185RB A/C kicks off with 4000 watt geny

[SAMM Kinder]

185RB Baha with roof air .... Works fine on 20 amp house service ... But out in the woods kicks off my 4000 watt generator ..... Have no way to ck starting watts but runs at 1500 watts ..... Generator runs 2 1500 watt heaters no problem (i have tested) Roof Air is I think 13000 BTU ... Standard 185 runs a smaller wall air conditioner but Baha runs much larger roof air .... Help Help Help

[Grumpy]

Originally Posted by SAMM Kinder

185RB Baha with roof air .... Works fine on 20 amp house service ... But out in the woods kicks off my 4000 watt generator ..... Have no way to ck starting watts but runs at 1500 watts ..... Generator runs 2 1500 watt heaters no problem (i have tested) Roof Air is I think 13000 BTU ... Standard 185 runs a smaller wall air conditioner but Baha runs much larger roof air .... Help Help Help

It had an option for a 15,000 so it may be pulling more starting amps.

[MrKABC]

Sounds like you need a soft start capacitor for your AC. Something is wrong though, I have the 13,500 BTU roof AC and no trouble running with my Wen 3800 peak/3500 constant generator.
Now I am assuming you have turned off your generator "eco" mode before proceeding?

[ekonkjack]

One thing that I found out is if you are dry camping make sure that the fridge is on LP and not auto. If it is in auto the fridge will go to ac thinking it is on shore power when the generator powers up. The resistance coil in the fridge is a big draw too.

[MichaelO]

I’ve found with my 15,000 btu a/c that I need to let my 3500 watt generator run for 5 minutes before turning on the a/c. If I do that my generator will run both a/c units on my trailer. I don’t know why two units are installed on my trailer; one will freeze you out of the trailer.

[Screwby]

Something is wrong with that generator or they are majorly overstating it’s capabilities. You never mentioned what brand generator it is. I can run the 15,000 BTU air conditioner on our camper with my 3200W Champion generator all day no issue.

A 4000W generator shouldn’t blink an eye unless you are running way more than just your AC on it. Are you also running the water heater, fridge, or anything else on the generator instead of propane while this is happening?

[Camper_bob]

I agree, something's not right here. It's weird that it'll run the heaters, but not the AC. And that the AC will run on 20A shore power, but not on the generator...

I could easily run a 15K AC unit on my travel trailer with a 3200W Champion. In my MH, my Onan QG4000 easily runs both 13.5K AND 11K BTU roof AC units at same time. It'll even handle them starting up at the same time if nothing else is on and it's warmed up (it will bog WAY down if it's not warmed up with start up on one unit though).

What else is running? Water heater pulls 11A on electric, microwave and coffee maker pull a lot too. Control as much as you possibly can and test the system running various components and component groups to see if you can isolate if something else is causing the overdraw?

[SAMM Kinder]

Fridge on Propane nothing else on electric accept onboard bat charger....... It is a Sportsmen 4000 watt generator and easilly runs 2 1500 watt heaters at the same time ........ A/C fan draws 400 watts and when A/C does run its at 1500 Watts ...... but the startup will kill it on med or high .( I have no way to test startup it happens to fast for my meter) ...... Will work some on low .Its a contractor generator so its loud on my property .... Was wondering if it needs to be grounded to the trailer frame (There is a ground terminal on the front of generator ?? Thanx everybody for input

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by Grumpy

It had an option for a 15,000 so it may be pulling more starting amps.

4000 still should run it.

[Cavie]

Originally Posted by SAMM Kinder

Fridge on Propane nothing else on electric accept onboard bat charger....... It is a Sportsmen 4000 watt generator and easilly runs 2 1500 watt heaters at the same time ........ A/C fan draws 400 watts and when A/C does run its at 1500 Watts ...... but the startup will kill it on med or high .( I have no way to test startup it happens to fast for my meter) ...... Will work some on low .Its a contractor generator so its loud on my property .... Was wondering if it needs to be grounded to the trailer frame (There is a ground terminal on the front of generator ?? Thanx everybody for input

Ground not needed and will not help if you did. Use an amp prob on the A/C and know how many amps it is using for sure. Have the A/C serviced. coils cleaned, Compressor and fan motors amp checked. Run and start capasitors checked.