AC Portable Generator Electrical Voltage Drop/Fluctuating
Purchased this used 2006 Ford E450 Toy Hauler a few months ago, had issues running roof AC I’d say the first time above 75 degrees, tried to have the roof AC serviced(has a service port already so they checked and added refrigerant) seemed to fix it for a few days maybe but didn’t. I gave up on the roof AC and bought a window AC 10,000 btu we “temporary” hung it out the side window and it worked great, iceicles in here! One day I broke the window AC(don’t ask), got a new one at Walmart the new one didn’t work anything like the first one, same installation practice but it didn’t get that cold and would trip/reset itself every 30-90 minutes or so, took it back and got a replacement which is now the AC we currently have, it works better than the second but not as good as the first one but it’s doing the same thing reset/trip every 30-90 minutes or less if I turn on other electrical devices like the battery charger or microwave. I should also mention that the mricrowave does not operate very well(not sure if it’s the microwave.?)
Running a Brute 3500 running 5250 starting watt portable generator that I installed in the original generator bay using a 12V fuel pump to feed from the RV fuel tank. The generator jumps up and handles the startup of either the roof AC or window AC now problem and the generator never boggs down or trips, the window AC simply beeps and resets itself then blows warm air for a few until the compressor kicks back in then it blows cold again.
During this frustration I have tested many things and tried to discover whether this is a generator issues or an electrical issue :-/
Here’s some of the other interesting things I’ve found;
At first testing I found that my floating neutral generator was putting out about 90V on HOT and 30V on NEUTRAL, I placed a jumper to ground the nuetral and now have a normal 122V on HOT
All 12V lights are not affected
Roof AC will startup and run off portable generator but acts similar to window AC and slows then boggs down until you reset it
Microwave light starts to flicker and go dim when the window AC starts to slow then bogg down
The window AC runs fine plugged into a normal 120v outlet shore power
Occasionally when I try to run the window AC along with a few fans the AC and the fans will all slow down to a crawl, I have tested and got about 62V on HOT and 62V on NUETRAL, once the window AC resets the voltage slowly goes back up to 122V~ and remains there unless the AC begins to slow down again
Window AC runs longer if plugged into generator directly and all RV breakers are turned OFF
From what I’ve researched I should have enough generator power to run two maybe even three 10000 btu ACs at once let alone just one and some fans, do I not have a big enough generator? Is it a grounding issue? It ran the first Window AC no problem while charging batteries and running fridge... nothing changed from window AC number 1 to 2 to 3 other than the window ACs themselves, once this problem persisted I started messing with everything trying to figure it out. Any and all help greatly appreciated!
Running a Brute 3500 running 5250 starting watt portable generator that I installed in the original generator bay using a 12V fuel pump to feed from the RV fuel tank. The generator jumps up and handles the startup of either the roof AC or window AC now problem and the generator never boggs down or trips, the window AC simply beeps and resets itself then blows warm air for a few until the compressor kicks back in then it blows cold again.
During this frustration I have tested many things and tried to discover whether this is a generator issues or an electrical issue :-/
Here’s some of the other interesting things I’ve found;
At first testing I found that my floating neutral generator was putting out about 90V on HOT and 30V on NEUTRAL, I placed a jumper to ground the nuetral and now have a normal 122V on HOT
All 12V lights are not affected
Roof AC will startup and run off portable generator but acts similar to window AC and slows then boggs down until you reset it
Microwave light starts to flicker and go dim when the window AC starts to slow then bogg down
The window AC runs fine plugged into a normal 120v outlet shore power
Occasionally when I try to run the window AC along with a few fans the AC and the fans will all slow down to a crawl, I have tested and got about 62V on HOT and 62V on NUETRAL, once the window AC resets the voltage slowly goes back up to 122V~ and remains there unless the AC begins to slow down again
Window AC runs longer if plugged into generator directly and all RV breakers are turned OFF
From what I’ve researched I should have enough generator power to run two maybe even three 10000 btu ACs at once let alone just one and some fans, do I not have a big enough generator? Is it a grounding issue? It ran the first Window AC no problem while charging batteries and running fridge... nothing changed from window AC number 1 to 2 to 3 other than the window ACs themselves, once this problem persisted I started messing with everything trying to figure it out. Any and all help greatly appreciated!
