Soft start for AC

[bailiej757]

I'm thinking about getting a Honda generator for a trip this summer through the midwest. We will be dry camping for most of the trip. I have the standard AC unit on a 2016 E21. Will the Honda 2200 watt gen run the AC without a soft start installed?

[RangerMan]

Originally Posted by bailiej757

I'm thinking about getting a Honda generator for a trip this summer through the midwest. We will be dry camping for most of the trip. I have the standard AC unit on a 2016 E21. Will the Honda 2200 watt gen run the AC without a soft start installed?

Runs the 11,000 on my 21

[Upfisk]

Try renting a generator from Home Depot before you buy. We bought a Yamaha 2200 only to find it would not run our A.C. in our 2018 Escape 19. We then rented a 3000 watt Honda generator and found it had no problem running the A.C. We live at 5000 ft elevation and elevation also determines how much power the generator can produce. We had asked on the forums prior to purchasing the Yamaha if it was sufficient. We were assured it was. Rent first before you commit to a certain size.

[Iowa Dave]

I have found that if there is a known solution to a problem such as installing a soft start on the AC to assist generator performance or if as suggested a rental unit is available at a reasonable cost it is a prudent course of action to spend the upgrade or rental money before purchase. Rental or borrowing a generator from a friend is a good course of action and the known solution of a soft start device probably even better if you’re set on the 2200 for cost, weight, portability (size) etc. It appears that there are two mentalities these days and maybe always have been. “Can I get by?” And “ I’m willing to spend the money, just sell me what I need to be able to depend on this”. That’s where you have to know exactly how you’ll be using the product and include parameters like elevation, fuel type, spark arresters, etc.
Many folks do this making purchases every day but when you get in territory where you’re not familiar it makes some folks uncomfortable.

Time for an anecdote. Last summer we were without home electricity for eleven days after a derecho knocked out a lot of power in Iowa.
We kept our fans, freezer, refrigerator, efficient propane water heater with fan exhaust, portable shop lights and garage door openers all running from Honda 2200i generators. It took judicious switching of electrical hookups and about 300 feet of drop cords but we got by. This Included washing a few loads of clothes with the Speed Queen and drying them with a solar clothes dryer (on the backyard clothesline). The Honda saved a lot of meat and frozen food, kept us fan cooled in 90 degree heat and at the end of a long day, allowed us to watch a little TV and have a hot shower. YMMV
Iowa Dave

[EscapeBoulder]

BailieJ757: I had to purchase a soft start for our 2018 Escape 19'er's air conditioner so it would start using our Honda 2000i generator. The installation of the soft start was easy as I followed the instructions from a YouTube video.

[Semievolved]

I have heard that although a soft start eliminates or greatly reduces the inrush current issue, the flip side is that the electronics used to create the soft start require more power when the unit is functioning, i.e. the continuous, steady-state power consumption of the appliance is higher when a soft start is used. Anybody else heard this? I am no electrician and the explanation lost me pretty quick.

[EscapeBoulder]

Semievolved: While I have no idea if the soft start does require more energy to run the A/C, if it does, that hasn't been noticeable running our A/C from the generator.

[MBA80]

Originally Posted by EscapeBoulder

BailieJ757: I had to purchase a soft start for our 2018 Escape 19'er's air conditioner so it would start using our Honda 2000i generator. The installation of the soft start was easy as I followed the instructions from a YouTube video.

Does this add on void your A/C warranty if done in the first three years of ownership?

[MyronL]

My short answer is no, why would it? Dave you had me at solar dryer, but What the heck is a "derecho"?

[EscapeBoulder]

Originally Posted by MBA80

Does this add on void your A/C warranty if done in the first three years of ownership?

I have no idea if the soft start voids the A/C's warranty. But what's the use of the A/C if I can't use it 'cuz it won't start? So I didn't even concern myself about the warranty.

[rubicon327]

Originally Posted by EscapeBoulder

So I didn't even concern myself about the warranty.

