Honda EU2000i and Dometic Penguin A/C with SmartStart

[Harold Kroeker]

I have been lurking on this forum for quite some time and in June I ordered an Escape 19 for delivery in May, 2011. I want to thank all of you for the information that you posted, which helped me choose the right trailer and options for my intended use.

My wife and I have not camped on a site with electrical service in the 22 years that we have been camping together because we tend to prefer the surroundings that the more isolated sites have to offer. For this reason, it is very important to me that our new trailer is properly equipped for camping without services. Dual 6V AGM batteries and a good 3 stage charger with a generator take care of most of our needs, but now that we are a bit older, we prefer not to tough it out in the high temperatures that we sometimes get on the prairies in the summer, or in the southern states that we may visit in the future.

I have been using a Honda EU2000i generator to charge the batteries on our old pop-up trailer for many years and I love the light weight and quiet operation that this unit offers. I do not want to switch to a larger generator so it is very important to me that the air conditioning in our new trailer be able to run off the little Honda. When Tammy told me that the new Dometic Penguin (model 600312.331C) in the Escape 19 would not run off the EU2000i I started to do some research. I discovered that the marine crowd loves this little generator as much as I do and that Dometic has developed a device called the SmartStart for their Marine air conditioners which allows the Honda EU2000i to start and run a 16,000 BTU air conditioner while in ECO mode.

Attached is a document that Dometic posted in another forum which explains what the unit is, what it does, and the results of the tests that they did.

I contacted the Dometic RV Division that sells the Penguin and asked if the SmartStart was available for the air conditioner that is installed on the Escape 19. They gave me the part number for a Quick Start which is something completely different and claimed that they had never heard of the SmartStart. I called the Dometic Marine Division and actually talked to M. Giovanetti who authored the attached document and is the developer of the SmartStart. It turns out that the SmartStart is a Dometic Marine product and that the Dometic RV Division does not think that RV owners would be interested in it, due to the high cost, so they have not made it available through their distributors. At the same time he assured me that the SmartStart model #4220040 would work on the Dometic Penguin but that I would have to purchase it from a Dometic Marine retailer. He also mentioned that it requires a good sine wave, like the one put out by the EU2000i, but that is lacking in some low cost generators. I found one online retailer who lists the SmartStart for $450 which is not inexpensive but it is certainly cheaper than buying a new generator. For me, it is well worth the money to avoid having to haul and then handle a larger and heavier generator. I hope to find a lower price as they become more common and read one post in another group that quoted a cost of $360. I live 2000 km from the closest ocean so good marine retailers are a bit sparse in these parts. If anyone can suggest a good place to buy the SmartStart, I would appreciate it.

I discussed having the SmartStart installed during the build on my new trailer with Tammy and Reece but they indicated that this has to be done by a certified RV technician so it may not be possible. This was also before I discovered that it was not sold through the Dometic RV division so I will probably end up ordering one and installing it myself.

I posted this information now in case someone else wants to try installing a SmartStart before I get my trailer but if no one does, I will post my experience with this unit once I get it.