Air Conditioner Issues

Lots of good advice up there but a 13.5KBTU unit should not draw more than 14 amps running. UNLESS.

I have two A/Cs on this house one is 13.5KBTU the other 15KBTU (K=Kilo=1,000)

Both draw 13.5 running if clean.

Yesterday, I went, as the song is titled: Up On The Roof, and popped the cover off the 15K box, opened the inner cover and took about a whole buncy of "Lint" off the condenser coils.

What this (lint, dirt, crud, "Stuff") does is block the air flow, make the unit get hotter, this makes the compressor work harder and draw.... More current.

The two A/C's together, if clean, plus minimal other stuff inside (converter with full batteries, TV's OFF and their support electronics) draw 27 amps by measurement.,

Bobbo wrote:
Are you also running other high draw items like a water heater or microwave, or is your converter trying to recharge a low battery?

My bill is in the mail. :B

If your computer doesn't work, make sure it's plugged in, duh!!! I went back and checked EVERYTHING again... Contrary to what I assumed... my water heater was set to electric and drawing 14 amps as soon as I plugged in.

MY generator is rated for 23 amps and has max capacity of 25 Amps. My AC settles at around 12.5 amps and the rest of the trailer has 1 amp of other parasitic loads, add it all up including 14 amps for the water heater and you get a total of 27.5 amps... Wow. I"m surprised my generator was able to carry that type of load for almost 5 min before stalling. ...and hope I didn't damage the coils as a result of overloading.

Anyway case closed. Hopefully this helps someone else who might be overlooking the obvious.

I would sure try cleaning the unit first- blocked or dirty condenser coils will cause that problem, and is way more common than compressor failures.

The water heater is set to LP and I've got a 130 watt solar panel that keeps the batteries topped off. The fact is the AC starts and runs fine for about five minutes, then it stalls. I've also had the generator tested and it's as good as new. I spoke with an RV shop today and they suspect it's the compressor.

Anyways thanks for you comments. I think it's time a a new AC.

The current draw is spec'd at 95° outside, 75° inside, 50% relative humidity 115 volts AC. Every 10 degree difference in temp translates to 1 amp (up or down). So trying it at 70° ambient will result in drawing ~2 amps under its nameplate rating.

Bobbo wrote:
Are you also running other high draw items like a water heater or microwave, or is your converter trying to recharge a low battery?

Bingo, we have a winner!

A 3,000 watt generator should run a 15,000 btu AC just fine, provided little else is on. The sticking point is usually when the AC's compressor kicks on, and if your converter is trying to recharge the batteries at the same time you have other things going, say microwave, TV, lights, etc. it can exceed the capacity of the generator for a few seconds, and that's all it takes to kick the genny off.

Sounds like everything is working as it should to me. The fact that you find the genny adequate at home, but not out in the woods when it's really hot simply suggests you've found the limits of what that particular generator can do. Your options are buy a bigger generator or figure out what loads to make sure are off.

On hot days, that AC compressor will be on and off often. And given that a genny capable of running something while the compressor is running can still get you in trouble when the compressor cycles off, then later restarts and the starting surge kicks the genny off. That said, the running and starting loads probably don't differ depending on ambient temperature. But the run time will be longer in the heat, and there will be more frequent transient startup loads.

A 15,000 btu AC probably uses about 800 watts running but will take 2,100 to 2,400 watts to start. Depending on the charge on your house batteries, your converter/charger can pull as much as 800 - 1,000 watts. These two items alone will get you into iffy territory.

Are you also running other high draw items like a water heater or microwave, or is your converter trying to recharge a low battery?

i ran my 15,000 btu unit off a honda eu2000 with no problems…
i didn't have any juice to spare for a t.v. or anything, but i was cool.