It is caused by accidental tripping of field breaker, short circuit in the field circuits, poor brush contact or operating errors. The rotor of the generator loses the excitation current. After the generator loses its magnetism, it will cause the generator to lose step, and will generate differential frequency current in the rotor's dam ping winding, rotor surface, and rotor winding, causing additional temperature rise, which. Protecting a generator requires more than just a single relay. It's a system that includes auxiliary relays, communication with SCADA or similar systems, wiring from CTs and PTs (sometimes called VTs), and protective relays, which can be standalone devices or part of multifunction units.