Apr-21-2019 07:11 PM
Apr-24-2019 12:34 PM
Apr-24-2019 11:52 AM
Apr-23-2019 10:12 PM
Apr-23-2019 06:08 PM
opnspaces wrote:17oaks wrote:opnspaces wrote:17oaks wrote:
Been there done that:
Then one hot summer night about 3 am I said Ah-Ha and I headed out to the barn and did this:
1) Unplugged and flipped the switch on my AF 1150 to the battery. Turned on my AC unit and it fired right up, blew cold like it always did.
2) Fired up my Onan and flipped the switch over to Gen power...AC still blowing cold air.
3) Did a few things from our trip that past weekend and flipped it over on external power.
Not sure how long that will last, but so far it's been over 2 years.
Granted I don't have a TC, but I'm curious about your post. Can you elaborate, what was the Ah-Ha moment that came to you? Were you thinking there was a sticky transfer switch or something? Do you have to start the AC on battery power then flip to gen power while it's running?
After talking to the engineer at Coleman I knew the problem:
Old unit, wear, and tear, need more juice to start, thus soft start devices which are just capacitors. As time goes by the compressor gets older and more tired, thus needed even more than the capacitor can deliver...BUT, my 2 Odessey Group 31 Extreme batteries were good for about 1800 amps. My Onan won't give me that. That was my Ah Ha moment at about 3 am. I tried it and bingo it works.
That was 3 years ago and still works. All you are doing is bypassing the Onan to start then switching over to the Onan after its running. NOTE: Either wait till the AC cycles off the compressor or do it manually by turning up the temp control so just the fan is running, then switch over to the Onan and slowly raise the temp control until the compressor kicks in, the Onan should be able to run with it, mine does.
I do know I am running on borrowed time as the AC unit is 11 yr old, still blowing cold!
So you basically start the AC in two stages, fan then compressor. Thinking out loud about this I would wonder why you need the batteries to get a cold start out of the AC, but then can go to the generator and it will successfully cycle the compressor?
Based on what you said about success with waiting for the compressor to kick off, then flip to generator, I wonder if it would work to ignore the batteries and just start the fan for a minute or two, then turn on the AC. My Coleman has that capability though your's might not.
Apr-23-2019 05:44 PM
17oaks wrote:opnspaces wrote:17oaks wrote:
Been there done that:
Then one hot summer night about 3 am I said Ah-Ha and I headed out to the barn and did this:
1) Unplugged and flipped the switch on my AF 1150 to the battery. Turned on my AC unit and it fired right up, blew cold like it always did.
2) Fired up my Onan and flipped the switch over to Gen power...AC still blowing cold air.
3) Did a few things from our trip that past weekend and flipped it over on external power.
Not sure how long that will last, but so far it's been over 2 years.
Granted I don't have a TC, but I'm curious about your post. Can you elaborate, what was the Ah-Ha moment that came to you? Were you thinking there was a sticky transfer switch or something? Do you have to start the AC on battery power then flip to gen power while it's running?
After talking to the engineer at Coleman I knew the problem:
Old unit, wear, and tear, need more juice to start, thus soft start devices which are just capacitors. As time goes by the compressor gets older and more tired, thus needed even more than the capacitor can deliver...BUT, my 2 Odessey Group 31 Extreme batteries were good for about 1800 amps. My Onan won't give me that. That was my Ah Ha moment at about 3 am. I tried it and bingo it works.
That was 3 years ago and still works. All you are doing is bypassing the Onan to start then switching over to the Onan after its running. NOTE: Either wait till the AC cycles off the compressor or do it manually by turning up the temp control so just the fan is running, then switch over to the Onan and slowly raise the temp control until the compressor kicks in, the Onan should be able to run with it, mine does.
I do know I am running on borrowed time as the AC unit is 11 yr old, still blowing cold!
Apr-23-2019 05:39 PM
Rbertalotto wrote:. I prob installed a good 5 or 6 different makes and brands of devices that you can buy to start your roof RV AC.
Interesting. Other than simple capacitors and this soft start device, I've not seen any other Dr ice that accomplished the same thing.
