Generator won't run AC

[Back East Don]

1 hour ago, Totem said:

ok ok, I believe you that you are real thanks to Derek.

Oh how one can become wedded to their opinions.  An odd crusade you've chosen.  I'd be interested in what purity test you'll come up with next.

[Derek up North]

I had to check, but can confirm that Totem has a different ISP address to Stamar.

[Brynn&Cas]

18 hours ago, jjrbus said:

  Don't bet the farm on the Supco being a magical cure all! It may or may not work.  Something else to think about is the 13.5 might be too large for your RV.  When I looked at the AC I thought that 9K BTU would be just about right. The available Coleman Polar cub is 9200 BTU but has too much negative feedback. And is not the most energy efficient unit.

not to get some attitude from some guy on the internet   Don't judge the whole forum by one person, most here are pretty decent.    Jim

 

 

Oh, don't worry, I'm not judging the whole forum! I actually think this place is pretty great. And I totally agree, the 13.5 seems much to large and I have no idea why anyone would put that monster in a 21 foot motorhome. However, I don't exactly have the pockets to be dishing out money on whatever I want whenever I want. But at this point with everyones input I am highly considering saving up to buy a new a.c. unit.

[Totem]

1 hour ago, Derek up North said:

I had to check, but can confirm that Totem has a different ISP address to Stamar.

Say what you like about Stamar, he has the most successfully posted to thread of all times. your jealousy of his engagement of the users is telling; perhaps less snark and more help with people would find you in similar straits.

[Derek up North]

Trust me, I'm far from jealous.

[Totem]

i havent seen him post in here in a long time. perhaps I will reach out to him to let him know how much you miss him

[Brynn&Cas]

18 hours ago, Back East Don said:

See, didn't I tell you Totem would be right along to help?

Don't take it the wrong way.  There is a lot going on with this and for the un-initiated, it can seem daunting.  There is a wealth of information to glean in the numerous threads with regard to both AC units and subsequently generators.

I'm not an expert but I'll give you my assessment of what you will likely need to do as at least a starting point.  This is an old RV with likely an old well worn AC unit.  You wouldn't be the first with problems.  First gain a bit of knowledge.  If we can all stop playing around here, perhaps we can actually assist you.  I'm not kidding, some of these people are as smart as they come. 

So those with some ideas, it is troubleshooting 101.  Lets see if we can figure out if this is a load issue.  jdemaris speaks a lot about the compressor loads and the math.  Me, I'm wondering if your starter cap might not have an issue.  Some have had problems and found the wiring to the cap loose.  I've some recollection of it.  You read a lot of posts over 6 years. 

So if we can get some brain power a little better than mine and come up with a plan, you on board?  Sorry I poked a bit of fun. It was never intended to be at your expense. 

Oh, I don't mind the joking around. I will do some poking around the internet and the ac unit and see if I can't figure it out. Yes, I do welcome all information, I can tell that you guys really do know what you're talking about! I do greatly appreciate everybodys input. I'll let you know what I figure out (if anything) about our start capacitor.

[Brynn&Cas]

16 hours ago, WME said:

Its a bit late, but would the Predator run the fan only in the AC? The Briskair site says the minimum generator is 2500w for the 11,000btu AC and 3500w for the 13,500. 

Well there a bunch of experts on the net who know more than the AC MFG.

Unfortunately Y'all is bring a knife to a gun fight. As JDE has pointed some watts is more equal than other watts. You just need more watts some how.

My Onan 2800 would NOT start a 13500btu AC, with a booster cap it would. Most of the Onan surge rating comes from a huge flywheel.  

YES, just now checked that (since it was overlooked as my main concern has been the air conditioning) it does indeed run the fan on the ac. Good to know what briskair has to say about that. I was scouring my 20 year old air conditioning pamphlet and couldn't find that information anywhere. Sigh. Thanks for checking that out for me!

[Brynn&Cas]

3 hours ago, Totem said:

ok ok, I believe you that you are real thanks to Derek.

That being said, I DID advise you on a 13500 rooftop AC not being what you would want if running on generator BEFORE you went and bought one.

