Generator help?!?!

[cpp117]

At wits end with generators and the AC unit in my 3605 voltage ... We stepped up to this unit a year and a half ago and we love it, however... We mostly go to camp grounds where we have full hook up service but we also "boondock" occasionally. Our unit is prewired and set up for an on board generator which we have been tossing around about adding one. But, we still have our old travel unit that we used with our previous camper. We have come to find out that our old 3000 Honda is just not big enough to do what we want in our new unit. We borrowed a friend of ours Yamaha 6300isde generator thinking we should be good to go. Well as it turns out, that generator is not big enough or can't handle the compressor of our main ac unit. I am not at the trailer currently to crawl up and check the unit to see what the required specs are but one would think a 6300 model would be able to handle everything especially since the unit they recommend for this as an on board generator is only a 5000 Onan Cummins. Can anyone shed some light as to what I am missing? Any help is greatly appreciated!

[scottxpc]

Do your ac's run ok on shore power ? If so I would say it's a problem with the 6300w generator I have a 2017 3605 with the factory installed on an 5500 and it has no problems running both ac units plus fridge and other various loads

[cpp117]

Originally Posted by scottxpc

Do your ac's run ok on shore power ? If so I would say it's a problem with the 6300w generator I have a 2017 3605 with the factory installed on an 5500 and it has no problems running both ac units plus fridge and other various loads

On shore power yes both ac units will run as well as anything else in rv. Just not sure what else could be wrong with the generator???

[scottxpc]

Originally Posted by cpp117

On shore power yes both ac units will run as well as anything else in rv. Just not sure what else could be wrong with the generator???

Your honda should run one ac without problem try that and see what happens try running one then turn it off and try the other they both run ok on the honda then its definitely a problem with the 6300w gen

[franktafl]

soft start!

[cpp117]

Originally Posted by scottxpc

Your honda should run one ac without problem try that and see what happens try running one then turn it off and try the other they both run ok on the honda then its definitely a problem with the 6300w gen

The Honda does not either, that's what led to the discussions of buying a new travel one or an on board unit

[cpp117]

I will try and get more information on the main ac unit tomorrow. Still find it hard to believe the Yamaha I borrowed won't work.

And I will say again everything works as it should on shore power.

Any other suggestions?

[scottxpc]

What is happening when you try to run them on gen power ? It may be something wrong with your rig then transfer switch maybe your honda should run one of them with no problem

[cpp117]

Originally Posted by scottxpc

What is happening when you try to run them on gen power ? It may be something wrong with your rig then transfer switch maybe your honda should run one of them with no problem

When I try and run the main unit, the fan starts up like normal then after 30 seconds or so the compressor tries to start and that is when the unit shuts off. The generator trips on overload at that point.

The only thing I haven't tried is the secondary unit in the main bedroom to see what happens there

[franktafl]

Have you checked to see if the power is 220 instead of 110? Rv's take TWO 120 volt legs for 50 amp and ONE 120v leg for 30 amp. what do the plugs look like on the generator? Occasionally, depending on the AC unit, when the compressor comes on, it can take a bunch of amperage (inrush) and also, you need to be cautious of the neutral since it connects back to the generator and doesn't bond inside the rv..

Your generator may not like a bunch of current being pulled off one leg and NONE on the other.

[cpp117]

Originally Posted by franktafl

Have you checked to see if the power is 220 instead of 110? Rv's take TWO 120 volt legs for 50 amp and ONE 120v leg for 30 amp. what do the plugs look like on the generator? Occasionally, depending on the AC unit, when the compressor comes on, it can take a bunch of amperage (inrush) and also, you need to be cautious of the neutral since it connects back to the generator and doesn't bond inside the rv..

Your generator may not like a bunch of current being pulled off one leg and NONE on the other.

The plug on the generator is a 4 prong twist lock. 120/240 V switch to switch between the two. The switch is set to the 120/240 selection. I found a generic picture online of the face panel of it. The Econ switch is also turned off so it should be running at max.


I think I am going to take a few panels off this evening to look to make sure everything is ok on the RV end. We just returned from camping this weekend ad were hooked up to a shore power 30amp feed and the main AC unit in the camper worked flawlessly as did everything else. Keeping in mind we understood we were on a 30 service feed and didn't want to use to much of anything else while the AC was on.

[franktafl]

Originally Posted by cpp117

The plug on the generator is a 4 prong twist lock. 120/240 V switch to switch between the two. The switch is set to the 120/240 selection. I found a generic picture online of the face panel of it. The Econ switch is also turned off so it should be running at max.


