After engaging magnet, when pushing forward or reverse, why doesn't drill operate and magnet light flashes?

Check the circuit breakers for a tripped one. If all OK, then the brushes may need to be replaced. Here's a tip on how to flash the field in the generator: This tip comes from the Briggs & Stratton Customer Education Department. As an alternative to flashing a rotor winding with a battery applied to the brushes, an electric drill may be used. Follow these steps to flash the generator:

• Plug the electric drill into the generator receptacle. (Cordless drills do not work)
• If the drill is reversible, move the direction switch to the forward position.
• Start the generator
• While depressing the trigger on the drill, spin the drill chuck in reverse direction. This will excite the field and the generator will now produce electricity. If spinning the chuck one direction does not work, try spinning the chuck in the other direction as you may have the reverse switch positioned backwards.

Use caution not to get your hand or other materials caught in the chuck. As soon as the field is excited, the generator will produce power and the drill will turn on.
The reason this works is because the electric motor in the drill will act as a small generator when spun backwards. The magnets in the drill's motor induce a voltage into the motor windings, which is fed back through the trigger, cord and into the generators receptacle. From there it goes into the power winding of the stator. The voltage going through the power winding creates a magnetic field, which is intensified due to the iron core of the stator laminations. The rotor intersects this magnetic field as it is spun past the power winding, thus inducing a voltage in the rotor winding. Once current flow is present in the rotor winding the rotor has been flashed.
If flashing the field does not make the generator work, you may have additional problems, besides a lack of magnetism in the rotor. Further testing will be needed. Hopefully, this will give a simple way to field flash your generator if needed

If the generator has been sitting for a long time or was shut off with the load connected it has likely lost the residual magnetism that is required to excite the winding. This is a common problem. Always disconnect the load from the generator before stopping the engine!

The generator needs to be flashed. There are several was to achieve this, but safest would be to use an electric drill.

• Connect an older style portable 120 volt drill to the running generator.
• Make sure the drill is in forward not reverse
• With the switch depressed rotate by hand the chuck of the drill in reverse
• careful, the generator will flash, power up and rotate the drill in the forward direction..

Hope this helps?

• Careful the generator will flash the windings and power up the drill

Flash Your Generac Portable Generator with a Corded Drill ...

? 1:14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LR62sm7USU
Oct 31, 2012 - Uploaded by Generacpowersystems
If your portable generator runs but doesn't produce output voltage, you can use a corded drill to reintroduce ...

Re-energizing Dead Generators - End Times Report

www.endtimesreport.com/dead_gen.html

Follow these steps to flash the generator: Plug the electric drill into the generatorreceptacle. (Cordless drills do not work) If the drill is reversible, move the direction switch to the forward position. Start the generator. While depressing the trigger on the drill, spin the drill chuck in reverse direction.

Generator flashing

www.dieselduck.info/machine/03%20electricity/flashing_generator.htm

To restore the small amount of residual magnetism necessary to begin voltage buildup, connect a 12 volt battery to the exciter field while the generator is at rest, as follows: Remove exciter field leads F+ and F- from the voltage regulator.

Flash A Generator - Davidson Sales Co Power Generation .

Magnetic drills have a safety system built into them so the motor will not run unless the magnet is on and the tool is sitting on between at least 1/8-inch and 1/4-inch steel. If your drill is sitting on enough steel you may have a problem with the sensor system inside the drill. Those problems are usually electronic parts related and, most of the time, they are R&R (Remove & Replace) method is used until you fix the problem.

Field Flashing of Portable Generators This tip comes from the Briggs & Stratton Customer Education Department. As an alternative to flashing a rotor winding with a battery applied to the brushes, an electric drill may be used. Follow these steps to flash the generator:

• Plug the electric drill into the generator receptacle. (Cordless drills do not work)
• If the drill is reversible, move the direction switch to the forward position.
• Start the generator
• While depressing the trigger on the drill, spin the drill chuck in reverse direction. This will excite the field and the generator will now produce electricity. If spinning the chuck one direction does not work, try spinning the chuck in the other direction as you may have the reverse switch positioned backwards.

