Installed a Micro-Air Soft Start today

[Boatycall]

So there's a backstory first ---

When I bought my 1160, I got it 6mos old used. Original owner bought it stripped - no AC, no gen, not even any TVs. I got a helluva deal on it, and first thing I did was put in not the normal 11k btu roof air, but a 13.5. First problem - PITA to try and get one Honda 2000 to run it... got a second 2000. Well... two 2000's - that's it's own PITA.

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. Got it from Hutch Mountain.com, people that specialize in propane conversions for Honda gens. Great people, ask for Clayton, tell him my name (Jim, not Boatycall), he might give ya a break.

Mods/admin -- Disclaimer - I get nothing nor am I affiliated with hutch Mountain. Just passing on a good product from good people.

[17oaks]

Been there done that:

Lots of "soft start", most work...for a while, then you go into a 'chase mode' to find that does, maybe you do maybe not, but either way, you chase it like that cute blonde in your math class in high school.

Then due to a major backup on I 35, my GPS gave me another way home. I take the exit and go I drive short ways and to my right is a manufacturing company. Coleman Industries AC Division IIRC. Not open to the public, so I sit in the parking lot and find a number for them. I end up talking to an in-house engineer about my problem.

Why do you need a soft start? Your unit is wearing (most likely the compressor) and as it wears it gets harder and harder to start till it won't anymore. Simple as that!

Ok, now I have the answer as to why it will start on plug-in electric but no longer the Onan.

But I am a retired engineer and this ate at me. My Ac unit worked great, but only if plugged in.

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.

[Rbertalotto]

Did a review on this unit on my web page. Amazing device. Can’t belive they are not installed on ac units from the factory.

If you order direct and tell them you are a member of some RV forum they will offer a discount. I got 20% off for saying I belong to a Forest River Accociation.

[badboy368]

I have been considering the soft start.maybe this just convinced me.

[work2much]

They work great. I installed one on our camper so that our 2800 watt inverter wouldn't have to go to surge overcoming the inrush amperage. Inrush amperage is reason why small generators don't work on air conditioners. A 13k unit, or a 15k unit is well within the output of a 2000 watt Honda once you get past the Locked Rotor Amperage needed to start the unit.

[Boatycall]

I have a Coleman 13.5. Wiring schematic was inside the unit's access panel. It was literally splice one wire, move 2, add one, done. I'm not kidding when I'm saying it took longer to get to the wires than the actual wiring.
Then you 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.

I have a Magnum Technologies Inverter/charger, with a very detailed digital display panel. At no point during start up did the incoming AC amperage exceed 12 amps. It said the incoming AC current ramp'd up to 5 amps for about 3 seconds(which it never did before--presumably storing it for the start surge), then 12 amps for less than a second to start, back down to 7 running with the fan on low.

[Travels_with_Yo]

What brand A/C unit do you have and what was the install like ?