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AC Troubles - Hard Start cap? Something else?

LipschitzWrath
Explorer
Explorer
Okay guys, new member, long time lurker.

The missus and I finally bought ourselves a 5er, a 2004 Terry Quantum Ax6. It's huge and we have had it out a couple times. Got a great deal on it and we love it.

Lately it's been getting hot enough that we want to use the AC and that's where the problems began. I am running two brand new Yamaha Ef2000isv2 generators in parallel (kinda), so I feel like I have enough juice. Other relevant details is I'm at 6500 feet elevation and the air condonitioning unit is a Coleman Mach 15k unit. My research indicates it has the factory start capacitor kit installed. Full model number is 8335b6764.

First let's clear up the generator thing. It appears I have a bad parallel cable that yamaha is doing a warranty on. The pins inside the cable broke off and I'm not sure I ever had true parallel capability. Maybe I did but everything I've been told is these generators shouldn't struggle at all to start this ac and I've been successful I think 2 out of 25 times.

Ideas? Could the factory capacitor be bad? Would adding an aftermarket (say spp6) cap help at all or is the factory set up about as good as you can do?

Do I need to get my refrigerant levels checked?
42 REPLIES 42

LipschitzWrath
Explorer
Explorer
1320Fastback wrote:
Mine does the same, one generator goes into overload and the other does not. It is always the same generator too that trips which is why i suspect the the cable.

My trailer is 30A wired but yes for 240V you will have one ground, one Neutral and two individual 120V wires.

One thing i am going to wire up is a Neutral Bond Plug for my generator. Basically it will tie the neutral and ground together as in a rv it is not. Dont know if it will make a difference.


Similar story here. It wasn't always the same generator for me, which is why I was changing which end of the cable is connected to which generator when the ends broke off.

If it's the same generator no matter what end of the cable is hooked up, I would suspect something with the generator instead of the cable.

1320Fastback
Explorer
Explorer
Mine does the same, one generator goes into overload and the other does not. It is always the same generator too that trips which is why i suspect the the cable.

My trailer is 30A wired but yes for 240V you will have one ground, one Neutral and two individual 120V wires.

One thing i am going to wire up is a Neutral Bond Plug for my generator. Basically it will tie the neutral and ground together as in a rv it is not. Dont know if it will make a difference.
1992 D250 Cummins 5psd
2005 Forest River T26 Toy Hauler

LipschitzWrath
Explorer
Explorer
One other thought occurred to me. This trailer has a 50A service, which I understand is actually set up for 240V. I read something about it's actually two separate 120V legs. Could this have anything to do with my issue?

I read somewhere that you only get half the output from a 240V generator on each 120V leg.

The cable that came with the 5er has an adapter to get it down to the standard 30A RV plug type.

BarneyS
Explorer III
Explorer III
Moved to Tech Issues forum from 5th Wheels.
2004 Sunnybrook Titan 30FKS TT
Hensley "Arrow" 1400# hitch (Sold)
Not towing now.
Former tow vehicles were 2016 Ram 2500 CTD, 2002 Ford F250, 7.3 PSD, 1997 Ram 2500 5.9 gas engine

LipschitzWrath
Explorer
Explorer
Itching2go wrote:
You might also want to make sure you're battery(s) are close to or at a full charge when starting the AC unit. I had an instance where I was overloading our two 2K generators operating in parallel, and found that as my batteries were low, the load from the charger was such that it exceeded the output capacity of the generators when starting. I don't have hard start capacitors in either of our AC units, which added to the starting draw. No problem after the batteries charged up.


Good call. That could have certainly contributed on a couple of the attempts. However, like I said, I tried probably 25 times and most of those attempts were unsuccessful.

One of the several things that made me suspect the parallel cable wasn't working right (prior to the pins breaking out) was that when I would fire up the AC and it would kick out, I'd go outside and only 1 of the 2 generators had the overload light. Shouldn't both show overload when that happens?

Maybe I'm just a noob, but I would think if you were overloading with a pair of generators that were in parallel, it would kick both into overload. Am I mistaken on that?

Itching2go
Explorer II
Explorer II
You might also want to make sure you're battery(s) are close to or at a full charge when starting the AC unit. I had an instance where I was overloading our two 2K generators operating in parallel, and found that as my batteries were low, the load from the charger was such that it exceeded the output capacity of the generators when starting. I don't have hard start capacitors in either of our AC units, which added to the starting draw. No problem after the batteries charged up.
2008 Jayco Designer 35RLSA pulled by a 2007 Chevy 3500 D/A SRW

pianotuna
Nomad III
Nomad III
Upgrade to a microair easy start kit.
Regards, Don
My ride is a 28 foot Class C, 256 watts solar, 556 amp-hours of Telcom jars, 3000 watt Magnum hybrid inverter, Sola Basic Autoformer, Microair Easy Start.

1320Fastback
Explorer
Explorer
Your LRA is 79Amps, mines 68 and i run the same gens and have the same problem. Suspect the parrallel cable also.
1992 D250 Cummins 5psd
2005 Forest River T26 Toy Hauler

Toddupton
Explorer
Explorer
Nope not exactly those are run load not start loads and that is what generators have trouble with sometimes.

LipschitzWrath
Explorer
Explorer
Question

The compressor RLA is 13.0 amps and the fan FLA is 3.4 amps. Is it a correct statement to say that at absolutely max demand conditions, thus A/C unit will pull 16.4 amps? If so, it would follow that one Ef2000isv2 could handle it while running, essentially leaving me with another "whole generator" for other stuff?

And isn't LRA what we are worried about on startup?

Was it correct of me to say that 2x Ef2000isv2 generators should have absolutely no problem starting running this AC?

LipschitzWrath
Explorer
Explorer









LipschitzWrath
Explorer
Explorer
Toddupton wrote:
Wait for the new cable. If it was not working then one of those generators was not going to run a 15k A/C. A new cap would not hurt but with two generators it should not need it. No you can't check your refrigerant and that really will not have anything to do with starting.


Sure thing. I should have it tomorrow.

Toddupton
Explorer
Explorer
Wait for the new cable. If it was not working then one of those generators was not going to run a 15k A/C. A new cap would not hurt but with two generators it should not need it. No you can't check your refrigerant and that really will not have anything to do with starting.