Honda 2000 companion

Thanks guys for all the information I have decided to purchase the 3000

awinfs wrote:
will a Honda 2000 companion run a Coleman 13,500 a.c. At sea level.
The air conditioning fan runs continuously while the air conditioner is on, so it would only have to handle the compressor cycling off and on.

My, and several other campers personal experience.

If it's a std (not High effeciency unit) the temps are low (<85F), AND it's not on ECO, AND nothing else is on in the trailer AND it is a brisk Air good chance. If it is a Coleman, very marginal. OEM colemans usually don't have a soft start cap, so inrush current is to high for the honda to supply. I added the soft start cap, and it helps but is not a sure fire cure, even at sea level.

your "almost" adequate with power. And "almost" and "barely" are NOT the same!!

But you are in VERY marginal territory. Experience is that WHEN you NEED the AC, (higher temps, or above sea level) you'll find it can't reliably start.

Now pair the companion with regular honda, and your in fat city.

Mine wouldn't start my 13.5 until I added one of these. I still wouldn't run it at night, allowing the compressor to start and stop frequently.

I live 130' above sea level. I added a supco hard start kit, and I can start and run the AC as long as the outside temperature is below 85 degrees. Above 85 degrees, the compressor will start and run for a while - but as the pressure inside builds (pressure is higher above 85 degrees or so) the 2000 labors to keep up. After 20 minutes, sometimes it continues to run, and sometimes I can hear the motor throttling up and down just a little bit even though ECO mode is off.

Eventually, the AC shuts off and the generator continues to run as full throttle, but it's no longer producing electricity or throttling up and down.

above sea level, I've had the same experience, and above 1500', it will start but not run more than 15 minutes before it is too much for the 2000.

We could do it with our older trailer that had the 13.5 on it.
One thing was I had added a Suppco start capacitor to the Dometic AC unit.

The AC would cycle about 10 times before overvolting the Honda Companion we have.
I wouldn't recommend allowing the generator to overvolt.

At best you are on the ragged edge of what the generator can do, especially when the compressor cycles. It may work, but it can burn both the generator and the A/C's compressor fairly quickly.

Is it possible for you to get another eu2000i (or even better an eu2000i Companion) and parallel the two generators? That would be the best way.

I had success running an older 13.5 AC unit with an EU2000i, but cycling the compressor may be a problem. You basically have be running only the AC with nothing else taking power for it to work and even then it is working the generator at 100%+ load all the time. I had to turn the fan on low first then switch the compressor on. The fan and compressor starting at the same time were too much load and would trip the generator out.

Basically, it can be done, but it is a far from ideal situation and will likely decrease the life of your generator.