The influence of three different damper winding configurations on unbalanced magnetic pull (UMP) in salient pole synchronous machines with rotor eccentricity has been investigated. Continuous and noncontinuous damper windings resulted in different damper winding currents, but their effect on the UMP was found to be very similar. Measurements of the UMP, damper bar currents, and air gap flux density were performed on a 12-pole generator with a static eccentricity under no-load conditions. Finite-element simulations of the different configurations detailing the damper winding induced flux changes are also presented.