Small portable A/C

[fire362]

The weather is getting hot fast. I live in BAKersfield, CA. I have a 18' Sunrader 4X4 that has solar panels on top. I do not have A/C and know that it takes a generator. I am planning on getting a Honda 2000 generator. My question is does anyone have any suggestions what brand / type and size to get? What should I be expecting for price?

Thanks. The weather is here so time to play!!

Ken

[WME]

With the Honda 2000w generator all it will power are the mini A/Cs. They are in the 9000btu size. This would be fine in an 18 ft.

[ChairmanMeow7]

I have a Coleman Mach series A/C in my 1986 21ft. Winnebago. I am not sure which Mach it is or if it is the Mini-Mach (does anyone know which A/C came with these) ?

I can't recall seeing anything on it other than Coleman Mach.

How big of a generator would I need if it were bigger than the Mini-Mach ?

Do you think a 2600 watt would work ?

[John A]

Be careful when you are selecting a generator to power up an A/C, most of the generator ratings you see are surge ratings, not steady state ratings. For example, the Honda 2000 is only rated at 1600 watts steady state output.

John A

[ChairmanMeow7]

The one I am currently looking at is a Yamaha , and it's rated at 2300 watts continuous and 2600 peak.

Do you think this will handle ANY Coleman Mach I may have in my Winnie ? (I'm still not sure which model Mach it is. Can someone help me with this and let me know which model the 1986 Winnies came with) ??

The only thing I don't like about this generator I am looking at is it weighs in at 90 Lbs. I am trying to keep the weight down , as I had the Winnie weighed and it came in at close to 7000 Lbs. !!

I think I heard (on here) that the Winnies are the heaviest of all the coaches built on the Toyota chassis.

I just got back from a trip to the White Mountains in NH and I felt like getting out and pushing up a few of those long grades !

Makes me wish I had opted for the V-6 , but at $4800 with ONLY 43,000 on mine when I bought it last year , I guess I can't complain.

I am still "toying" (no pun intended ?) with the idea of finding a nice V-6 for a decent price and maybe selling mine. But , I do like the idea that I have heard the 22-RE described as "the best damn internal cumbustion engine" ever built .......

[motoyhomme]

Take the AC inside cover off and look for a tag, it should give you the btu rating, if no tag there then it's on to the top and look under the AC top cover/shroud for the tag.

I have a Mach I and it's rated at 13.5kbtu, way too much cooling for my MH but would feel nice in Bakersfield.

The Onan 2800 will run one 13.5k and nothing more. The Onan 4000 will run a 13.5 and a 1000w microwave at the same time.

If yours happens to be the 13.5 the 2600 may or may not run it, it would be close.

There is also a 11k Mach I model out there and it looks identical to the 13.5.

All of the older generators took more current to get them started and running, the newer ones are energy efficient and would require a smaller generator.

Allen

[futar]

I'm assuming that it's reasonably dry in Bakersfield. You might consider an evaporative cooler. These use water and minimal power to drive a fan and possibly on some models a water pump. When water evaporates it's absorbs energy. In drier climates the effects are amazing. It feels like iced air coming out. These are also called swamp coolers.

There is a roof mount unit from Turbokool. http://www.turbokool.com/ They are spendy at about $564 . But it does work and is reliable. There are a bunch of portable units out there although you have to fill them with water. I have used them on three RVs including my present Toyota MH. It's better than listening to a generator and AC compressor. The moisture in the desert sure feels good.