Washing machine not working on generator

[Steve stav]

Hi. I have a honda 26i Generator and it will not run my new washing machine.

 

so heres the sequence

 

—honda 2.6i does not run my machine BUT it does run my neighbours larger machine
  - so not a load problem

—my neighbours 2k unbranded noisy generator does run my Machine 
   - so not a load problem

 

both machines have digital inverter Motors
 

any advice At all welcome

 

their machine is no longer on the market so i cant buy one.

 

many thanks in advance 

 

steve 

 

 

 

[Tracy D'arth]

When you say won't run do you mean it overloads or will not start the electronics?  Size or machine is not related to electrical load.

[Steve stav]

Good point. Essentially it turns on fine but the door lock light does not come on. (the door is locked though)

this seems to be the main issue. As if this light does not come on the sequence will not start. its a safety feature

 

on the smaller genny the light comes on 

Edited September 26, 2020 by Steve stav

[Tracy D'arth]

It is probably an electronic anomaly caused by the waveform of the generated voltage. Some electronics are fussy, it looks like it isn't commencing the sequence.  Generator inverter could be sitting in a wait state due to insufficient load.  Try having a mains filament lamp on at the same time so that the generator is doing something as the washer starts.

Make and model of troublesome washer?

[Guest]

Tried eco-mode on/off? I think your model has one.

[Steve stav]

Yes i did try and have a load on at the same time but still nothing. And the smaller genny worked fine without the extra load.

 

the machine works fine on the inverter but my battaries dont like it and it cuts out half way through.

 

i even tried it through the inver whilst charging the battaries but no joy 

[Steve stav]

2 hours ago, Martin Nicholas said:

Tried eco-mode on/off? I think your model has one.

Yes and it does not work on any mode as the door lock light does not come on. 
 

this seems to be the issue 

[Tony Brooks]

Have you tried slamming the door or pushing it hard against the seal. Ours does than at home when my wife does nt push it hard enough.

[Steve stav]

20 hours ago, Tony Brooks said:

Have you tried slamming the door or pushing it hard against the seal. Ours does than at home when my wife does nt push it hard enough.

I haven't as such, but it works when used with a different power source without doing that. Its also brand new

[Eeyore]

You could try a small “base load” such as a table lamp plugged into the generator. This should keep the generators inverter active, even when the electronics in the washing machine are showing it zero load.

[Tracy D'arth]

I suggested that and he said he had tried it.

 

Keep up at the back !

[Eeyore]

6 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I suggested that and he said he had tried it.

 

Keep up at the back !

Sorry, still bleary eyed after the Sunday lie in ?

[blackrose]

I sometimes have some issues with my Honda EU30i (2.8kw rated) generator running my washing machine. Sometimes the washing machine starts straight away, other times it decides it doesn't like the electricity supply and refuses to accept it. All I get are some flashing lights on the washing machine but not the start light. That normally goes on for 20 -30 mins and then suddenly the start light illuminates and I can start the machine. It's very odd. I raised this on the forum some 13 years ago and even Gibbo couldn't work out what was happening. I was advised to switch on another electrical appliance to see if that smoothed out the waveform but it made no difference.

 

Why sometimes I'm able to start the machine straight away and other times I have to wait 20 mins remains a mystery to me, but it's no big deal I just live with it. I'm running my charger shortly after I start the generator anyway so it's not a problem. The machine is a Zanusi ZWC 1300W compact 1.6kw

 

Anyway, my advice to Steve is wait, give it time and see what happens. In my case it almost seems like the washing machine has to "learn" to accept the supply each time!

Edited September 27, 2020 by blackrose

[blackrose]

Also, I'm not sure if it's relevant, but the other thing I do is make sure my mains ring isn't connected to the generator at start up and when switching the generator off. I've been told the voltage can spike and damage sensitive equipment.

[Tracy D'arth]

The Zanussi KWC 1300 has various places in the program where the current demand falls away to almost zero. This is why on some inverters with power save feature they restart the last function or go to sleep unless the inverter is kept up with a load.

Maybe a similar thing?

Edited September 27, 2020 by Tracy D'arth

[blackrose]

Possibly, I really don't know. I think it's worth Steve leaving his washing machine hooked up for up to an hour while the generator is running just to see if at some point it will allow itself to be started. Once my machine starts it's fine and finishes the washing cycle. I've never had a problem with it suddenly stopping mid-cycle.

