Dometic Whisper A/C Too Much for Gen?

[rkymntsno]

This happened this week in our storage lot. We have a Dometic whisper quiet a/c in the living area, standard Coleman (loud) a/c (I think) in the bedroom. We have run both a/cs one at a time switching off with a Champion 3100 generator just to cool it off inside a bit while we're loading/unloaded/working on the rv. We ran the bedroom a/c no problem this time. Then shut it off and tried to turn on the whisper quiet. The small fan slowed down to almost not turning, the a/c was struggling, and then some popping/crackling noises under the fridge. Turned off a/c quick to not damage anything. Went outside to check generator, no overload, still running. Tried to kick on a/c again, same thing happened. Was about 90 degrees outside. Dealer had just troubleshot the a/c and found no problems with cooling. So we pack up and run to the dealer to plug in and troubleshoot. A/C starts cooling ok and they say everything's fine. Said my generator isn't strong enough to handle the whisper quiet a/c at startup. I've run it before on that generator but they said it depends on the ambient temp at time of startup. No breakers tripped, no fuses blown luckily. What are your thoughts? Is the dealer right. Is a 3100 generator not strong enough to run that a/c? Hope I'm not having to be generator shopping now.

[Bookemdanno]

Put a Micro Air Easy Start on your main A/C unit. I did it last year and I can run my A/C on a Honda 2000 generator, but nothing else. I think it was around $200...you can search for them on Amazon. I think the install took my about 30 mins.

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by Bookemdanno

Put a Micro Air Easy Start on your main A/C unit. I did it last year and I can run my A/C on a Honda 2000 generator, but nothing else. I think it was around $200...you can search for them on Amazon. I think the install took my about 30 mins.

I asked the Parts guy with the service manager about that and he looked at me like I was speaking German.

[Bookemdanno]

There’s a good install video on YouTube that a guy did on a North Point...Let me see if I can find it.

Found it:
https://youtu.be/CXBNn7lCSUY

[Camper_bob]

You might also be able to get away with a simple start capacitor. For $12 on Amazon (Supco SPP6) I would try that before I went to the expense of the Micro Air.

That being said, you can't argue with the results of the Micro Air. From what I've read, it works exceedingly well to run AC units on small generators.

Did you check your wiring? The "popping and cracking" noises from under the fridge are somewhat concerning. That's what a loose electrical connection sounds like, then it starts melting stuff, then it starts fires.

[rkymntsno]

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

You might also be able to get away with a simple start capacitor. For $12 on Amazon (Supco SPP6) I would try that before I went to the expense of the Micro Air.

That being said, you can't argue with the results of the Micro Air. From what I've read, it works exceedingly well to run AC units on small generators.

Did you check your wiring? The "popping and cracking" noises from under the fridge are somewhat concerning. That's what a loose electrical connection sounds like, then it starts melting stuff, then it starts fires.

Well, we're heading to Houston on Thursday. I'll be sure to check everything out best I know how. Not an electrician and not real handy with stuff.