I advised that you get a new AC in that case or a 3000 watt + genny.

Now that being said , I gave you the how to if you want to hack the 13500 in the 5 steps earlier.

Also, JJRBUS is totally wrong on the SPP6, dont listen to him until you CHECK your capacitor in your AC. If your cap is smaller and lower rated than the SPP6 I guarantee it will help to start it.

I know this because my stock 13500 coleman Mach 3 absolutely would NOT start with the stock factory starting capacitor that was the size of a film can. the Supco was much larger and higher rated. Once in It WOULD start easily in lower temps... and in higher temps and altitudes I would have to run the fan first for a bit and try it and back off try it and back off till it would catch. Trying it too long would trip the predator overload.

 

So let me apologize for jumping the gun and calling troll so fast but like I said, not following break in on the generator and trying to start that AC will ruin the generator unless you follow break in procedure...which takes hours of running with small or no load.

Its in the instruction manual. Also you need to add oil to it...

Hope this helps.

I would advise getting a coleman Mach 1 power saver edition 11,000 BTU and that predator as a good combo. If you want to use the AC you have , Again the Honda 3000 or the Yamaha 2800 are your better bets, Though I would STILL advise the supco no matter what.

It's okay, I wanted a quieter generator anyways. And besides, I can return it if I change my mind. And like I said previously, unless if I come into a bunch of money in the next few days I'm going to have to wait on the new airconditioner. Also, there's no way that a 3000 watt generator would fit in my tiny compartment sadly because at HF they had a bunch on sale that would have cost me less then the one I have now.

 

You have been very helpful, thanks for that. It didn't say much in the instruction manual about breaking it in, unless if I overlooked it which is possible. All I read was that it was not recommended that you run it over 70% capacitor for the first 25 hours or something, which I suppose could translate to break it in before trying to run your ac unit if I was more savvy on this subject. DOn't worry, oil was added, I'm not THAT stupid surprisingly.

 

Thanks again for your help. It's much appreciated.

[Back East Don]

2 minutes ago, Brynn&Cas said:

I guarantee it

and he doubles down.

[Totem]

6 minutes ago, Brynn&Cas said:

It's okay, I wanted a quieter generator anyways. And besides, I can return it if I change my mind. And like I said previously, unless if I come into a bunch of money in the next few days I'm going to have to wait on the new airconditioner. Also, there's no way that a 3000 watt generator would fit in my tiny compartment sadly because at HF they had a bunch on sale that would have cost me less then the one I have now.

 

You have been very helpful, thanks for that. It didn't say much in the instruction manual about breaking it in, unless if I overlooked it which is possible. All I read was that it was not recommended that you run it over 70% capacitor for the first 25 hours or something, which I suppose could translate to break it in before trying to run your ac unit if I was more savvy on this subject. DOn't worry, oil was added, I'm not THAT stupid surprisingly.

 

Thanks again for your help. It's much appreciated.

no problem, no worries.

I am blunt and matter of fact but can tell you Ive been in your shoes.

I know a site where the AC can be had for just over $600 and as you mentioned the predator is $499. So basically for $1100 you can have a setup that runs everything perfectly without needing to cut holes into the walls or build crazy boxes etc etc.

A honda 3000 is huge, noisy and over $2100.. so predator and mach one PS combo is probably your cheapest way to AC if cutting up the rig is not desired for a window unit that offers 8000-9000 BTU tops.

 

Edited August 18, 2016 by Totem

[Totem]

4 minutes ago, Back East Don said:

and he doubles down.

of course i do. Apparently it worked for WME also... you gonna cat call him too? 

[zero]

38 minutes ago, Totem said:

i havent seen him post in here in a long time. perhaps I will reach out to him to let him know how much you miss him

His name is "JoeLu" now and I'm sure he'd love to hear from you, Totem.

[Brynn&Cas]

Just checked out the capacitor, here's a picture. Looks pretty small to me.

[Brynn&Cas]

Also, what is this site you speak of totem? I would like to check it out. I suppose another 600 in isn't THAT bad

[Brynn&Cas]

15 minutes ago, jdemaris said:

His name is "JoeLu" now and I'm sure he'd love to hear from you, Totem.

