AC won't work with Generator

yardsale · 07-20-2018, 10:19 AM

Hi Folks,
I started the generator (on propane), tested it with a hair dryer on hi (1500 watts), then turned the ac on fan which worked fine. When I switched to AC low I hear a bizarre clicking sound which appears to be coming from a space a few feet to the left of the Progressive EMS system located under the right side of the bed in the rear of the 17B. It does not come from the EMS system, AC, or the generator. EMS system shows no error code, AC fuse is not tripped. AC works fine on shore power. This whole system worked fine last year. I am clueless.
The players:
Coleman Mac 9200 btu AC
Yamaha EF 2000 generator.

PGDriver · 07-20-2018, 10:32 AM

Maybe the startup amperage draw is to high for the air conditioner.

yardsale · 07-20-2018, 11:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by PGDriver

Maybe the startup amperage draw is to high for the air conditioner.

Thanks for your response Doug. Not sure start up draw is the answer as it wasn't a problem last year and nothing has changed since then.

Greg A · 07-20-2018, 11:54 AM

I'm assuming you're not running it on ECO, ours won't run the AC on ECO (at least for long) and would make that same clicking sound when it tried to start AC on ECO. Seems I recall it would shut down the power however, and I'd have to shut the gen off and unplug, then start it back up with ECO off and it would work fine.
It could still possibly be the start up draw. As AC equipment ages sometimes it requires more draw on start up. I.E. our house system started blowing the fuse on start up last summer @14 years old and never had any issues. They had to put a hard start capacitor in to get it to operate.

yardsale · 07-20-2018, 12:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Greg A

I'm assuming you're not running it on ECO, ours won't run the AC on ECO (at least for long) and would make that same clicking sound when it tried to start AC on ECO. Seems I recall it would shut down the power however, and I'd have to shut the gen off and unplug, then start it back up with ECO off and it would work fine.
It could still possibly be the start up draw. As AC equipment ages sometimes it requires more draw on start up. I.E. our house system started blowing the fuse on start up last summer @14 years old and never had any issues. They had to put a hard start capacitor in to get it to operate.

Not on Eco but it is a year older. Would RV dealer install the hard start capacitor? I have little skill in this area.

Greg A · 07-20-2018, 12:21 PM

Not my area either, but Dave (Rubicon) is real good in this area as well as some others on here. I'm sure they'll jump in shortly and can give some more directed advice. It still could turn out to be something entirely unrelated to the start up draw, just not sure what else it would be.

Jubal · 07-20-2018, 04:08 PM

Rv Surge Protection | United States | Progressive Industries, Inc. | Disclaimer

elongest · 07-20-2018, 04:12 PM

Do you have a qas/elec. water heater? If so is the WH elec. element off?
Eddie

PGDriver · 07-20-2018, 05:17 PM

Any decent RV shop should be able to install a hard start for you Nick but I can’t see you needing it if everything else is turned off. The Honda 2000 will run the ac unit so I can’t see why the Yamaha won’t especially if it has previously.

yardsale · 07-20-2018, 06:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by elongest

Do you have a qas/elec. water heater? If so is the WH elec. element off?
Eddie

No other draws on the system except propane detector. Batteries fully charged as test occured under strong sun with 160w solar system fully functional.

**rbryan4** · 07-20-2018, 06:53 PM

Nick, If you want to reliably run the AC with a 2000W generator, I recommend a MicroAir Easystart. It's very easy to install as well, even for a novice. And if you get stuck or have questions, they'll walk you through the install over the phone.

https://www.microair.net/products/ea...nt=30176048267

yardsale · 07-20-2018, 07:11 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Nick, If you want to reliably run the AC with a 2000W generator, I recommend a MicroAir Easystart. It's very easy to install as well, even for a novice. And if you get stuck or have questions, they'll walk you through the install over the phone.

https://www.microair.net/products/ea...nt=30176048267

$300 bucks. Local RV dealer will install the appropriate capacitor for $180.

**rbryan4** · 07-20-2018, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yardsale

$300 bucks. Local RV dealer will install the appropriate capacitor for $180.

