New Coleman Soft Start Option vs Microair
I see Coleman (Airexcel) is offering a 13,500 btu Mach 10 NDQ quiet air conditioner with a "soft start" option. Does anyone know what they are using and does it work as well as the Micriair that I ...
Forum Discussion
jjrbus wrote:
I have been watching this for some time. It would be nice to see some actual LRA numbers for the Coleman "soft start" vs no soft start. I suspect if they were impressive numbers that Coleman would publish them. I do not see them anyplace unless I am missing something?
what is most important is not just the peak LRA, but a graph of the current vs. time. Even a 2000VA generator can supply pretty good peak currents for a second or less IF the current drops to within generator running current limits quickly. If the current peaks at say 50A and takes seconds to drop to 15A or so, another story. A starting cap may not reduce LRA but will get the current down sooner. The area under the curve probably doesn't change, but the shape will. Regardless of what is done, the total energy needed to start the motor doesn't change. You can change the peak energy.
IIRC when I was looking at different AC units, some of the smaller high efficiency units, like a coleman power cub had LRA in the 30A range and my honda 2000 easily and consistently starts the polar cub even in eco mode. And I think some of the newer dometic and coleman high efficiency units not only have lower running current, but lower LRA as well.