[Tracy D'arth]

3 minutes ago, blackrose said:

Possibly, I really don't know. I think it's worth Steve leaving his washing machine hooked up for up to an hour while the generator is running just to see if at some point it will allow itself to be started. Once my machine starts it's fine and finishes the washing cycle. I've never had a problem with it suddenly stopping mid-cycle.

An idea, set the delay timer for an hour, if the timer runs down the electronics must be taking current, it may start as soon as the delay ends.

[blackrose]

33 minutes ago, Tracy D'arth said:

An idea, set the delay timer for an hour, if the timer runs down the electronics must be taking current, it may start as soon as the delay ends.

Yes I might try that on mine too next time to save me keeping on looking at it waiting for the start light. 

[Steve stav]

2 hours ago, Tracy D'arth said:

I suggested that and he said he had tried it.

 

Keep up at the back !

?

[Steve stav]

17 hours ago, blackrose said:

I sometimes have some issues with my Honda EU30i (2.8kw rated) generator running my washing machine. Sometimes the washing machine starts straight away, other times it decides it doesn't like the electricity supply and refuses to accept it. All I get are some flashing lights on the washing machine but not the start light. That normally goes on for 20 -30 mins and then suddenly the start light illuminates and I can start the machine. It's very odd. I raised this on the forum some 13 years ago and even Gibbo couldn't work out what was happening. I was advised to switch on another electrical appliance to see if that smoothed out the waveform but it made no difference.

 

Why sometimes I'm able to start the machine straight away and other times I have to wait 20 mins remains a mystery to me, but it's no big deal I just live with it. I'm running my charger shortly after I start the generator anyway so it's not a problem. The machine is a Zanusi ZWC 1300W compact 1.6kw

 

Anyway, my advice to Steve is wait, give it time and see what happens. In my case it almost seems like the washing machine has to "learn" to accept the supply each time!

hi. yes i saw your post from way back then but didnt see a solution so started a new one hoping i would get the result from your post sent to me hehe..  fi did try the leaving it on but the machine has a timer built in that will cut it off if not used for 10 mins so i cannot try that. 

 

ive tested the inverter and the genny power and they both match perfectly but the really odd thing is that it will work on the inverter but the batteries cant cope with it and when i try to charge at the same time to allow the batteries to do the job but the machine cuts off as soon as the genny kicks in.

 

its stumped many good people including idersit who sent out 5 engineers and a new machine.. 

 

the mad thing is it runs of the neighbours genny which is a cheap unbranded thing that is falling apart haha..

 

ill keep at it and if i come up with something ill post it here 

 

cheers 

[Higgs]

4 minutes ago, Steve stav said:

hi. yes i saw your post from way back then but didnt see a solution so started a new one hoping i would get the result from your post sent to me hehe..  fi did try the leaving it on but the machine has a timer built in that will cut it off if not used for 10 mins so i cannot try that. 

 

ive tested the inverter and the genny power and they both match perfectly but the really odd thing is that it will work on the inverter but the batteries cant cope with it and when i try to charge at the same time to allow the batteries to do the job but the machine cuts off as soon as the genny kicks in.

 

its stumped many good people including idersit who sent out 5 engineers and a new machine.. 

 

the mad thing is it runs of the neighbours genny which is a cheap unbranded thing that is falling apart haha..

 

ill keep at it and if i come up with something ill post it here 

 

cheers 

 

So far, the only fly in the ointment is your generator. It would be interesting to see if an isolation transformer could clean up its output. Have any of the engineers had an oscilloscope to see the generator's wave pattern? 

 

 

 

 

[Tracy D'arth]

Lateral thought, have you asked Honda? As it seems to be the generator causing the problem its got to be either waveform, or voltage out of kilter either way.

 

Perhaps Japanese generators don't like Italian washers.

[WotEver]

23 minutes ago, Higgs said:

Have any of the engineers had an oscilloscope to see the generator's wave pattern?

As I was driving back from the supermarket earlier I had exactly the same thought. It has to be something odd about the waveform. I wonder if any of our London based members can help out? Hondas usually give a very good and clean output so the genny could have a faulty inverter board. 

[Higgs]

6 minutes ago, WotEver said:

As I was driving back from the supermarket earlier I had exactly the same thought. It has to be something odd about the waveform. I wonder if any of our London based members can help out? Hondas usually give a very good and clean output so the genny could have a faulty inverter board. 

 

It's worth a shot. I have an oscilloscope, but too far away. 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 28, 2020 by Higgs

[WotEver]

Just now, Higgs said:

 

Its worth a shot. I have an oscilloscope, but too far away.

Ditto. I even have a little battery powered toy one, which saves lugging the beast around.