This is amazing. Who did this?!

[zero]

I must admit I added the annotations on the photos pointed towards Totem.  The rest is all done by the guy formerly known as "Stamar" and now "Joelu."

[Brynn&Cas]

1 minute ago, jdemaris said:

I must admit I added the annotations on the photos pointed towards Totem.  The rest is all done by the guy formerly known as "Stamar" and now "Joelu."

It's the most amazing thing I've seen today. And I thank you for that.

[zero]

A casual observation about generators, in general.   I've noticed this year that just about every professional service truck I see, that has a portable generator in back, has a no-name, yellow, Chinese generator.  I just about never see Hondas or Yamahas anymore - at least not on professional rigs that need job-site power.   In fact, the Mexicans that just put up a building for me in the Michigan UP had a 3500 watt yellow generator with no recoil starter.  Just a separate rope that had to be wound up around a pulley. I found that kind of interesting.  30-40 years ago - it was the norm to never put electric start or a auto-rewind starter on a jobsite generator simply because a separate rope starter is by far the most dependable.   Maybe someone figured out that maybe buying generators at 1/3 the price, even with little support, is a good deal in the long run?

[Back East Don]

38 minutes ago, Totem said:

of course i do. Apparently it worked for WME also... you gonna cat call him too? 

I'm sorry, I couldn't resist.  The absolutism was too perfect.

I've been learning to just let go these days and abandon fanatical perfectionism.  I just need to work on the resultant callous disregard.

What do you want from a fish hole.

[Totem]

That a boy Don.

As to the Stamar sighting....

oh man, i forgot i probably argued with Stamar a few times in here. That's the thing about me ; I wont cozy up with any of you fools if I disagree I disagree and if you come at me on tone or how I should be I'll gladly make a stamar of you.

Hey Stamar, if you're out there , no hurt feelings bro. I am honored that you have the most caustic vitriol saved for me after that intellectual whooping you took from the admins and other regulars in here in your last days threads. Hahahhahaaa!

And to think, your "what have you done on your toy home today" thread is the site's  most popular one!  Well played sir... Derek even misses you.

[Totem]

38 minutes ago, Brynn&Cas said:

Just checked out the capacitor, here's a picture. Looks pretty small to me.

That would be what I refer to as the crap cap. That cap is so puny its only purpose is to keep the camp grounds breaker from tripping. Put a supco SPP6 in and you just might get it to run with that predator.

Edited August 18, 2016 by Totem

[Brynn&Cas]

1 minute ago, Totem said:

That would be what I refer to as the crap cap. That cap is so puny its only purpose is to keep the camp grounds breaker from tripping. Put a supco SPP6 in and you just might get it to run with that predator.

Worth a shot, got one in my cart on amazon and should be here tomorrow. Wish us luck.

[Brynn&Cas]

https://smile.amazon.com/SPP6-Capacitor-Increase-Starting-Torque/dp/B0002YTLFE/ref=smi_se_mit_rcol_smi_2537928482?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&pldnCmp=rcol&pldnCrt=my-impact

 

Is this the correct one? Just want to make sure...

[Totem]

Just now, Brynn&Cas said:

Worth a shot, got one in my cart on amazon and should be here tomorrow. Wish us luck.

The SPP6 can be attached to that cap or just replace that cap with it. In my case i found mine ran better if I removed the crap cap.

Another funny thing I can tell you.. the Coleman Power Saver edition Mach1 that I upgraded to from my old 13500 came with a SPP6 clone in it already!

[Totem]

1 minute ago, Brynn&Cas said:

https://smile.amazon.com/SPP6-Capacitor-Increase-Starting-Torque/dp/B0002YTLFE/ref=smi_se_mit_rcol_smi_2537928482?_encoding=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&pldnCmp=rcol&pldnCrt=my-impact

 

Is this the correct one? Just want to make sure...

Yep that be the one.. the same one JJRBUS says is junk, but apparently 161 amazonians, and WME disagree with him also.

Edited August 18, 2016 by Totem

[Brynn&Cas]

3 minutes ago, Totem said:

Yep that be the one.. the same one JJRBUS says is junk, but apparently 161 amazonians, and WME disagree with him also.