I think I am going to take a few panels off this evening to look to make sure everything is ok on the RV end. We just returned from camping this weekend ad were hooked up to a shore power 30amp feed and the main AC unit in the camper worked flawlessly as did everything else. Keeping in mind we understood we were on a 30 service feed and didn't want to use to much of anything else while the AC was on.

Should the switch be set to 120v for your RV and NOT 120/240 since you don't have any 240V items in your RV? Were you plugging into the 30 amp plug or the 120/240 plug?

[cpp117]

Originally Posted by franktafl

Should the switch be set to 120v for your RV and NOT 120/240 since you don't have any 240V items in your RV? Were you plugging into the 30 amp plug or the 120/240 plug?

I will confirm switch is on the right setting.




I am also going to test voltages coming out of this generator

[franktafl]

Originally Posted by cpp117

I will confirm switch is on the right setting.




I am also going to test voltages coming out of this generator

There was a thread the other day that listed a little meter for monitoring voltages and amperage on a single line. I bought a couple since I have a 50 amp (2 @ 120v) circuit. They utilize a handy clamp on to read with. One of them would be handy for you to have to monitor voltages and amperage. it's not a real large unit but it would come in handy in your case.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[cpp117]

Originally Posted by franktafl

There was a thread the other day that listed a little meter for monitoring voltages and amperage on a single line. I bought a couple since I have a 50 amp (2 @ 120v) circuit. They utilize a handy clamp on to read with. One of them would be handy for you to have to monitor voltages and amperage. it's not a real large unit but it would come in handy in your case.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

Update on this evening:

Checked voltages at generator, all exiting voltages are correct. Whether it is with the 30amp connection or with the 120/240v connection. The voltages going into the camper are correct. However I do not have a clamp on amp meter to test the draw.

I spoke with other individuals who have had a similar issue with inverter generators. They said the inverter generators cannot take the initial hit when the compressor is trying to start. I tried a few more ways to get the AC on the main unit to work. I checked voltages throughout the camper and all were correct. My next check will be with a standard generator that is not an inverter with a 30 amp connection to see if that makes a difference.

If I read it right, the 15000 btu ac unit requires 3500 watt on initial start up? With just the 120/30 amp connection I only have 3600?


*The AC unit does work fine as it worked two days ago flawlessly.

[cpp117]

I think I am going to go the route of a soft start kit instead of trying to buy a larger generator. I have read up on the Micro Air soft start set up and so far Im pretty impressed with it. I believe this will allow me to use my original generator we mothballed before moving into our larger unit we have now.


Any one else have experience with the Mircro Air soft start kits?

[franktafl]

Originally Posted by cpp117

I think I am going to go the route of a soft start kit instead of trying to buy a larger generator. I have read up on the Micro Air soft start set up and so far Im pretty impressed with it. I believe this will allow me to use my original generator we mothballed before moving into our larger unit we have now.


Any one else have experience with the Mircro Air soft start kits?

Inrush is always an issue and some appliances/air conditioners are very guilty. For the life of me, I can't understand why the RV AC industry don't utilize soft starts and drives in their units. It would increase the price slightly but I would definitely purchase one as a retrofit or when I add a second AC-I mean, my AC in my car has a drive on the fan for the AC, my AC at home has a drive and a soft start. I watched the video to install the Micro Air, a little complicated but doable... I think, I have heard (in this forum) that the Micro Air would let you operate and AC on a 2 kva generator.

[PRKev]

Originally Posted by cpp117

Update on this evening:

Checked voltages at generator, all exiting voltages are correct. Whether it is with the 30amp connection or with the 120/240v connection. The voltages going into the camper are correct. However I do not have a clamp on amp meter to test the draw.

I spoke with other individuals who have had a similar issue with inverter generators. They said the inverter generators cannot take the initial hit when the compressor is trying to start. I tried a few more ways to get the AC on the main unit to work. I checked voltages throughout the camper and all were correct. My next check will be with a standard generator that is not an inverter with a 30 amp connection to see if that makes a difference.

If I read it right, the 15000 btu ac unit requires 3500 watt on initial start up? With just the 120/30 amp connection I only have 3600?


*The AC unit does work fine as it worked two days ago flawlessly.

I used a harbor freight Predator 3500 generator before we got our Endurance with an onboard Onan. It had no problems with starting up and running our 15k A/C unit in our 5th wheel. The Honda 3000 should be working, as well as the Yamaha

[wildwest450]

Originally Posted by cpp117

Any one else have experience with the Mircro Air soft start kits?

I can start and run a 15k AC with a single 2000w Champion generator after installing the Micro Air, it's amazing. With 2 of them in parallel they barely come off of the eco mode low idle.

[ewarnerusa]

Satisfied Micro Air user here. Our Yamaha 2400 runs our 13.5 kBtu air conditioner reliably.