Air Conditioner Issues
We bought a 2008 TT last year not knowing if the AC is 13,000 BTU or 15,000 BTU. The first time we took it out to a state park it worked fine except that one time it tripped the 30 amp breaker in the...
Forum Discussion
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.
