Generator

[caysea7254]

We just returned from a trip out to south Utah. We had no hook ups the full time, cause we stayed in the national parks. We have solar so never a problem, except our 3500 watt champion generator would not run our 13.5 k air conditioner at 5500 feet. What watt of generator does everyone use that lives in these high altitudes? We have just never used it out west before cause evenings would cool down, but never been out there this time of year, and our 5th wheel at midnight was still 97 degrees! Just wondering if altitude has anything to do with it, since we our flatlanders. Thanks Tara

[Butch50]

Another one for the Microair easy start. I have installed 2 of them, one in my 15K and one 13.5K both Dometic brand. They are not just a hard start capacitor. It is true they are a lot more expensive but from what I see they work better.

[Gearitis]

I know you have solar and that there is some charging going down the road but if your converter is charging batteries and you do not have a "hard start" capacitor on your rig, you are probably hitting the max wattage for to long of a period of time. The hard start capacitor will shorten the start amperage as well as shorten the time of demand for the amperage for starting the compressor. I know you indicated that gas only on the hot water heater, just make double sure as well as the fridge. That altitude loss of power at 5500 ft is really not that much for a gas engine. Once you reach the 6k+ point, then it can start taking a toll. I camp every summer at 10k in Colorado and do not have an issue with my 3.5k ginny running air and other things in the middle of day when needed. Its a Champion and not a problem.

[johndeerefarmer]

Microair Easystart will solve your problem. Works great for me too!

[azrving]

treated_humble wrote:
Hey guys, my husband just picked a Champion 8000-Watt Dual Fuel Generator, for our trips, we now traveling a lot with our kids, and he told it could work up to 5-8h, depends on the fuel! If I remember right, he and his friends reviewed https://wisepick.org/best-dual-fuel-generator before picking it.

At 74 decibels I hope you plan on camping far far away from everyone with that monster.

[treated_humble]

Hey guys, my husband just picked a Champion 8000-Watt Dual Fuel Generator, for our trips, we now traveling a lot with our kids, and he told it could work up to 5-8h, depends on the fuel! If I remember right, he and his friends reviewed https://wisepick.org/best-dual-fuel-generator before picking it.

[4x4ord]

My Honda 2000 will run the A/C on my unit. Obviously the fridge and water heater need to be shut off but there is another high power consuming appliance that needs to be unplugged. The converter (or in my case inverter/battery charger) can use alot of power. In fact my Xantrex charger can trip the overload breaker on my Honda all on its own.

[SugarHillCTD]

Just installed one of these. I run a 15k btu unit with a Honda 2000

https://www.microair.net/collections/easystart-soft-starters

Without a device like this, an A/C unit can have a momentary draw of 50+ amps on start up. That combined with a loss of power due to altitude will create a non-start situation.

[caysea7254]

Thanks everyone for your replies. It's not a dual fuel generator. We had the fridge and water heater on propane. The generator ran the fan to the air but as soon as the compressor kicked on the generator would not pull it. We think it might be the type of air conditioner unit. It's a Dometic.

[Wind_River]

Make sure your water heater and refrigerator are both running on propane and I would wager your genny will power the air conditioner.

[theoldwizard1]

In the "old days" manufacturers would sell a "high altitude" kit. Contact Champion and see what the have to say.

fulltime5er wrote:
You could also install a hard start capacitor on the AC unit.

Hard start kits are ALWAYS a good idea !

[Sandia_Man]

Our Champion 3100 inverter generator easily runs our rig's AC tested at over 8500' elevation, still has power left to run our Iota converter and a couple of fans too. Not sure which model you have but many report running their AC unit successfully with the Champion 3500 watt open cage non-inverter version.

Gasoline engines lose 3 percent of their rated power every 1K' elevation, since we most often camp between 7K' and 9K' we lose a quarter of our Champion 3100's rated power, not an issue thus far as a simple press of the remote and she readily purrs into life. They now have a 3400 inverter genny for added oomph.

[azrving]

Yes, power goes down as the elevation goes up. Ive ran my Honda 3000/13,500 in Moab/4000, Denver/5000ft and Flagstaff 6900 ft with no problem

[fulltime5er]

Is it one of the dual fuel models running on propane? If so, try gas. You could also install a hard start capacitor on the AC unit.

[akrv]

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