As per other threads the Dometic warranty is worthless anyway!

[cpaharley2008]

Originally Posted by MyronL

My short answer is no, why would it? Dave you had me at solar dryer, but What the heck is a "derecho"?

I just googled it and basically it is an on land hurricane with a lot of wind damage...

[thunderworks]

The derecho that passed through Iowa last summer was enormous and severe. It leveled thousands of acres of crop, downed tens of thousands of trees, and left broad swaths of the state without power for many days. It was one of the broadest and most severe natural disasters to hit the US in a long time. It might have generated 100mph straight line winds. I think it mostly affected the state from the middle to the eastern border.

[MyronL]

Do you pronounce that derr-ecko or derr-etch-ee-o ?

[gbaglo]

Originally Posted by MyronL

Do you pronounce that derr-ecko or derr-etch-ee-o ?

Google "pronounce derecho" and you can hear how it is pronounced.

[HABBERDABBER]

Derecho comes from the Spanish adjective for "straight" (or "direct")


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derecho


A derecho (/dəˈreɪtʃoʊ/, from Spanish: derecho [deˈɾetʃo], "straight" as in direction) is a widespread, long-lived, straight-line wind storm that is associated with a fast-moving group of severe thunderstorms known as a mesoscale convective system[1] and potentially rivaling hurricanic and tornadic forces.

[Semievolved]

why, here in new mexico, we call that a gentle breeze...

[brroberts]

One of those derecho’s is why we lost two RV’s at once and are trailerless. We hope to have a trailer in the fall ir winter.

[JeffreyG]

We took the kids to see Washington DC in 2011, except there was a hurricane so we bailed an visited Shenandoah NP instead.


Tried again in 2012. But a Derecho came (it actually ran just south of us as we camped in the panhandle of West Virginia and we heard the thunder as it missed us.). We pressed on to DC where the power was out over a huge area.



We wound up camping as planned, but the park was empty (it had been evacuated) and there was no power. We spent our days in downtown DC where the power was on, but the heat was oppressive back at camp (no power) and water etc. became a challenge over our 5 night stay. That was how we learned what a derecho is.

[Iowa Dave]

Originally Posted by thunderworks

The derecho that passed through Iowa last summer was enormous and severe. It leveled thousands of acres of crop, downed tens of thousands of trees, and left broad swaths of the state without power for many days. It was one of the broadest and most severe natural disasters to hit the US in a long time. It might have generated 100mph straight line winds. I think it mostly affected the state from the middle to the eastern border.

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/e...so-destructive

The derecho last August 11 affected 7 states. It built up as it crossed western Iowa, about noon it got to us and went from a 15 mile an hour breeze to a hundred mile an hour wind in two minutes. In the final analysis it peaked at 142 miles an hour at a weather station four miles from us and lasted for 42 minutes. Then gone.
We lost some trees but our metal roof that was rated at 125 miles an hour was not damaged.
The Escape building was basically Not damaged but my adjacent shop building was beat up some. Since we lost or severely damaged 6 mature trees on our south property line which is bordered by a 40 acre row crop field we knew it was time to make lemonade and removed one additional cottonwood tree. We then contracted for a 7.6 KwH solar array and are now getting about 60KwH per day on sunny days. 6.2 year payback. As the sky cleared, I knew and I could see the power lines down for a mile along the highway, I knew we would be without power for some time . I also knew every generator would be off the shelves before I could get to town. I called my son in law in Fort Wayne Indiana and told him to buy me three Honda 2200i generators and 6 5 gallon gas cans. The next morning at 5 AM I headed East for Hobart and he headed west. I met him and got the generators. Back home around 2 PM (500 miles) round trip. I got a generator to my son and son in law. And as I stated earlier, 11 days later almost to the hour, the lights came back on. Such is life. I usually get the boys a pretty nice Christmas present, this past year it was just a little better than usual. It flattened my sweet corn but I still froze 56 pints and gave a bunch away. Durability is the key.
Iowa Dave