Use caution not to get your hand or other materials caught in the chuck. As soon as the field is excited, the generator will produce power and the drill will turn on.
The reason this works is because the electric motor in the drill will act as a small generator when spun backwards. The magnets in the drill's motor induce a voltage into the motor windings, which is fed back through the trigger, cord and into the generators receptacle. From there it goes into the power winding of the stator. The voltage going through the power winding creates a magnetic field, which is intensified due to the iron core of the stator laminations. The rotor intersects this magnetic field as it is spun past the power winding, thus inducing a voltage in the rotor winding. Once current flow is present in the rotor winding the rotor has been flashed.
If flashing the field does not make the generator work, you may have additional problems, besides a lack of magnetism in the rotor. Further testing will be needed. Hopefully, this will give a simple way to field flash your generator if needed - Bruce Perrault

Johnny,

If generators are not used regularly, they need the their magnetic field to be charged (or flashed). This can be done by plugging an electric motor into the socket while the generator is running and spin the motor by hand. The hand-spun motor will push some electric current back into the generator and magnetize it enough to start it.

Look in the manual. There is likely something about field flashing the magnetic field. The easiest way to do this is to.
1) start the generator
2) plug an electric drill into the generator (without drill bit)
3) make sure drill is set to forward direction (if a reversable drill.
4) pull the trigger on the drill.
5) If the drill does not start, spin the drill's chuck clockwise (When looking down at the chuck from the drill bit end). Spin counter-clockwise if holding it like a pistol and pointing away from yourself.
6) Do this several times (hard) until the the generator will kick in and suddenly make the drill spin at full speed.
Be careful not to drop the drill or poke someone with it as you celebrate success.

It probably isn't the circuit breaker. The magnetic field has likely weakened (especially if the generator has not been used in a while). The magnet can be "flashed" by running a current through the generator briefly. The easiest way to do this is to plug in a motor and spin it backwards (by hand) while the generator is running (e.g. an electric drill). The drill acts as a weak generator when you put the energy into it by spinning it.

A previous answer I gave to the same problem...
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Look in the manual. There is likely something about field flashing the magnetic field. According to the Briggs and Straton web site (similar solution for all generators), the easiest way to do this is to.
1) start the generator
2) plug an electric drill into the generator (without drill bit)
3) make sure drill is set to forward direction (if a reversable drill.
4) pull the trigger on the drill.
5) If the drill does not start, spin the drill's chuck in reverse [clockwise (When looking down at the chuck from the drill bit end). Spin counter-clockwise if holding it like a pistol and pointing away from yourself].
6) Do this several times (hard) until the the generator will kick in and suddenly make the drill spin at full speed.
Be careful not to drop the drill or poke someone with it as you celebrate success.

The forward/ reverse switch is hanging up and the rotation of the drill is switching it, then it changes direction. The switch needs a little TLC and a good cleaning. Blow it out.

If you need further help, I’m available over the phone at https://www.6ya.com/expert/craig_3fa289bf857b1a3c

I haven't worked on one of them in years but I looked at a breakdown and the parts are as I remember. Go to Milwaukeetool.com and under parts/service type in your model number and view the wiring diagram for an operational check procedure. I would first look at the cord and is the base sitting on 1/2 or greater plate steel. If rusted or painted you will loose some of the holding force. Also I don't know what motor you have but some of the larger units require a lot of amps to operate and it is possible that even though you plugged it in direct to wall the circuit wasn't sufficient to operate both units. Last resort call the tech dept. at Milwaukee and see if they have any ideas. That panel is a component part as you know and there were no replacement parts for it. Hope this helps if not let me know and I will do some more checking

This is basically the same problem with a Hoover power drive only the forward still drives albeit slowly and a slight "push" to keep it going. There has to be a common core type of drive failure !!