Can I connect gasoline generator directly to PC?

[MalickT]

I have a light-weight portable gasoline generator 750W max.
I also have a 1350W online UPS (NOT offline or line-interactive, online!)
Obviously my PC, monitor and speakers are connected to UPS.

Now, when I connected the gasoline generator to UPS, the generator voltage dropped to only 20 Volts and UPS shows "AC failure" and started beeping. Seems like generator overload? So does the UPS require 1350W input even if the UPS load is 30% which I figure is about 400-500W max.

I was hoping to use UPS between generator and PC as a voltage stabilizer but it does not seem to work.

Is it ok if I connect my PC directly to the generator? Im worried because generator voltage needle goes between 200-230 Volts...

[Sharc]

Originally Posted by MalickT

Is it ok if I connect my PC directly to the generator? Im worried because generator voltage needle goes between 200-230 Volts...

Should be ok, but consult the manual of the generator. How is its output voltage and frequency tolerance specified?
Even the mains voltage fluctuates (what does your power distributor warrant?), hence devices which are designed to operate at a nominal voltage of say 230VAC/50Hz like your PC have to tolerate voltage deviations of +/-10% minimum, plus tolerate another -5% voltage drop due to the in-house installation, so +10%/-15% deviation from the nominal 230VAC should be no problem for your PC.
Just don't run the gasoline generator indoors .

[Emulgator]

Power suppliers have to take great pains to supply stable mains
with low harmonics and low losses under today's varying load conditions.

A cheapo generator is quite load sensitive and would like to feed an ohmic load only, like a pure resistor.
But not much is ohmic anymore these days.

Incandescent Lightbulbs are PTCs already with up to 10x cold starting current,
A simple protection will not like that, but can be cheated by making it slow responding.

Already a standard linear PSU (Si rectifiers feeding large caps) makes up for decent charging current ripple
which loads the generator only peakwise.
Still a simple generator protection should be able to handle that going after mean value (or high-end RMS) only.


Now the UPS will have a SMPS upfront to charge the batteries.
That inrush current alone may trip the generator's protection, let alone the load waveform.

Next challenge: For efficiency that SMPS may have a PFC in front, buzzing away on the mains input.
Waveform is even more complex now, with large flyback voltage.
A simple protection will not like that and will most probably trip.

Batteries then feed Output SMPS as DC/AC converter. The usual mess of hacked current....

Rule of thumb: You will need to provide double the capacity for any SMPS to follow, not half.

And as Shark says: Look at the PC's service tag.
Newer notebooks have multi-region PSUs.
These are SMPS bricks for 90..260V range in best cases,
or 100..240V range (more often seen) which can handle lots of fluctuation.
No need for a UPS inbetween in that case.

[MalickT]

What about projector? My PJ is rated 100V-240V 50/50Hz 350W