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zulu52's avatar
zulu52
Explorer
Mar 15, 2023

Honda 3000

Will a Honda 3000 power two camper A/C units? My truck camper and my Brother's 16' trailer camper.





No picture of my Brother's camper. It is a Shasta.
  • zulu52 wrote:
    Thanks for the input. I'll have to check on BTU's.
    The Shasta is a retro but I think my Brother changed out the A/C unit for a bigger one because the one it came with wouldn't cool the camper.
    We are in flat land in Texas. Altitude isn't an issue here.
    Without knowing the continuous current rating and LRA of both a/c units it's hard to answer your question with any degree of accuracy.

    BTU ratings only provide a very general idea how much power a given a/c unit may need to start/run. Some a/c units can be significantly more efficient than others---even when they have the same BTU rating. It's too bad RV a/c manufacturers don't provide a SEER rating. SEER ratings, found on nearly all residential a/c units, specify how efficient they are.
  • zulu52 wrote:
    Will a Honda 3000 power two camper A/C units? My truck camper and my Brother's 16' trailer camper.


    A lot depends on the AC in the two units. Some small trailers have very low powered window type ACs that barely use any power and are 6000 btu or so. When my stock AC died on my TC, I replaced it with a 9000 btu model.

    Doing the math, that's 15000btu which is about the same btu as some TCs. If not 15000, they are usually 13500.

    As others have noted, startup is the hard part. On some, that startup jolt can be decreased by turning the fan on first. Besides that, unplugging the converter/charger and switching water heater, refrigerator, etc to propane will also decrease the load.

    A cheap tool to check is a Kill-a-watt meter that you can buy off Amazon, or simply check to see what the ACs draw at max power. Or, just you could just try it.
  • Mine runs one 15,000 btu ac along with normal lights, tv, etc. I agree that it probably won't be reliable for another ac.

    It usually trips out if we try to use a hair dryer, curling iron, microwave, electric skillet.
  • Thanks for the input. I'll have to check on BTU's.
    The Shasta is a retro but I think my Brother changed out the A/C unit for a bigger one because the one it came with wouldn't cool the camper.
    We are in flat land in Texas. Altitude isn't an issue here.
  • That honda is rated 23.3A continous 25A max. If both ACs are 13.5 BTU and In a perfect world it would run both; in the real world it would be a toss up.
  • If the Shasta is a retro model the AC is 5000 btu.
    The TC probably has a 13.5 btu AC. Lots of factors involved not the least of which is altitude and what ever else is being powered.
  • That's 25A so you would need 2 smaller A/C units and startup surge could be a issue. I'd say it won't be reliable let alone other RV draws.
  • Not likely and probably a hard no, since a Honda 2k will barely/not quite power 1 RV A/C.

    You might have a shot if they’re both little 8k units and/or have soft starts.
  • We have a 3000 and it is very capable.
    You don't describe the btu in each rig but if both are not trying to start at the same time I would say yes it will run both.