Can I turn the Converter off?

[whs9841]

When we tailgate at football games, we dry camp. We have two Honda 2000's that we run in parallel to power our fifth wheel. I have a 15000 BTU A/C and a 13500 BTU A/C. I've tried unsuccessfully to get both A/C's running at the same time, and frankly, I'm not sure I'll ever get them running together on my generators.

I've always been good about keeping everything turned off when trying to run both A/C's. However, just the other day I saw that my Converter can draw up to 5 Amps. I know the Converter is used to convert 120V to 12V. I'm wondering if I can turn the Converter off at my circuit board (it has it's own circuit) and then try to run both A/C's. Will turning the Converter off just make all of my 12V electronics unavailable? Are there any other repurcussions? My goal is to make sure everything is turned off and blast both A/C's for the first hour or two when we get to our tailgating spot. I'm hoping this will cool it down enough so we can go back to one A/C for the evening and turn the Converter back on so we can run our 12V electronics.

[rvten]

With converter on. Your 12 volt outlets get an even steady power flow. With the converter off. Your 12 volts with flux up/down as gens surge to maintain even power.

[RJsfishin]

W/ a 1500 in the mix, it ain't gonna happen !

[ktmrfs]

yes, you can (and I do) turn off the converter. AND it can draw WAY more than 5A, depending on battery state of charge. if the batterie(s) are low, draw can easily be in the 12-15A range. In fact, my 65A converter pretty much max's out one honda 2000.

Make sure ALL the other stuff is turned off as well, such as fridge electric (turn it to gas)

Turn on ONE AC unit, let it run for 5-10 minutes to allow the head pressure to drop some and the running current to drop down some then with the ECO throttle OFF on the hondas try turning on the second one. Your going to be marginal.

[whs9841]

RJ, I know......but I at least have to try.

[jjj]

You need a whole lot more of generator power than those 2 Honda 2000's to get the 2 AC's running at the same time. I can get my one Honda 2000 to run my one AC and only did it to try it but it was screaming the whole time.

[RJsfishin]

2 A/Cs on 2 eu 2000 ?? Your dreaming ! Especilaay w/ a 1500!

[Tom_M1]

You can turn your converter off. You will still be able to use your 12 volt stuff. Power for your 12 volt system will come from your batteries. Once your ACs are running you can try and turn your converter back on and see if the generators will handle the load.

[whs9841]

My A/C's do not have a hard start capacitor, but I'm adding one to each this weekend.

I had a brain fart on the 12V electronics. I completely forgot about my batteries running all of them if turn off the converter. My batteries work well, so I should be good. My biggest concern was the refrigerator, and I'll just keep that on Gas and 12V.

Keeping my fingers crossed that this will work. It will make my DW much happier, and you know the saying........ 🙂

[KD4UPL]

You can certainly turn your converter off with it's breaker. The only effect is that your batteries won't be charged from your generators. As long as your batteries hold your 12v stuff will work just fine.
I would try it as a means to get both ACs to run. Have you tried adding a hard start capacitor to both units?

[2oldman]

As long as you have working batteries, no problem.