Two honda generators in tandem
How come my 4400 watt honda generator (2200 companion and 2000 in tandem) wont power my 1350 btu air cibsitioner? I am at 5280 ft (Denver).
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37 Replies
- Once the A/C is running you should be able to move the thermostat right down to where you want it. The unit works no harder by moving the thermostat.
Seems odd that it would quit once you get it running. How old it this RV?
The freeze sensor could be causing the compressor to cycle and maybe restart too soon.
Since you have it running it would help to get an amp reading to determine if the compressor motor is failing. - Thank you JD - i wouldnt know the first thing about hooking up an aplianceair or micro-air. I cant even get on to roof of trailor. Shouldnt 4200 watts be plenty? But altitude might be the point of all this? What size gen do i really need in colorado? 5000, 6000, 7000 watts for a little a.c. or is something just wrong - frustrated cuz i have 2200 dollars invested in gens and still not working.
- Thank you all - honda dealer that sold me the companion honda couple months ago said to bring them both in, the trailor - basically the whole set up to their parking lot to see whats wrong. They feel confident that it should run the ac. Problem is that hooking up the trailor to go all the way over to honda is far and a hassle. Any ideas are much appreciated. All other things are turned off when i try to power up ac. Except i dont mess with any breakers or fuses to turn off battery draw. I have a battery cut off switch should i mess with that on or off?
One more thing to mention. It is hot around here lately when i try to turn it on. Like in the 90s so i turn on ac on low setting and try to start at like 80 and then every 15 mins 78 degs then 76 after 15 and so on trying to get it to about 72 or something comfortable - it will go ok like this for a while but then somewhere during the process of bringing it down in temp, generator bogs and overloads. Other times it just bogs and turns off within the first few mins. Should i have to start in the morning before it warms up and little by little bring temp down as the day progresses? This dosent seem practical as i would have to have gens running all day in the summer.
These problems are here at my house in the city. I like to go camping alot at higher elevations even up to 8000 and 9000 feet. - Yea my first generator - the 2000 watt honda i bought a year ago falls in the serial number series. Something seems wrong although - the 16 to 25 percent loss from altitude is significant.
I was also thinking the cord from one to the other generator could be faulty? The cord from my trailer to generator is fine or at least very unlikely the problem.
Both generators the eu2000i and 2200i companion are both new with less then 10 hours on them.
The trailer is new and the ac seems to work fine. The generators bog down and then hits overload after about 3 to 5 mins after i turn on ac. It may be the generator that the trailer is plugged in to (the companion) that is the only one overloading. I was just thinking about this and will have to watch to see if one or both overload. - check this out before you go and pay 300.00 for a micro-air I have one and it works fine. seller name is applianceandair on eBay
Jay D. ktmrfs wrote:
My 2000 watt Hondas have ran my 15K @9000' in AZ with no problem. I do make sure that the WH and Fridge are not on AC.pianotuna wrote:
4200 is surge value
run is 1600 and maybe 1760 with eco switch off
2200 is 1800W continous 2000 is 1600 continous. Issue isn't the running current it's the darn 50+ A locked rotor draw.
So a 2200 in parallel with a 2000 is 3400W continous,more than enough to keep the AC and other stuff running. It's GETTING it running that's the tough one.
If those two happen to come on at the same time as the AC.... That would be a problem.pianotuna wrote:
4200 is surge value
run is 1600 and maybe 1760 with eco switch off
2200 is 1800W continous 2000 is 1600 continous. Issue isn't the running current it's the darn 50+ A locked rotor draw.
So a 2200 in parallel with a 2000 is 3400W continous,more than enough to keep the AC and other stuff running. It's GETTING it running that's the tough one.- easy start will be your friend.
Tvov wrote:
Do the generators have their "ECO" mode turned OFF? We ran a 13.5 A/C for a weekend using an EU2000 without any problems, but the ECO mode had to be off... which meant it was not quiet.
Yes, we were at sea level, but with the amount of power you are using you should be able to run A/C.
before I installed the micro air easy start, my paralled honda's had to be off the eco mode even when in parallel to start the AC if we were much above sea level or it was quite hot. One generator if lucky would start the AC at sea level if not in eco mode. once started I could go back to eco mode, but then if the AC shut off I had to remember to go back off eco before the AC decided to come back on again.
This was even at sea level, worse at 5,000ft or so.
with the micro air, one honda 2000 in eco mode easily starts the AC even at 6000ft or so, but will soon overload. the honda 2200 is fine for long term starting and running the AC at 7000 ft in eco mode.cbwallace wrote:
ford truck guy wrote:
cbwallace wrote:
It sounds as though the generators are not actually running in parallel for some reason. I have run a 13.5 A/C unit on a single Honda at much lower altitudes but it is about all the generator can handle. I have also tried to do the same at 5,000+ feet and it will not do it. However, I have run 2 Hondas in parallel many times and it will run the microwave, A/C and fridge all at the same time with no problem. The Hondas in parallel should run close to all of the same amenities as a 30A outlet.
^^^ check this.. When I was running the same set up, I was rushed 1 day during set up and I reversed 2 of the 3 cables that run it in parallel.. was not running AC, just everything else, the MAIN genny ran out of fuel while the 2nd was still almost full....All the draw was on 1
I've not managed to do that yet, but always wondered what would happen if you crossed the red and black wires.
yup... It was a cluster that day, but I succeeded in doing that ! Then I pounded in my head - - Red = R = Right.....
