Electrical – Hooking two (gasoline) generators together to make 220VAC

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A question was posed on the Home Improvement SE… Can I buy or make an adapter to hook 2 generators together to run a 220 volt welder? Any contribution to this thread (from an electrical engineer) would be appreciated.

Essentially, the goal would be to take two (random phase) sources of 120VAC or 240VAC and combine them with a device to produce 240VAC. I assume that single phase and 60Hz is important; and conserving/combining the power/amperage would be especially important to the function of the welder.

What device(s) would be used to accomplish this (with respect to efficiency and simplicity of design)? A schematic (and maybe a flow chart) would be wonderful. Also, if the answer really is to rectify AC to DC then invert back to AC, would you (ideally) convert 240 or 120 VAC to DC? Also, would an un-transformed, full-wave bridge rectifier produce about 160VDC from 120VAC and 320VDC from 240VAC?

This "project" seems just like tying a generator to a grid (of equal power). I feel like there must be a better way to tie an AC generator to a grid than to rectify and then invert… and I'm thinking that there must be a controller-device that senses the grid-phase and adjusts the phase from an inverter anyway, right? Wouldn't it be more efficient to just use that controller-device (or something to control the phase or timing) to tie AC from a generator to AC from a grid?

Of course the motors could be mechanically synchronized, but in many circumstances that would not be convenient.

Best Answer

I think you have misinterpreted the original question, which was only about hooking two generators in parallel in order to get enough current. Hooking them in series to increase the voltage was not mentioned.

Of course it's possible — that's exactly how all of the multiple generators attached to the national distribution grid are connected! Alternators of this type are synchronous machines, and function equally well as motors as well as generators.

The key to making it work is to make sure that they are in phase before connecting them. Once you throw the switch, they are effectively "locked" together as if their shafts were physically coupled. Each one will then add or subtract power to this "mini-grid" according to the torque on its shaft. If one tries to run slower than the other, its generator will be driven by the other as a motor, keeping it up to speed.

One simple way to check the phase is to simply connect some light bulbs across the circuit breakers. Make sure that they're rated for 2× the phase voltage, because that's what they'll be getting when they're out of phase!

schematic

simulate this circuit – Schematic created using CircuitLab

Fire up the first generator and connect it to the output grid. For each subsequent generator, you fire it up and watch its light bulbs. They will flash at a rate that's equal to the frequency difference between that generator and the grid. Adjust the speed of the second generator until the flashing slows and the light bulbs go out. At that moment, the generators are at the same frequency and phase, and you can connect the new generator to the grid.

Of course, the small DIY generators that we're talking about aren't really meant to be controlled in this way. They generally have simple mechanical governors that keep the frequency approximately right, and voltage regulators that modulate the field current to keep the output voltage approximately in the right range. These mechanisms would probably be "confused" to some degree by such a hookup.

It's also possible that the engine is over-powered relative to the generator, and has more drag than the generator (when operating as a motor) can overcome. This would force the two generators out of sync, and large currents would flow, hopefully tripping their breakers and disconnecting them.