New Coleman Soft Start Option vs Microair

otrfun wrote:

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?

I've made a number of inrush/LRA current measurements over the last few years after installing a few Micro-Air Easy Starts ($250-$300) and hard/soft start cap kits ($20-$30). The Micro Air typically reduces the 55-65a inrush/LRA current found on a typical 13.5 BTU RV a/c as much as 35-45a (down to 20-25a), sometimes even lower. This is a dramatic, 50-75% reduction in inrush/LRA current.

A hard/soft start cap kit *may* net you a small 2-4a (<5%) reduction in inrush/LRA current. If you have a generator that's right on the edge of starting your a/c, a hard/soft cap kit can nudge your generator into successfully starting your a/c compressor. However, as soon as ambient temps rise (along with your inrush/LRA current) you may find your generator unable to start the a/c again.

Bottom line, the Micro Air Easy Start dramatically outperforms any hard/soft start cap kit.

I had similar results.

I installed the micro air on our Coleman Mach III 13.5K AC unit a few years ago. After the "learning sequence" I measured the peak inrush current using a NIST traceable current probe that would capture peaks as short as 10ms. (e.g. < 1 cycle of 60 hz) The peak current on start up measured over 5 start cycles was less than 20A, meanwhile peak inrush current before the install was a consistent 45A.

with the micro air, my honda 2000 in eco mode would easily start the Mach III with a very smooth ramp up in rpm on the honda.

I will mention that a honda 2000 is likely to have trouble running a Mach III above about 3000-4000 ft w/o tripping the micro air overload sensor. Gave one honda 2000 to our son when the 2200 came out and the 2200 will consistently run the MachIII at 7,000ft all day long.