3000W Chinese Gensets Info.
professor95 wrote: EDIT ADDED 45/5/2013- When this thread started in March of 2005, I never expected to see it survive this long or amass the quantity of information that has been shared here. In...
Forum Discussion
elking wrote:
Professor95. I plugged a 1400 watt coffee pot and an 1800 watt hair dryer into the above mentioned generator no problems, just a slight increase in engine rpm. My rv is a brand new 2006 25.5 ft. prowler with a 13,500 btu RVP series 8000 a/c unit. The compressor on the a/c unit has a LRA of 54 amps. Does that mean I have to have a surge rating of 6,000 watts to get the a/c unit to even start? 54 * 110 = 5,940. If so does anyone else out there have the same problem getting thier a/c units to start? It is starting to appear that I maybe under powered. Any thoughts?
We have 1/2 of the testing done. Plugging the coffee pot and hairdryer in at the same time confirms that the generator is capable of providing the rated wattage to a resistive load.
I believe it is important to try the "second" test as well. On more occasions than I can count on my fingers and toes, parasitic loads inside the camper electric system from items such as the the electric heater in the frig, an electric water heater element accidentally left on on or the 120 to 12 VDC converter supplying a high current load have kept a generator or circuit from running an AC.
Pure speculation here, but the fact that the Air Conditioner is new could contribute to higher starting current loads as well. This would not be normal, but tight bearings, rings or seals in new equipment can sometimes add to the problem. Sort of like an engine - they need to be "broken in". I have a similar AC on my 2005 Prowler, except it is 15K BTU. My ELM3000 is comparable to your Homier unit and in all probability was built on the same assembly line. My system worked - yours should too.
Do you have a fellow camper handy who has a similar AC? If so, will the generator start another unit?
You are correct in computing the surge wattage for the LRA rating. But, unless a motor is extremely tight or loads a lesser wattage should get it rolling.
MrWizard should be able to add some additional insight to this starting current/load question. Hopefully, he will jump in here.
In summary, you should not need a larger generator than you purchased. Through the process of elimination we need to isolate where the problem is (camper's parasitic loads, AC start current requirement or generator capacity). It is a pain, but keep on course with the testing to isolate the problem.
