ineedanother 1,459 #1 Posted Saturday at 08:37 PM Doing some prep work to install a whole house genny. My diesel 7.5kW does fine when I'm home but I really can't expect my wife to run it given that it's back-fed with a lockout and I have to alternate the a/c units because it just won't run them both. So I finally got around to checking the inrush amps on my a/c units and was a bit shocked to see that the older unit was drawing over 80 LRA. Holy crap. No wonder I can't run them both. Anyway, even with the 12kW I'm installing that would be too much. The other unit draws 30.5 LRA which is a good bit but 80 is off the chart for me. They both run on less than 10A but I have to get them started without bogging or worse, stalling or even killing the generator. So I installed a soft starter on the older unit. About a 45 minute job and the device cost just under $400 which is nothing to sneeze at. But to my surprise, it's now pulling just under 10 LRA on startup! It starts smoothly now too which may or may not extend it's life but I think it almost has to. We'll see. 2 2 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
nylyon-(Admin) 7,516 #2 Posted Saturday at 09:39 PM I am planning on installing some on my RV air conditioners so I can run all three off of the 5.5KW generator without worrying about tripping the breaker. They work very well! 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HyperPete 572 #3 Posted Sunday at 12:50 AM I was planning to buy one of these, same brand, when I bought my new generator severalonths ago. The micro-air were all the rage, with the wifi monitoring. Unfortunately, they haven't lived up to expectations. One run, in particular, has an extremely high failure rate. I will try to find details from the FB generator groups I'm in. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ineedanother 1,459 #4 Posted Sunday at 12:56 AM 3 minutes ago, HyperPete said: they haven't lived up to expectations. One run, in particular, has an extremely high failure rate. Interesting...I read quite a bit before committing to this so I'm curious...Sources?... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HyperPete 572 #5 Posted Sunday at 12:59 AM 1 minute ago, ineedanother said: Interesting...I read quite a bit before committing to this so I'm curious...Sources?... Let me get the links for you. Hopefully it's just that one run. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HyperPete 572 #6 Posted Sunday at 01:07 AM https://www.facebook.com/groups/1716967438485868/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT https://www.facebook.com/groups/1434785350530510/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT https://www.facebook.com/groups/1638906663069796/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT https://www.facebook.com/groups/1226861290686292/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT https://www.facebook.com/groups/766087290718076/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT https://www.facebook.com/groups/103931416346061/?ref=share&mibextid=NSMWBT I was in several other groups, too, but I left some after choosing my generator. I think mine can handle my A/C without soft start, and if it can't, then I will deal with it at that time. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adsm08 2,722 #8 Posted Sunday at 01:42 AM My neighbor needs one of those. Every time his unit starts or stops I think there was a car accident out in the street. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ineedanother 1,459 #9 Posted Sunday at 01:43 AM Interesting and good to know. I did quite a bit of cyber-searching prior to the purchase and felt pretty good about pulling the trigger which is why I put it out here for input from the brain trust here. I'm hoping that my first assessment is what I'll see moving forward. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ineedanother 1,459 #10 Posted Sunday at 01:44 AM Just now, adsm08 said: My neighbor needs one of those. Every time his unit starts or stops I think there was a car accident out in the street. Yeah, that's one thing that goes away...immediately. No "bang" and run of the hard start., Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ineedanother 1,459 #11 Posted Sunday at 01:51 AM 2 minutes ago, adsm08 said: My neighbor needs one of those. Every time his unit starts or stops I think there was a car accident out in the street. Your neighbor's lights probably dim when the compressor engages too, and this eliminates that. I'm not promoting or in any way saying that this is the answer to hvac compressor electrical inrush because everyone's circumstances are their own, but I'm optimistic from what I've seen in my case this weekend. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
HyperPete 572 #12 Posted Sunday at 03:06 AM 1 hour ago, ineedanother said: Your neighbor's lights probably dim when the compressor engages too, and this eliminates that. I'm not promoting or in any way saying that this is the answer to hvac compressor electrical inrush because everyone's circumstances are their own, but I'm optimistic from what I've seen in my case this weekend. I expect you'll have great results. It's been months since that issue was discovered, it's probably completely resolved by now. And yes, I have also read that the soft start helps save your hardware. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
adsm08 2,722 #13 Posted Sunday at 10:37 AM 7 hours ago, HyperPete said: I have also read that the soft start helps save your hardware. I remember a few years back Trane was advertising lower energy consumption, longer life, and quieter start/stop operation on their new units. IIRC all they did was start including these units from the factory. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
