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Boatycall's avatar
Boatycall
Explorer
Apr 22, 2019

Installed a Micro-Air Soft Start today

So there's a backstory first ---

When I bought my 1160, I got it 6mos old used. Original owner bought it stripped - no AC, no gen, not even any TVs. I got a helluva deal on it, and first thing I did was put in not the normal 11k btu roof air, but a 13.5. First problem - PITA to try and get one Honda 2000 to run it... got a second 2000. Well... two 2000's - that's it's own PITA.

Put in a MicroAir Soft Start in my roof air today - worked as advertised. One single 2000 fired it right off, from eco mode, it rev'd up, but not even to full throttle, no problem. Got it from Hutch Mountain.com, people that specialize in propane conversions for Honda gens. Great people, ask for Clayton, tell him my name (Jim, not Boatycall), he might give ya a break.

Mods/admin -- Disclaimer - I get nothing nor am I affiliated with hutch Mountain. Just passing on a good product from good people.

35 Replies

  • Did a review on this unit on my web page. Amazing device. Can’t belive they are not installed on ac units from the factory.

    If you order direct and tell them you are a member of some RV forum they will offer a discount. I got 20% off for saying I belong to a Forest River Accociation.
  • I have been considering the soft start.maybe this just convinced me.
  • They work great. I installed one on our camper so that our 2800 watt inverter wouldn't have to go to surge overcoming the inrush amperage. Inrush amperage is reason why small generators don't work on air conditioners. A 13k unit, or a 15k unit is well within the output of a 2000 watt Honda once you get past the Locked Rotor Amperage needed to start the unit.
  • I have a Coleman 13.5. Wiring schematic was inside the unit's access panel. It was literally splice one wire, move 2, add one, done. I'm not kidding when I'm saying it took longer to get to the wires than the actual wiring.
    Then you fire up the roof air 5 times, with 5 minute wait times in between to avoid locked rotor---this is so the MicroAir can learn and adjust/optimize to the start surge.

    I have a Magnum Technologies Inverter/charger, with a very detailed digital display panel. At no point during start up did the incoming AC amperage exceed 12 amps. It said the incoming AC current ramp'd up to 5 amps for about 3 seconds(which it never did before--presumably storing it for the start surge), then 12 amps for less than a second to start, back down to 7 running with the fan on low.