Air Conditioner Fan Delay

[scrubjaysnest]

Originally Posted by TrailManorMan

We have very few campgrounds within 500 miles that i cant get electric, no national forest or similar , seems to be a western thing ��
Most all the state parks have electric and some have water, just returned from an ocean front site in Virginia Beach with electric and water, nice state park with privacy and beach access, no gens allowed solar would be tough due to trees so plug in was nice

Looks like the nearest NF to you may be Wayne, ESE of Columbus, OH.

[Hiram123]

Please excuse if I'm hijacking the thread. When i first got our popup I borrowed my friends small honda to see if it would run the air, no go. About a year later i decided I needed a small gen. to run my furnace and TV during short power outages. After some research I decided on a Yamaha 2400, it's quite as a Honda has almost the same specs, and costs almost the same.

A week or so after I got it I tried it on the popup, started the AC with no problem not even a stutter, it also starts the new 2720 we have with no problem. So if you're in the market for a gen. you should look into one of these.

[tentcamper]

Padgett, what is the Pn of the delay relay and where did you get it??

We don't like generators. We figure that in the hot weather, if we feel we will need AC. We just stay at a CS with electric, can not stand the ongoing hum/noise of a generator. Dry camping we do when it's cooler. But If I was attending an event like a race where you want to be onsite and there is no electric, I would rethink the generator.

Wane NF. We stayed at the Ironwood district of Wane NF at 2 of it's CG south of Columbus down by the river. They have wonderful water and electric sites. Never been to Wayn's NF other 3-5 CG's that are S-E Columbus.

[Padgett]

I looked at the Yamahas but there was one problem: 18 inches x 21 inches x 17 inches.

My 2720SL storage compartment is only 14" wide. At the time, the Predator was the biggest generator that would fit. Now there is a second, the Northern Tools Powerhouse Portable Inverter Generator — 2700 Surge Watts, 2600 Rated Watts, Remote Start, Model# PH2700PRi from Northern tool and is 17 inches x 13 inches x 22 inches (HWL).

Has anyone tried one of these ? Since I have a EU2000 (baseline) and the Pred, I cannot justify buying another.

The reviews of all of these is interesting, some like, some hate, some are happy and many won't run the AC. Almost all are subjective.

My goal is simple: a single inverter/generator that will fit in the rear compartment and reliably start the AC when dry camping using OTS components and possibly some inexpensive modifications.

Wouldn't it be nice if TrailManor had a real Automotive/Electrical engineer on staff to do this sort of thing ?

[Dchisenh]

Working in those space constraints is tough, it makes me more thankful for the larger rear compartment in my 3326. Of course, the Champion 3100 won't fit in that one either, so my plan is to put it up in the bed of my Tacoma for transport (or possibly a rear hitch platform since my '04 3326 has a real hitch from before they started putting on the weaker ones).

Of course this is probably not really feasible, but with the roll out of the new Tesla lithium batteries, maybe in the near future a lithium battery bank (with dimensions that can fit within our compartments instead of the very tall and flat one they're debuting this Summer) and more efficient solar panels coupled with an inverter may allow us to run our ACs silently..of course, that's way too cost prohibitive now, but man, that would be nice.

As far as the hard start caps microfarad differences, it's all gibberish to me! I actually though the non-E one was the one we're supposed to use with our ACs, but I've found websites that say the E is the right one and vice versa, so I'm hoping you'll be able to settle it for us!

-Dan

[Padgett]

OK fouund the issue in the delay circuit and have installed the prototype.

Now working well with limited testing at 88-90F and is being reliable/repeatable wth Honda EU2000i both as initial turn on and when cycling. Seeing 10-12A less startup power required.

No cutting of wiring needed but one hole drilled for the bypass switch (no need for delay if on shore power) but can use if want the fan to cycle also, stock is just on.

When on genny the fan turns off if the AC cycles to save power. Delay/cycle is only on LO fan.

Run power is close to spec (11.5-12.4A) but expect it might be higher at 100F (rarely exceed 95 even in mid summer here).

Unfortunately Predator is N/A until repaired so Honda is having to run close to capacity.

But all I need to do now is button it up. In production I wold use about 6" longer wires so relay could mount on far side and not block as much of the intake.

[Padgett]

Just got a call from HF and they are going to replace my gen with a new one. Am feeling a bit under the weather so will be a few days and will need to break in the new one (25 hours) before putting to full power. be interesting to see how it handles the reduced load.

Interesting but the new gen will not be covered by original my service contract which has about a year left to run, will need to buy a new one.

2700 from Northern tools comes with a 2 year warrenty and might be a better choice but have no experiece with it.

[Padgett]

Did some research and found a number of posts on different formuns about fan delay, etc. but none seemed to put thr two pieces together: common 2000W inverter generator (like my EU2000i) and reliably starting a Coleman 13.5k btu AV.

True I was also constrained by being able to fit in my storage compartment but that is beside the point. Reliably starting the AC in hot weather is the main constraint. There are different ways to handle other electric needs (in my case two GC2s and two 100W solar panels plus an 800/400W inverter.).

So my method was two fold:
1) Connect the generator only to the AC.
2) Stage the AC starting so the compressor gets everything the generator has (start the fan later).

Now my prototype was not cheap since I was buying thing in quantity 1 and from Lowes/HD. I figure I have $75 in the whole thing. The most expensive piece was a time delay relay that was rated for 7A running ( I see 3.3A from the low fan)

It also could be made constant but I added a switch for either delay (on gen) or direct (on shore power). If you do not like the fan running when the AC is not cooling, that can also be selected.

So there it is. No wire cutting. No splicing, just plug in spade terminals. Needs one hole (for switch on side).

So far it works. Repeatable even with the little 2000 (though closer to max than I like).

[TrailManorMan]

Sounds like you got it! 😀