Ryobi 2300 generator keeps overloading

[jonaz]

I have a 2021 Coachman Catalina.

I bought Ryobi 2300 Inverter generator. My intent is to run small stuff, like the LCD TV, lights and my work laptops.

When I plugged the generator into my 30amp trailer connection, it overloaded the generator. The AC was not on.

Why is my trailer drawing so much load? I had to turn off the GFI in the breaker panel box because it was causing an overload.

I can get the fireplace heater to run but not the TV.

Any suggestions?

Thank you in advance!

[Gdetrailer]

2oldman wrote:

Gdetrailer wrote:
Fair chance some of the lower cost of a Ryobi gen is the use of a much lower PWM rate saving costs in quality of the inverter parts..

Probably true, and I doubt they have much surge capability.

Neither does a more expensive Honda Inverter gen you tout..

Apples to apples comparison..

I2200 Honda specs HERE

"AC Output 120V 2200W max. (18.3A), 1800W rated (15A) "

Ryobi 2200W inverter gen HERE

"2200 Starting Watts/ 1800 Running Watts

Honda i2200 price, $1200

Ryobi 2200 Inverter gen price, $900

Don't get me wrong, I am by no means a Ryobi "fan", hate their cheapo power tools, they would rather sell complete new cordless drill sets at a lower price than what they sell replacement battery packs for and their battery packs tend to die quickly forcing you to continually buy new cordless drill sets..

I will not buy Ryobi tools of any sort but there are plenty of other brands to choose from that are better for the same price as Ryobi and far less expensive than say a Honda gen.

[2oldman]

Gdetrailer wrote:
Fair chance some of the lower cost of a Ryobi gen is the use of a much lower PWM rate saving costs in quality of the inverter parts..

Probably true, and I doubt they have much surge capability.

[bgum]

Any kind to Smiley?

[2oldman]

jonaz wrote:
I only bought this Ryobi 2300 because it is only about 50 lbs

You may have also bought it for the price.

A Honda 1000 is much lighter and quieter, and could easily run the things you describe.

[Gdetrailer]

2oldman wrote:

CA Traveler wrote:
BTW Do not expect the Kill A Watt to function correctly with a MSW gen

Never heard of an MSW gen.

OK, well, all "inverters" use PMW (Pulse Width Modulation) to simulate a "sinewave".

The give awy to this is when you read the label on the gen..



Kindly notice that the label says "DIGITAL".

Digital is 100% the opposite of a sinewave..

Digital anything is 100% ON, 100% OFF.

100% pure sinewaves do not have that characteristics.

To make a sinewave using digital methods they use PWM and depending on how many steps or samples they use creates a very coarse looking sinewave for low sample rates or if they use very high sample rates you ending up with a reasonable looking facsimile of a sine wave.

Another way to look at this is the difference in sound quality of a audio CD recorded using 44Khz sampling frequency and say a lower rate of a MP3..

Fair chance some of the lower cost of a Ryobi gen is the use of a much lower PWM rate saving costs in quality of the inverter parts..

[Gdetrailer]

CA Traveler wrote:

Also it's a MSW gen and not a PSW gen with is likely causing the TV and perhaps other equipment failures. You probably bought the wrong gen for your application.

:R

SHHH.. Don't tell any of my stupid electronics that they should not work on MSW..

Currently have 4 TVs ranging from 19" up to 50", a Dish receiver, 2 Sony Hi8mm video decks, a Sony VHS machine, one Apex DVD video recorder, A/V matrix switch 2 A/V video to hard drive PVRs, a scanner, multiple LED and CFL lights, a appliance/light timer for one of the lights, 4 desktop PCs plus monitors all backup powered via three Tripplight 1300VA MSW UPS units.

I have also run many different stereo equipment, drills and so on..

Been using MSW UPS units since the 1990s and so far, not one item I have plugged into them has dropped dead on not functioned.

In many cases, my MSW UPS units have extended the life of all of the equipment from random power failures, brown outs and high voltage spikes.

Will not make any difference whether MSW or PSW in this case so leave the MSW damages everything theory at the door.

Obviously OP mas some sort of hidden high wattage draw going on.

Typical sources for this are the converter charging batteries, water heater electric heating element is on, absorbsion fridge is seeing shore power from gen and auto changing back to shore power.

OP just needs to verify and eliminate each one of those items one at a time by turning off all of the devices and all of the breakers on the RV electrical panel.

One at a time with all known high draw devices turned off at the devices switch you simply turn on one breaker at a time.

Converter will be on one of the breakers and if the batteries are deeply discharged it can draw 800-1,000W depending on how deeply discharged the batteries are.

It is called "process of elimination"..

[jonaz]

So it looks like the Circuit Breaker panel was mislabeled. I turned everything off and started to turn everything on. I flipped the switch for Microwave and FP OPT and now I get 120 volt AC and my TV works. Which is the only thing that I really wanted (for work).

The Ryobi 2300 inverter generator is rated at 20 amps. It is only 57 decibels but it seems as loud as my Harbor Freight 3500 Predator Inverter generator.

I only bought this Ryobi 2300 because it is only about 50 lbs and I can lift it into the back of my lifted Dodge Ram. My Predator weighs about 100lbs and I really have to strain to get it lifted high enough by myself onto the back tail gate. Not saying that I cant lift 100 lbs but going from waist level to chest level with that thing takes a little bit.

[bgum]

When he said tv not working he may have meant pops breaker on genny. If he meant truly not working it could be a neutral ground bonding issue. I believe he is exceeding the output of the generator.

Try flipping the gfi breaker off then back on and seeing if this makes a difference.

[time2roll]

Use an extension cord and plug the tv direct into the generator for testing.
Yes the converter could be drawing a lot of power if the battery is low but should still leave plenty for a tv.
If the water heater has the electric element on you could be pulling 1400 watts until the water is hot.
Fridge might draw 350 watts.
Fireplace will be a large draw but seems odd to even have this electric heater on a 30 amp RV.

[CA_Traveler]

2oldman wrote:

CA Traveler wrote:
BTW Do not expect the Kill A Watt to function correctly with a MSW gen

Never heard of an MSW gen.

The low price of this gen raised red flags for me. One of which was quality of the output especially since it's an inverter type. One review said it's MSW.

For those not familiar MSW = Modified Sine Wave which may explain the TV not working. PSW = Pure Sine Wave.

[2oldman]

CA Traveler wrote:
BTW Do not expect the Kill A Watt to function correctly with a MSW gen

Never heard of an MSW gen.

[bgum]

How many watts does that fireplace draw? It may be drawing all you have available.

[CA_Traveler]

BTW Do not expect the Kill A Watt to function correctly with a MSW gen but it's a great tool. At least you can measure the loads on utility power.

[CA_Traveler]

Instead of guessing buy a Kill A Watt and measue your loads in amps or watts which will allow you to isolate the problem to your RV loads or the gen.

First and foremost this is a 1800W or 15A gen. Ignore the 2300W as that is starting amps. Do not expect to run the AC and or the fireplace with other loads as neither of these is a light load.

Also it's a MSW gen and not a PSW gen with is likely causing the TV and perhaps other equipment failures. You probably bought the wrong gen for your application.

[2oldman]

That's a pretty big generator to run such small stuff.