wish it were possible

bradw · 08-01-2021, 05:48 PM

Am going to be "semi" boondocking next week. I say semi, because I have regular 110 electricity available. As we all know, that will not work for my air conditioner. So, I purchased a 4500 Cummins Onan.
Made me think though.......I wish there was a way to hook up my camper to the 110 for my fridge, etc, and then have a separate hook up for 30 amp just for my air directly to the generator. Wouldn't that be cool? That way I could have constant power for the fridge and not have to run the generator at all times.
Just a thought for future options maybe?

Marcm157 · 08-01-2021, 06:02 PM

What do you mean "Regular 110"??

Route 66 Traveler · 08-01-2021, 06:12 PM

Don’t quite understand your problem. Why won’t the “Regular 110 electricity” run your AC?? The 4500 watt generator should run everything in your RV anyway.

TaftCoach · 08-01-2021, 07:50 PM

I'm going to take a guess here and assume you are driveway camping and only have 20 amps. While plugged in the refrigerator and everything else will work exactly as expected. You'll only need to unplug and plug into the gen when you need AC.

RogerR · 08-01-2021, 08:05 PM

If you are going to do this a lot you might consider one of two things. First, could you install or afford to have an electrician install a 30 amp outlet for your RV.
Second, would your RV AC take a "soft start" upgrade so you can run on a smaller circuit than 30 amps.

Jagiven · 08-01-2021, 08:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bradw

I have regular 110 electricity available. As we all know, that will not work for my air conditioner.

......I wish there was a way to hook up my camper to the 110 for my fridge, etc, and then have a separate hook up for 30 amp just for my air directly to the generator. Wouldn't that be cool? That way I could have constant power for the fridge and not have to run the generator at all times.
Just a thought for future options maybe?

What amp power service will you have access to while semi boondocking?

Do you have a 2 way RV frig? If so, have you ever opened the outside lower access panel? You will find a 120V outlet the frig is plugged into. Unplug and plug into an extension cord.

If you have a 15 amp to 30 amp dogbone, you can run everything but the AC. You might be able to run a single AC too, but you really need a 20 amp outlet, and be careful with our power management. We use to do this at home (20 amp) all the time, but I only ran the AC for a few hours at most, as our cheap dogbone would get warm.

**norty1** · 08-02-2021, 03:33 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jagiven

What amp power service will you have access to while semi boondocking?

Do you have a 2 way RV frig? If so, have you ever opened the outside lower access panel? You will find a 120V outlet the frig is plugged into. Unplug and plug into an extension cord.

If you have a 15 amp to 30 amp dogbone, you can run everything but the AC. You might be able to run a single AC too, but you really need a 20 amp outlet, and be careful with our power management. We use to do this at home (20 amp) all the time, but I only ran the AC for a few hours at most, as our cheap dogbone would get warm.

Using the ac on the separate 110 outlet will allow the ac to work as long as the batteries are still charged for the controls circuits which use 12dc. The generator should keep the batteries charged when it is running.

bradw · 08-02-2021, 04:51 PM

Exactly as Taft guessed....going to be basically driveway camping. What he described is exactly what we will be doing. At night when we are sleeping we will be plugged in to the generator so that we can run the air. During the day we will switch and plug into 20 amp, to run the fridge and everything else.

We looked into having a 30 amp outlet installed but ran into difficulties. Could be done but the house we are going to has all circuits in use on the breaker. So it was estimated at 2100 bucks to install. So I bought a Cummins 4500 inverter.

I will have to switch back and forth. Not that big of deal I guess.

What is a soft start though for AC. Never heard of that but would like to know what that entails.

Route 66 Traveler · 08-02-2021, 05:40 PM

I installed one about a year ago. Works as advertised...run my AC on a 3500 watt generator with no problem.

https://www.softstartrv.com//rvlife/?utm_CamperReport

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJqijovoMW0

bradw · 08-02-2021, 10:19 PM

Been researching these Easy starts for air conditioners. Looks like something I will be purchasing. Seems like the Micro Air EZ Start is the one to get.
Also looks like many RV's are now being equipped with this device from the factory. Just seems to make air conditioner start up much smoother and easier on the generator. Wow, never knew there was such a thing.....Thanks for the help folks.

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