At this point it's a crap shoot anyways, I'm willing to spend the 12$ to see what happens.

On another note, how hard is it to install a new ac unit anyways? If we end up having to go that route at some point.

[Totem]

My rig didnt have one on it when i bought it... i actually made the mistake of buying a 13500 coleman mach 3 new form an rv dealer. I ran it about 4 years before i started down the generator to run AC path...

I ended up selling it on ebay and after paying for shipping (I made the mistake of listing it free shipping) I only recouped $105. In any event, My wife and I have installed 2 of them on our RV.

If you do not have a coleman now, you will need also a control unit most likely ($180). What I did was I backed the RV up to a large knee wall at my home and walked it across onto the roof. I'd say it took me less than 10 minutes to install.

Ive seen others that don't have a knee wall like me build ramps from 2x4s and slide it up onto the roof with someone pushing on bottom and someone on top pulling the rope.

Edited August 18, 2016 by Totem

[Totem]

JDE, how in the world do you know this guy is Stamar? - frightening.

I don't doubt that he is though. I do have that effect on most California libs.

[Back East Don]

21 minutes ago, Totem said:

The SPP6 can be attached to that cap or just replace that cap with it. In my case i found mine ran better if I removed the crap cap.

Another funny thing I can tell you.. the Coleman Power Saver edition Mach1 that I upgraded to from my old 13500 came with a SPP6 clone in it already!

Connecting the two caps in parallel would provide a total of the two capacitor values.  So if you had a 45mf cap and a 15mf the total would be 60mf thus increasing the capacitance.  That would be the argument for connecting the two.  If you suspect the one in there of being crap, that is the argument for just installing the SPP6.

[Totem]

1 minute ago, Back East Don said:

Connecting the two caps in parallel would provide a total of the two capacitor values.  So if you had a 45mf cap and a 15mf the total would be 60mf thus increasing the capacitance.  That would be the argument for connecting the two.  If you suspect the one in there of being crap, that is the argument for just installing the SPP6.

in my case the one in mine was total garbage, but i agree with this^

Edited August 18, 2016 by Totem

[Back East Don]

Just now, Totem said:

in my case the one in mine was total garbage.

I accounted for that.

 

[Maineah]

2 hours ago, Totem said:

no problem, no worries.

I am blunt and matter of fact but can tell you Ive been in your shoes.

I know a site where the AC can be had for just over $600 and as you mentioned the predator is $499. So basically for $1100 you can have a setup that runs everything perfectly without needing to cut holes into the walls or build crazy boxes etc etc.

A honda 3000 is huge, noisy and over $2100.. so predator and mach one PS combo is probably your cheapest way to AC if cutting up the rig is not desired for a window unit that offers 8000-9000 BTU tops.

 

A Honda 3000 is big I'll give you that but it ain't noisy. There are two types neither one is noisy the one that has the lower noise level is quieter than a Honda 2000 I have used both. Yamaha 2800 $1,700 but maybe 3 $500 Predators would last as long.

 

 

[zero]

1 hour ago, Totem said:

JDE, how in the world do you know this guy is Stamar? - frightening.

I don't doubt that he is though. I do have that effect on most California libs.

He had the same photos running back when he was a celebrity on this forum - but with the name "Stamar" instead of "JoeLu."   Hey, at least I had mercy on people here and only posted the dating-photos of him fully dressed.   Funny thing about our mentor Stamar.  I've seen his posts on other forums (for cars, not dating) . . and many seem "normal."  Wonder why he was so "far out" when he came here?  Must of been an affect of all the charisma we all spread around here.

[Maineah]

1 hour ago, jdemaris said:

He had the same photos running back when he was a celebrity on this forum - but with the name "Stamar" instead of "JoeLu."   Hey, at least I had mercy on people here and only posted the dating-photos of him fully dressed.   Funny thing about our mentor Stamar.  I've seen his posts on other forums (for cars, not dating) . . and many seem "normal."  Wonder why he was so "far out" when he came here?  Must of been an affect of all the charisma we all spread around here.

Oh he was a piece of work!