc). It seems to me this would be a concern. I know my standalone Gillete genset throttles up and down to stabilize voltage and frequency as the load changes, but I don't see how a PTO generator can do this. Is it even a problem?
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Power stability with PTO generators
Thanks everyone, I think I understand now. There is no voltage/frequency controller, just a governor to hold the rpms. If the engine doesn't have enough power to handle the load the rpm will drop off, a sign that the engine is overloaded. A little variation in engine speed is normal as loads start and stop until the governor can make adjustments. I can see how electronics may not like the variations in voltage and frequency.
Our genset doesn't have auto-idle, but when it's running I can listen to the engine and tell when loads cycle on and off. I thought there was some sort of electronic controller making those adjustments but I can see how a simple governor could do that job. It's now less murky.
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Power stability with PTO generators
My standby genset is approaching five years old now. I'm not sure when auto-idle became a popular feature, but I don't recall hearing about it when I was shopping.
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Power stability with PTO generators
Obviously it wasn't built into every generator made because it wasn't built into my Gillette. And Gillette builds a LOT of generators.
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Power stability with PTO generators
Murf, thanks for the research and information. My inferior generator was causing me to feel very inadequate  Now I feel a lot better 
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Power stability with PTO generators
Yeah, I wish my genset had that idle down feature. I'm curious to know in the real world how much it would actually save when used as a standby generator. The savings would be whatever extra fuel is required to run at a no-load 1800/3600 rpm vs. a no-load idle speed of, what, 800? Probably not all that much savings. Still, every little bit counts and why waste fuel?
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Power stability with PTO generators
AC5Z0, I agree completely for standby purposes. I can't imagine a case where our standby genset ever would idle for any but the briefest periods of time, mostly during startup and cooldown. In the case where a portable generator is being used for purposes of remote construction I could see one idling fairly often, between uses of a circular saw for example.
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