Can you list a fewthat you have indtalled?
Thanks
Apr-23-2019 05:12 PM
. I prob installed a good 5 or 6 different makes and brands of devices that you can buy to start your roof RV AC.
Apr-23-2019 04:36 PM
work2much wrote:
The Micro-air soft start is more than just a bigger "hard start" capacitor. Here is my install on a Dometic Penguin 11.5k unit.
This is the brains of the system. It learns from each successive start for the first few starts of the compressor and creates a custom profile for your air conditioner. I watched our battery monitor and the spike in wattage did decrease with each start through our inverter.
Because this module was too big to fit where the old removed start capacitor was located they have you mount it on the opposite side of the unit and a cable bundle crosses over back to the air conditioners electrical circuits.
Old start cap removed.
New wires routed in. And connected.
The company is great to deal with and they have detailed installation instructions for specific air conditioner units online. I had a couple questions that they answered very quickly vis e-mail. The install was pretty easy. If you have basic wiring skills you can do this yourself. If your smaller generator is having a hard time bumping the condenser give one a try.
Apr-23-2019 03:46 PM
Apr-23-2019 03:24 PM
opnspaces wrote:17oaks wrote:
Been there done that:
Then one hot summer night about 3 am I said Ah-Ha and I headed out to the barn and did this:
1) Unplugged and flipped the switch on my AF 1150 to the battery. Turned on my AC unit and it fired right up, blew cold like it always did.
2) Fired up my Onan and flipped the switch over to Gen power...AC still blowing cold air.
3) Did a few things from our trip that past weekend and flipped it over on external power.
Not sure how long that will last, but so far it's been over 2 years.
Granted I don't have a TC, but I'm curious about your post. Can you elaborate, what was the Ah-Ha moment that came to you? Were you thinking there was a sticky transfer switch or something? Do you have to start the AC on battery power then flip to gen power while it's running?
Apr-23-2019 10:04 AM
17oaks wrote:
Been there done that:
Then one hot summer night about 3 am I said Ah-Ha and I headed out to the barn and did this:
1) Unplugged and flipped the switch on my AF 1150 to the battery. Turned on my AC unit and it fired right up, blew cold like it always did.
2) Fired up my Onan and flipped the switch over to Gen power...AC still blowing cold air.
3) Did a few things from our trip that past weekend and flipped it over on external power.
Not sure how long that will last, but so far it's been over 2 years.
Apr-23-2019 09:12 AM
Apr-23-2019 09:07 AM
Apr-23-2019 08:29 AM
Boatycall wrote:FYI, this step is supposed to be done on commercial power. Important to get full inrush/startup current during this 5-cycle "learn" process.
. . fire up the roof air 5 times, with 5 minute wait times in between to avoid locked rotor---this is so the MicroAir can learn and adjust/optimize to the start surge . . .
Apr-23-2019 08:06 AM
Boatycall wrote:Northern Lite advertises how the 10k Dometic Penguin II a/c units in their campers can be easily started by a Honda EU2000i/EU2200i. We were disappointed to find out our Honda EU2200i had a heck of a time starting the a/c unit in our new 2019 8-11. Come to find out NL had mistakenly installed a 13.5k a/c unit. Considered keeping the 13.5k and installing a Micro Air Easy Start. However, noticed the 13.5k unit cooled down the camper too fast---too fast in the sense the compressor didn't run long enough to dehumidify. Nothing like being cool and "sticky" at the same time. NL sent us a 10k unit to replace the 13.5k. The 10k has more than enough capacity to cool (and dehumidify) the 8-11 nicely and only draws 10 amps. The 13.5k drew 14 amps. That's a big difference in load (i.e., wear and tear) for a small Honda 2000/2200 watt generator---not to mention the generator is much quieter running with a 10a load vs. 14a.
. . . put in not the normal 11k btu roof air, but a 13.5 . . . Put in a MicroAir Soft Start in my roof air today - worked as advertised. One single 2000 fired it right off, from eco mode, it rev'd up, but not even to full throttle, no problem . . .