Will a gas generator still work with a funky rotor?

[shaniac]

Greetings all, the Honda generator for my off grid home stopped putting out AC. The shop says it needs a new AVR and a Rotor. I know I can replace the AVR (Auto Voltage Regulator) but whet i am not clear on is if I can get a few more years out of the rotor.  Does a rotor die slowly or do they just crap out like the AVR?

I am asking because I am trying to determine if it is worth fixing this Honda or getting a new unit. Your sagely advice is always welcome.

Inverter is a trace 2424.
Gen is a Honda EM500s
I use the generator about 6 - 10 times a year when we have really long stormy spells and the panels cant top off the batts.

[joestue]

the rotor might be shorted out. unlikely but possible.

[dnix71]

Do you run your home from batteries through the inverter? If so what is the battery bank voltage? You might get better efficiency hooking a high amp car alternator to the Honda engine and that to your batteries when they get too low.

You don't say where you live but I Googled 'honda em500s craigslist' and got lots of hits. It might be cheaper to buy a used Honda like yours and keep your for parts if you realy like it.

I don't search from within Craigslist directly because they spam me with car ads no matter what search term I use.

[WindriderNM]

You can check the rotor with an ohm meter. Check each winding and see if they have about the same resistance.

[TomW]

When I first read this my first thought was "shotgun" repair.

I am not familiar with these units but AVR and Rotor just sounds like the 2 most likely failed parts.

As Windrider said you can do a basic test on the rotor with an ohmmeter.

If it checked out OK you might get away with just the AVR since you can always replace the rotor as recommended.

I suppose a bad rotor could fry the AVR so there may be some valid reason to swap both.

Just from the peanut gallery.

Tom