# Brush or brushless.



## Handyhiker (Sep 29, 2016)

From some reading on line, it looks like many of the Honda's are brush style generator ends, the Yamaha are mostly brushless. I have both, a brushless Champion and a brush style. The Titan I am working on is brushless, the Snap-on, Master Craft, Powermate and Generac are brush.
So my question is, what do you prefer and why? From looking on line, it seems there are opinions both ways. The brushless are said to be better for sensitive electronics, less maintenance but harder to trouble shoot if something goes wrong. Brush style are more maintenance and the brushes can cause problems with wear and sticking in the holders but are a tried and proven design.
I listed some brands that I either know about or have read about, really not a brand war, just style of generator end question.

This actually may be a two part question, 
1- What style would you want for home back up, extended run times?
2- What style for just a portable, construction, every day use.

Just curious as to personal experiences and opinions.


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## thehandyman1957 (Feb 11, 2017)

I think for myself I would prefer the old tried and true brush style. For the same reasons you mentioned.


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## KRE (Nov 29, 2011)

Brush style = cheaper to mfg, an higher O&M cost. 

Brush-less, Higher mfg cost, cheaper O&M cost

(O&M stands for Operation & Maintenance cost) 

The above said, there are advantages to both depending task, as well as operator/mechanic skill set's. In a true SHTF event I'd prefer a brush machine over a brush-less, as the voltage reg could be made from lots of odd parts, were as a rotating rectifier requires a certain skill set to build an install, from junk.


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## PaPaJo (Jan 4, 2018)

*Brush Style Is Best*

If you notice, most brush-less generators sell on the lower end of the market (retail price) and brush style generators normally sell for a bit more. The reason for the brushes is for the AVR (Automatic Voltage Regulator) to control the strength of the spinning rotor. When you apply a load to the generator the AVR puts more power into the rotor to make a stronger magnet to keep the output voltage in the 110 to 120vac range. Brushes are like brake shoes on a car, they last a long time but will eventually wear out and are not that hard to replace. Brush-less generators cannot do this so your output voltage can vary widely. (not good on what ever it is that you are supplying power to) There is one exception to this, it is the inverter style generators that are brushless but are higher priced. Inverter style makes AC power converts it to DC and then converts it back to AC. This produces a "clean sine wave" and a very stable output voltage regardless of the load. And in some cases the generator can be paired with a like unit to double the output.
Hope this helps


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