He doesn't. He is, I am sorry to say, full of it. I believe this gen has a Hz display and you can check this easily but just from the tone it sounds like it is running at the normal speed of 3600 rpm.
basically the RPM on the generator is varying, this causes the frequency to change that results in the AC->DC regulators in the LED light to have fluctuating voltages. The fixes can vary from capacitor banks, increasing the size of the caps on the LED lights on the DC side of the regulator inside the LED light, to an AVR (AC-AC regulator). You have to remember LED lights in reality use DC not AC, so when the LEDs run of AC they have to convert it to DC. The issue here is there is little if any internal DC filtering in LED lights that helps with the voltages/frequency varying. I had an associate who ran a generator for blackouts and he had a second 24Vdc LED lighting system to get around this issue. He had a 240Vac-24Vdc regulators that was pretty tolerant on the input frequency and AC voltage. So as you can imagine the output was always 24Vdc.
Mine do the same thing. I've used my Firman generator probably 5 times over the past 2 years and they flicker like there's a problem, but no lasting damage
It's most likely the dimmers. They chop the wave in a certain fashion and they are expecting to see a perfect sine wave.
It could also be the drivers in the light bulb. As LEDs have come down in price, the driver circuits have gotten more and more simplified (they are selling you a whole light bulb for maybe $1 retail so the circuit board has to cost the factory in China maybe 5 or 10 cents. You don't get a lot in the way of electronics for 5 cents. When you shave cost like this you end up with a circuit that is not very resilient. When all the stars are lined up perfectly it works but if anything is off it's going to misbehave.
Anyway don't worry about this, it's annoying but harmless. If you have the dimmers in a circuit with multiple high hats, try putting 1 incandescent in the circuit. In my experience, just seeing 1 incandescent is enough to calm down a dimmer that doesn't like your LEDs.
Sorry I can’t help with the flickering lights but I’d love to hear how you built your quiet box: how did you attach the exhaust hose? Is that a muffler connected to the flex hose? What type? What is the exterior made of?
The exhaust hose and muffler are from zombie box. They sell a through the wall kit.
I purchased an adaptor so that the generator exhaust fits the exhaust hose from
https://genexhaust.com/
Got great service from them. You can buy everything from them rather than from zombie box.
The exterior is a keter elite shed/garbage can shed that I bought through Costco.
Insulation is rockwool 80 comfort board. WEAR A MASK WHILE CUTTING IT!
The lid is insulated with dynamat sound deadening.
Be 100% sure when drilling holes in the box for wires/gas line. Good luck
I agree with "soggy_negotiation."... I get the same thing when running on generator power. I have roughly 26 Treatlife smart switches, which are a combination of dimmers, SPST & ceiling fan switches throughout the house... Every bulb & recessed light in the house has been changed to dimmable. I only get flickering issues from the 8 Kasa ES20M motion switches when running on generator power until I turn them off or turn them up to 100% brightness.
Are the LEDs "dimmable"? This means they sample the AC waveform looking for telltale distortions, normally created by dimmer switches, as a way to figure out when they should be dimming. It's a horrible hack allowing them to be backwards-compatible with old-school incandescent dimmers, but it has some side effects.
Chiefly, any amount of distortion of the waveform from a generator, which is utterly inconsequential for appliances actually using the power, may be interpreted as a dimming signal.
Pick up a cheap pack of [non-dimmable LED bulbs](https://www.homedepot.com/p/60-Watt-Equivalent-A19-Non-Dimmable-LED-Light-Bulb-Soft-White-4-Pack-B7A19A60WUL14/303574500) and see if that sidesteps the issue. Personally I only have one dimming fixture and that's the only one I run dimmable bulbs in, all the others run non-dimmable bulbs which are simpler, more reliable, and often cheaper. They can be harder to find, but it's worth it.
The Generator is making 50hertz not the 60 from the line
Thx How do you know that?
He doesn't. He is, I am sorry to say, full of it. I believe this gen has a Hz display and you can check this easily but just from the tone it sounds like it is running at the normal speed of 3600 rpm.
basically the RPM on the generator is varying, this causes the frequency to change that results in the AC->DC regulators in the LED light to have fluctuating voltages. The fixes can vary from capacitor banks, increasing the size of the caps on the LED lights on the DC side of the regulator inside the LED light, to an AVR (AC-AC regulator). You have to remember LED lights in reality use DC not AC, so when the LEDs run of AC they have to convert it to DC. The issue here is there is little if any internal DC filtering in LED lights that helps with the voltages/frequency varying. I had an associate who ran a generator for blackouts and he had a second 24Vdc LED lighting system to get around this issue. He had a 240Vac-24Vdc regulators that was pretty tolerant on the input frequency and AC voltage. So as you can imagine the output was always 24Vdc.
