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A generator needs to have residual magnetism in its field coils to start the generation of electricity. A generator that has not been run in a long time will loose this magnetism. Because the field voltage is a DC supply, a battery across the field wiring will energize the coils instantaneously. Doing this several times will cause sparking when the contact to the battery is broken, hence the flash. This intermittent energizing and de-energizing will bring the residual magnetism back into the field coils. When the generator is started, the voltage output should rise to its normal level. If it does the magnetizing of the field coils to bring back the residual magnetism will have worked.

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13y ago

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