SoftStartRV capacitors, RV Airflows, sealing ducts and other AC musings...

[TerryH]

I recently installed a Victron Compact 12/2000 inverter and 300ah Chins LiFePO4 battery. Had no intention of running the AC's but never thought there would be a problem with the inverter/charger passing thru the power from the generator which happily ran both AC's and more before the install. We boondock a lot so running both AC's on the 4k Onan is a must have. It does pass thru 30 amp shore power but refused to pass thru any significant current from the gen. After consulting with a much more knowledgeable person I finally came up with settings that had it working but the MP was obviously not happy. Would trip the inverter on the first compressor start and then run once it reconnected...until we went camping. Would only run 1 AC. Starting the 2nd tripped everything.

Decided that I'd add the SoftStartRV soft start capacitors to both AC's and hope for the best. Super simple install. 5 wires on each unit. I am totally amazed at the results. The inverter now passed thru the current. Both AC's start and run without any sort of trip or overload. I shot a little video to show the current draw from both AC's after the SoftStart RV installs. Pretty impressive really.

Click the pic for the video...



While I was on the AC projects I decided to pull all the vents and seal them. Found several with some pretty significant holes in the ducting and bad transitions at pretty much every vent. Little time and some foil tape took care of that.

Here's a before and after example...





Our '21 Momentum 31G came right from GD with the RV Airflow nodules installed but they did not do any sealing. I foil taped all the edges of the inserts and inside the plenum.





Hopefully all of this will maximize the potential of the Coleman Mach's.

 

[Redapple63]

Great job! You will notice the difference. I did my first ac last summer and it made a huge difference. Running a single ac in 109 deg temps, I was able to get down to 85 inside. Did the second ac this past April. Looking forward to seeing what two ac’s can do now that I have 50amp at home.

Still need to do the Soft Start though.

Great work! Just in time for Uber hot weather.

Bill

 

[TerryH]

Great job! You will notice the difference. I did my first ac last summer and it made a huge difference. Running a single ac in 109 deg temps, I was able to get down to 85 inside. Did the second ac this past April. Looking forward to seeing what two ac’s can do now that I have 50amp at home.

Still need to do the Soft Start though.

Great work! Just in time for Uber hot weather.

Bill

Thanks Bill! It'll get a test in a couple of weeks. We are boondocking and riding our SXS over the long 4th of July weekend.

 

[fmartinmn]

X2 Great job! Nice job posting this as well. We only have the Soft Start on the 15K unit, now I want to do the 13.5K unit.

 

[TerryH]

X2 Great job! Nice job posting this as well. We only have the Soft Start on the 15K unit, now I want to do the 13.5K unit.

Thanks Frank! It was the 2nd one starting that caused all of our trouble with the inverter/charger so I did both. Glad I did. I still say every RV air conditioner should have these on them from square one.

 

[Steveleo1]

X2 Great job! Nice job posting this as well. We only have the Soft Start on the 15K unit, now I want to do the 13.5K unit.

We sold the class C and purchased a 2021 GD Reflection 240RL
The salesman said it “probably”has the soft starts on the two AC units. How would I know if it does or doesn’t?

 

[stroguy]

Terry, could you also tell how you got the inside louder of the ceiling vents? I have pulled but won’t go all the way with fear of breaking the louder. I see the housing is screwed into the ceiling, just need to know the spinning louder pull torque lol.

 

[minnow101]

We sold the class C and purchased a 2021 GD Reflection 240RL
The salesman said it “probably”has the soft starts on the two AC units. How would I know if it does or doesn’t?

They don’t.

 

[Soundsailor]

We sold the class C and purchased a 2021 GD Reflection 240RL
The salesman said it “probably”has the soft starts on the two AC units. How would I know if it does or doesn’t?

[MENTION=21363]Steveleo1[/MENTION], you can remove the cover of the air conditioning unit on the roof. Generally, you'd find the soft start (or easy start) mounted just outside where the wire leads go into the covered controls area. If you don't have them, either brand is a pretty easy install.

 

[stroguy]

Louver, louver and louver.

 

[TerryH]

Wanted to come back and add a few thoughts after using the AC's this weekend. Middle 90's here. We are boondocking and do have a tree on the west that gives us some shade late afternoon but the bulk of the day we are in direct sun. The AC's are running perfectly. I have the thermostats set at 73. Main AC on Hi auto. 2nd AC on Low auto. On generator power passing thru the Victron Compact 12/2000. AC's having no trouble keeping up both are cycling. Noticeable difference in air flow after the sealing work in the vents and AC units themselves. I ran the main on the Predator 3500 overnight and it also worked perfectly. I'll try both AC's on the Predator before we leave and comment back on the results of that. Overall very pleased with the performance.