dual AC on 30 amps - I think I made it work

[tim1970]

Here is what I did. Middle of day once temperatures start heating up, I switched my water heater and refrigerator over to propane. I unplugged cofee pot, curling iron, and anything else drawing electricity. I even cut off the breaker to the microwave so the clock wasn't drawing power. I also shut off the breaker that charges my batteries. I then turned on one of the AC's and let it run for about a minute. Then I turned on the other one. I have the fan set to "ON" and the thermostat for each unit all the way down, so the two units will not end up cycling at the same time. I realize this is extreme, but so far it is working. Am I harming anything by doing this? Once the sun goes down, I will turn off one of the AC's and resume everything else as normal.

[lampooner]

I had a 2001 Fleetwood Flair motorhome with dual AC units. It had a "Gizmo", that's a very technical term! The purpose of ths was to prevent both units from trying to start at the same time. It worked great, n ever had a problem running both AC units,

The Gizmo was built in, came with MH. Maybe someone makes a similar unit as an after-market unit.

[bucky]

I smell smoke. Soon.

[valhalla360]

time2roll wrote:
Check your plug at the pedestal for heat.

Probably worth taking a look at the back of the breaker panel and all along the cord.

30amp is only rated for 25amp continuous, so you are really pushing the limits. If everything is in perfect condition and the voltage in the park is good, it can work.

Voltage can play a role here. If you are in a park with high voltage (but within nominal specs), it can work but if voltage drops, it will become a problem. Watts = Volts * Amps...so to maintain the same power (watts), if the voltage drops the amps will go up. If you are lucky, the breaker trips.

[JusBud]

Good thing you unplugged your curling iron
Nothing worse than a bad hair day;)

[pianotuna]

Monitor the voltage. If it goes below 107 turn off one air conditioner.

[wa8yxm]

twodownzero wrote:
What's the full load amperage of the units you're using?

I do not know about the O/P but I tried that once. The site I was on I was using a "Flat" 30 amp adapter.. This has 3 wires side by side (Hot/Ground/Neutral) so you can easily split them apart and clamp a clamp on ammeter over the separated lead.

The two Carrier Air-Vs say they draw 13.5 amps each
They did not lie. the meter showed 27 amps.

[twodownzero]

tim1970 wrote:
It’s been running for about 3 hours now. Breaker has not tripped, and the plug is cool to the touch. According to the documentation for my ac’s The max cooling amps is 14.4.

You should be fine then even if they kick on at the same time. It's not like a brief overload (we're talking a cycle and a half) is going to trip the breaker. Try it and see.

[cavie]

There is nothing you can do about when then cycle on and off. Turn the micro back on just don't use it. Install hard-start capacitors on the A/C units. They will boost the start up voltage.

[BB_TX]

As long as your voltage is staying up there should be no problem.

[PastorCharlie]

You should be ok as long as they do not cycle at same time....it will be borderline however.

[tim1970]

It’s been running for about 3 hours now. Breaker has not tripped, and the plug is cool to the touch. According to the documentation for my ac’s The max cooling amps is 14.4.

[time2roll]

Check your plug at the pedestal for heat.

[twodownzero]

What's the full load amperage of the units you're using?