Running ac from generator

[Shwthomas1975]

Afternoon. I recently purchased a champion 3100/2800 watt inverter generator. I am using this in my 21 foot hybrid camper with a 13500 but ac. This unit seems to struggle to get the compressor to kick on. After further research I am seeing that I should switch the fridge to gas and turn off the power converter as it takes about 1000 watts at times to charge the battery and somewhere around 500!watts to run fridge.
The fridge is easy, but I'm not sure how to make it so the the generator doesn't power the converter/charger? There doesn't seem to be a breaker for it.
Any help would be greatly appreciated

[DSteiner51]

DSteiner51 wrote:

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

Do you know how much the voltage drops while using eco mode when starting up the air conditioner?

DSteiner51 wrote:
I have a 2800 Subaru/Robin generator that couldn't start my 13.5 AC without a soft start kit. I then bought a new 5th with a 15 btu AC and no way it would start it. I purchased a Micro Air soft start and now with it on economy mode it starts it just fine. No need to turn off the convertor or fridge. BIG difference!

No I don't. I do know that my Progressive EMS (surge protector) kicks off when voltage drops below 104 volts and it doesn't drop enough for it to drop off line in eco mode.

This noon I decided to run the 2800 gen to charge the batteries from running my CPAP last nite and while doing that I would also run the dehumidifier since it has rained most of the morning. A little bit ago, while I was sitting outside reading, the genny suddenly went full throttle and sounded like it was pulling to the max. I quick ran inside to see what happened....

The air conditioner had started and the Progressive EMS (surge protector) was showing 25 amps total so I quick unplugged the dehumidifier as the genny was running over rated continuous capacity.

Now I know... I can charge the batteries at max rate, run 8 led lites, my 15 pint dehumidifier, and the 15k btu air conditioner at the same time for a short period. Elevation 1100ft MSL. I don't want to do it long as I would be afraid I may overheat the generator.

It really makes me curious what the starting amps of the AC is with the Micro Air Easy Start that it actually started on the genny and ran in a slightly overloaded condition for approx a minute, 2 max.

[ktmrfs]

TurnThePage wrote:
I bought it brand new off the sales lot. It was built in what is now the Outdoors RV factory in La Grande, OR.

I would take it back to the dealer and ask them to show you which breaker turns off the converter/charger. and if the 30A is the only one, I'd ask them to explain how this meets NEC code.

[TurnThePage]

I bought it brand new off the sales lot. It was built in what is now the Outdoors RV factory in La Grande, OR.

[ktmrfs]

TurnThePage wrote:

ktmrfs wrote:

TurnThePage wrote:
Just to add to the confusion, my converter plugged directly into a 15 amp plate on the back of the power distribution panel. There was no circuit breaker for it. Like a previous poster said, I installed a light switch near it and wired it to that.

well, the nameplate outlet must have a 15A breaker somewhere upstream. If not it is wired against code and presents a possible safety and fire hazard. A 15A outlet must be protected by either a 15A or 20A breaker with the appropriate wire size and NOT the main breaker on the panel.

Well, there is no breaker that affects it in any way except the main breaker. I don't know anything about electrical code. Hopefully it's just like the Road Runner and the law of gravity. :B

interesting. is this a used trailer where the PO might have changed something? If it is a new trailer, I'm suprised that it was built this way. having a 30A breaker going to a 15A outlet is a definite no no and IMHO a safety hazard.

[TurnThePage]

ktmrfs wrote:

TurnThePage wrote:
Just to add to the confusion, my converter plugged directly into a 15 amp plate on the back of the power distribution panel. There was no circuit breaker for it. Like a previous poster said, I installed a light switch near it and wired it to that.

well, the nameplate outlet must have a 15A breaker somewhere upstream. If not it is wired against code and presents a possible safety and fire hazard. A 15A outlet must be protected by either a 15A or 20A breaker with the appropriate wire size and NOT the main breaker on the panel.

Well, there is no breaker that affects it in any way except the main breaker. I don't know anything about electrical code. Hopefully it's just like the Road Runner and the law of gravity. :B

[ktmrfs]

TurnThePage wrote:
Just to add to the confusion, my converter plugged directly into a 15 amp plate on the back of the power distribution panel. There was no circuit breaker for it. Like a previous poster said, I installed a light switch near it and wired it to that.

well, the nameplate outlet must have a 15A breaker somewhere upstream. If not it is wired against code and presents a possible safety and fire hazard. A 15A outlet must be protected by either a 15A or 20A breaker with the appropriate wire size and NOT the main breaker on the panel.

[pianotuna]

Gary153,

Impressive results at 10,000 feet!

[Garyl53]

If you are operating the Champion 3100/2800 near its max power then the instruction indicate you must turn off the Economy switch. Learned this a few weekends ago when the generator would sometimes overload when the compressor would restart. After turning the switch off it was fine.

PS - this was at 10,000 ft. altitude!

[bartlettj]

I have the Champion 3100 and it has no trouble with mine with the AC (dometic), converter, fridge, and everything but the water heater on, even in ECO mode. If the water heater is on it might trip into overload, though.
However, I've never used it at high altitude, and you didn't specify that in your post.
I usually use my generator to charge my batteries so I'd be pretty grumpy if I couldn't power everything else I wanted to run while it was on.

As far as the converter circuit, if you have a WFCO panel it takes standard QO series breakers that you can buy just about anywhere. My converter was shared with the microwave, and I wanted to be able to run the microwave off my big inverter when dry camping so I added another breaker to separate out the converter to its own switchable source.

[DSteiner51]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi,

Do you know how much the voltage drops while using eco mode when starting up the air conditioner?

DSteiner51 wrote:
I have a 2800 Subaru/Robin generator that couldn't start my 13.5 AC without a soft start kit. I then bought a new 5th with a 15 btu AC and no way it would start it. I purchased a Micro Air soft start and now with it on economy mode it starts it just fine. No need to turn off the convertor or fridge. BIG difference!

No I don't. I do know that my Progressive EMS (surge protector) kicks off when voltage drops below 104 volts and it doesn't drop enough for it to drop off line in eco mode.

[pianotuna]

Hi,

Do you know how much the voltage drops while using eco mode when starting up the air conditioner?

DSteiner51 wrote:
I have a 2800 Subaru/Robin generator that couldn't start my 13.5 AC without a soft start kit. I then bought a new 5th with a 15 btu AC and no way it would start it. I purchased a Micro Air soft start and now with it on economy mode it starts it just fine. No need to turn off the convertor or fridge. BIG difference!

[TurnThePage]

Just to add to the confusion, my converter plugged directly into a 15 amp plate on the back of the power distribution panel. There was no circuit breaker for it. Like a previous poster said, I installed a light switch near it and wired it to that.

[MrWizard]

The water pump is only a few amps of 12v power typically been 4 and 7 depending on the pump, and that only when water is being used
It's not going to affect the generator and A/C unit

[Shwthomas1975]

Thanks again