Not the same thing. It's a control board, not just a soft start capacitor.

wetzk · 07-20-2018, 07:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yardsale

$300 bucks. Local RV dealer will install the appropriate capacitor for $180.

That's just a hard start capacitor. It may or may not give you enough ummmph to start the air conditioner. I do not have the unit he described as our Yamaha is a little bit larger and works fine.
The 75+ Lbs though sucks when moving it.

yardsale · 07-20-2018, 08:03 PM

Don't have to worry about this stuff with my tent. (whine)

wetzk · 07-20-2018, 08:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yardsale

Don't have to worry about this stuff with my tent. (whine)

I've had my innards reworked a couple times and was warned to watch what I carry.
I'm as careful as I can be when moving the Yamaha but.....

I expect one day its going to look like I committed seppuku.

davescape · 07-20-2018, 08:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yardsale

Hi Folks,
I started the generator (on propane), tested it with a hair dryer on hi (1500 watts), then turned the ac on fan which worked fine. When I switched to AC low I hear a bizarre clicking sound which appears to be coming from a space a few feet to the left of the Progressive EMS system located under the right side of the bed in the rear of the 17B. It does not come from the EMS system, AC, or the generator. EMS system shows no error code, AC fuse is not tripped. AC works fine on shore power. This whole system worked fine last year. I am clueless.
The players:
Coleman Mac 9200 btu AC
Yamaha EF 2000 generator.

I'm going out on a limb here: I think you're mistaken about the EMS. "Severe clicking" describes what the EMS does when it detects "high voltage". You can disable the low voltage protection but you can not disable the high voltage. I put high voltage in quotation marks because its not that the Yamaha puts out high voltage, its that the EMS thinks it does. The EMS was not designed to function with generators and while it plays nice with Honda, it does not play nice with Yamaha. Not sure why, its just that way. Its not an issue of quality.

steve dunham · 07-20-2018, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rbryan4

Not the same thing. It's a control board, not just a soft start capacitor.

One is a soft start and the other is just a $10 capacitor
A soft start is used on inductive loads and you can program how fast it ramps up
We used them extensively on hard starting loads
I would follow rbryan4’s advice

wetzk · 07-20-2018, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davescape

I'm going out on a limb here: I think you're mistaken about the EMS. "Severe clicking" describes what the EMS does when it detects "high voltage". You can disable the low voltage protection but you can not disable the high voltage. I put high voltage in quotation marks because its not that the Yamaha puts out high voltage, its that the EMS thinks it does. The EMS was not designed to function with generators and while it plays nice with Honda, it does not play nice with Yamaha. Not sure why, its just that way. Its not an issue of quality.

Somebody forgot to tell my generator its' not supposed to work with the EMS. The only mod I had to do was bond the neutral and ground together on a plug and stick it in one of the generator outlets. Mines a Yamaha EF2400iSHC . It's only failing grace is the darn thing is heavy. Otherwise it's nice, runs a long time per fill up, powers the air conditioner with ease and is quiet.

Edit, went back and looked at the first post again. The Yamaha EF2000iS if that is what you have will not run your air conditioner without the expensive soft start kit and may not even then. Check around and you will find post after post complaining about that on other forums. The Honda will, it has surge capacity, mine does too. The older small Yamaha does not. The newer version the EF2000iSv2 may but I know the first version did not work.
We had one and traded in for the larger unit due to the same issue.

yardsale · 07-20-2018, 09:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by davescape

I'm going out on a limb here: I think you're mistaken about the EMS. "Severe clicking" describes what the EMS does when it detects "high voltage". You can disable the low voltage protection but you can not disable the high voltage. I put high voltage in quotation marks because its not that the Yamaha puts out high voltage, its that the EMS thinks it does. The EMS was not designed to function with generators and while it plays nice with Honda, it does not play nice with Yamaha. Not sure why, its just that way. Its not an issue of quality.

That's interesting. Nothing for me to do then? I suppose the soft start capacitor wouldn;t help either.

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