I work at a high rise building as security and was interested to know why smoke would come out of a generator? What would be the main reason? Engine too hot? A snapped wire?
What kind of generator and how is it fueled? A diesel generator will smoke at start-up, and if it is an older unit burning old fuel, it will smoke in operation as well. That would be smoke from the exhaust. If you are writing about smoke from the windings - that is the generator itself - that would be due to an overload and/or winding failure, and caused by the system overheating. If you are writing about smoke coming off the engine - that could be from an oil leak, or debris falling onto the engine and being combusted by heat. Only the first of these is 'normal'.
