Champion 3100 - running an AC - how many hrs out of a tank?

My wife likes to stay up all night watching TV. I go outside around 10 and fill up my Champion 3100 inverter generator. I come back in and tell her I'm going to bed you have at least 4 and 1/2 hours before it runs out of fuel but if you get lucky you'll get 6 hours out of it. That's also running the a/c.

ryanw821 wrote:

Boon Docker wrote:
Spes for the genny say 8hr at 25 percent load. Running the AC would be at full load. So assuming a 50 percent duty cycle you would get about 4 hours run time.

Starting the AC would be full surge load, but just running it once its started will be more like half load (ballpark probably 12-1600ish). Ambient outdoor temps will make a difference too with AC cycles, lot's of variables in play here. I would bet more than 4 hours, but I do bet a 7 hour claim is probably not very attainable either lol.

When running my 15k AC with two Champion 2000 watt paralleled they ran at full tilt when the AC compressor is running.

depends on the duty cycle of the AC compressor, among other things. Park your rig out in the sun in Death Vally in August, you'll see a much shorter run time than if you park it in the shade of some big old trees on the shore of Lake Superior.

Boon Docker wrote:
Spes for the genny say 8hr at 25 percent load. Running the AC would be at full load. So assuming a 50 percent duty cycle you would get about 4 hours run time.

Starting the AC would be full surge load, but just running it once its started will be more like half load (ballpark probably 12-1600ish). Ambient outdoor temps will make a difference too with AC cycles, lot's of variables in play here. I would bet more than 4 hours, but I do bet a 7 hour claim is probably not very attainable either lol.

We have been 6 hours using our AC but turned it off before generator could run dry. There are variables involved making the exact amount of time hard to pinpoint, we did have converter on and were using tv and satellite but fridge and water heater were on propane. In no way does our Dometic 13.5K AC unit max out our Champion 3100 watt genny, under the above scenario we were camping at over 7K elevation and genny was in eco-mode the whole time never missing a beat.

Spes for the genny say 8hr at 25 percent load. Running the AC would be at full load. So assuming a 50 percent duty cycle you would get about 4 hours run time.

Seven hours is what a friend of mine gets with his A/C.