Hurts Gen or AC when stumbling to start AC in ECO mode?

My gen wouldn't even run my AC in eco-mode... until I added a hard start capacitor. I monitor the voltage via a kill-a-watt. It drops to about 103VAC for that split second. It used to be much worse, even plugged into 30 amp power.

MrWizard wrote:
if the shore cord is plugged into the generater , then there are other loads besides the A/C
converter, and maybe the fridge or the WH

I've tried it just with the AC and it still does it. Again though, this is only in ECO mode. Regular mode it does just fine.

if the shore cord is plugged into the generater , then there are other loads besides the A/C
converter, and maybe the fridge or the WH

Its a Frigidaire 5k BTU one if that helps.

I hope the generator isn't a dud. Seems to run well.

otrfun wrote:
Either this generator has very little headroom or that little a/c unit has one huge amount of inrush current when that compressor kicks on.

Agreed. Seems extreme for a 5k A/C unit.

qwerty11 wrote:
FYI its a 5,000 BTU unit.

So I guess I should use more gas an run it with ECO off.

Most 5000 BTU window a/c units are rated at ~5 amps. I believe your Champion is rated at ~1600 watts/~13 amps. Either this generator has very little headroom or that little a/c unit has one huge amount of inrush current when that compressor kicks on.

FWIW, the overload LED always flashes momentarily on my 3100/2800 Champion 75531i inverter generator when my Dometic 13,500 BTU a/c compressor kicks on. It flashes with the economy mode both on or off. But, to this generator's credit it still runs the a/c even if the converter is on with a discharged battery (total load approx. 20-22 amps; a/c 14-15 amps plus converter charge load of 6-7 amps).

qwerty11 wrote:
FYI its a 5,000 BTU unit.

So I guess I should use more gas an run it with ECO off.

Exactly. You are deliberately downgrading the power,running the A/C on insufficient power, and over loading the genset.
Nothing good can happen under these conditions.
Yes, t will take gas to power genset! Running the A/C is not the time to save gas!...........but you already knew that..........LOL

FYI its a 5,000 BTU unit.

So I guess I should use more gas an run it with ECO off.

I know this isn't what you asked, but one thing you can do to lessen the problem is to run the A/C fan continuously. That way you don't have the fan starting load at the same time you're starting the compressor.

I did that for a while and it works. Then I added a 5 sec start delay to the fan and wrote it up here.

I've been reading very confident posts here for many years that voltage droop at startup will damage the air conditioner. On the other hand, some locations in Hawaii REQUIRE that residential air conditioners use a device to limit startup current, and at least one manufacturer says this causes no damage whatsoever. I'm just a spectator here noticing the polar opposite claims. The technical data for the device shows an approximate 30% reduction of maximum inrush current, with the inrush period lengthened from about 0.2 seconds to 3.2 seconds. That's in the same ballpark that my eu2000i took to recover to the operating voltage range with a 13,500 btuh Brisk Air, with 'eco' turned off.

Soft start device web page