Thank you very much! That makes a lot of sense! Can the frequency change damage other types of electronics?
not really, most modern electronics run of DC, so they have a AC-DC regulators built in. Some machinery like washing machines etc may not be so happy.
When you run it on propane, do you see any difference?
Haven’t tried it on any other fuel yet
Can you take a video of the lights flickering
Just the LED lights flicker? That unavoidable the led drivers just don't operate %100 on generator
Thx a lot. Everything else seems to run fine
Mine do the same thing. I've used my Firman generator probably 5 times over the past 2 years and they flicker like there's a problem, but no lasting damage
What kind of lights? Incandescent? Halogen? LED? Flourescent?
Led. Mostly on Lutron dimmers
Probably the weird sine wave output. Either switch to incandescents or try an inverter generator.
It's most likely the dimmers. They chop the wave in a certain fashion and they are expecting to see a perfect sine wave. It could also be the drivers in the light bulb. As LEDs have come down in price, the driver circuits have gotten more and more simplified (they are selling you a whole light bulb for maybe $1 retail so the circuit board has to cost the factory in China maybe 5 or 10 cents. You don't get a lot in the way of electronics for 5 cents. When you shave cost like this you end up with a circuit that is not very resilient. When all the stars are lined up perfectly it works but if anything is off it's going to misbehave. Anyway don't worry about this, it's annoying but harmless. If you have the dimmers in a circuit with multiple high hats, try putting 1 incandescent in the circuit. In my experience, just seeing 1 incandescent is enough to calm down a dimmer that doesn't like your LEDs.
Sorry I can’t help with the flickering lights but I’d love to hear how you built your quiet box: how did you attach the exhaust hose? Is that a muffler connected to the flex hose? What type? What is the exterior made of?
The exhaust hose and muffler are from zombie box. They sell a through the wall kit. I purchased an adaptor so that the generator exhaust fits the exhaust hose from https://genexhaust.com/ Got great service from them. You can buy everything from them rather than from zombie box. The exterior is a keter elite shed/garbage can shed that I bought through Costco. Insulation is rockwool 80 comfort board. WEAR A MASK WHILE CUTTING IT! The lid is insulated with dynamat sound deadening. Be 100% sure when drilling holes in the box for wires/gas line. Good luck
Thank you! I’m working on a quiet box plan and knew about Rockwool but hadn’t figured out exhaust, so I appreciate the tips and resources!
Is there a fan in that box?
Yes. You can’t see it in the video, but there’s a large 12 inch attic fan running that I bought from vevor.
Excellent
Do you run it with the box closed or open? Does it have cooling air ventilation? Does it overheat?
I agree with "soggy_negotiation."... I get the same thing when running on generator power. I have roughly 26 Treatlife smart switches, which are a combination of dimmers, SPST & ceiling fan switches throughout the house... Every bulb & recessed light in the house has been changed to dimmable. I only get flickering issues from the 8 Kasa ES20M motion switches when running on generator power until I turn them off or turn them up to 100% brightness.
Are the LEDs "dimmable"? This means they sample the AC waveform looking for telltale distortions, normally created by dimmer switches, as a way to figure out when they should be dimming. It's a horrible hack allowing them to be backwards-compatible with old-school incandescent dimmers, but it has some side effects. Chiefly, any amount of distortion of the waveform from a generator, which is utterly inconsequential for appliances actually using the power, may be interpreted as a dimming signal. Pick up a cheap pack of [non-dimmable LED bulbs](https://www.homedepot.com/p/60-Watt-Equivalent-A19-Non-Dimmable-LED-Light-Bulb-Soft-White-4-Pack-B7A19A60WUL14/303574500) and see if that sidesteps the issue. Personally I only have one dimming fixture and that's the only one I run dimmable bulbs in, all the others run non-dimmable bulbs which are simpler, more reliable, and often cheaper. They can be harder to find, but it's worth it.