AC while boondocking

[vwhammer]

My 295 watt panels are 65.5 x 39.3

 

[Mwilliamshs]

...I have run a 5000btu window unit on one of those hundred dollar, 900 watt, 2 stroke generators that harbor freight sells.
It tripped the breaker on the generator a couple of times when trying to get it started for the first time but after a few resets the AC would start without tripping
I am sure there is a wicked current spike upon initial start up that is tripping the breaker.
Once you power it up a couple times some extra heat and maybe some extra juice from some onboard capacitors is enough to start it up without tripping...

My 1kw Sportsman initially would start my LG 5k btu AC from a dead cold condition when new but wouldn't restart it due to head pressure on the compressor increasing its locked rotor amperage. This is a common thing with AC and really not an unforeseen obstacle running one on the smallest generator at Home Depot. AC units are often even labeled something like "wait 5 minutes before restarting" due to this.

Knowing it should start it after a 5 minute or so rest, (based on lots of YouTube videos showing it) I shut off and disconnected the AC and plugged in my clothes iron. It's an old-school rheostat-based one but the exact model is still available new. I like simple, reliable stuff. Anyway, plug in the iron, slowly turn it up till the generator blinks overload, turn it down quickly to avoid stalling the engine. Repeat this for about 20 minutes. This is a 1500w appliance on a 1000w generator so don't get your hopes up that it'll run it turned all the way up. What we're doing here is burning-in the slip rings in the alternator. When they're new they don't make perfect contact and they're likely coated from the factory to prevent corrosion in the box, or not coated and lightly corroded as a result. Anyway, 20 minutes of nearly full-load, with an ever increasing load, and the generator is ready to idle for a few minutes to cool off. I did this with econo mode turned off to keep the rpm a little higher with no load. After a 5 minute generator cooldown, the AC fired right up as before and most importantly, it restarted again after about 5 minutes off after 5 minutes on. This AC/generator combo has run about 15 hours since then and never missed a beat.

There are hard-start kits out there that add capacitance to the starting circuit and I may go that route just to make sure other circumstances (such as hp loss at altitude, etc) don't cause undue wear on the AC or the generator.

I'll likely also add a delay-on-break relay to make certain no butterfingered handling of the thermostat results in a short off-cycle. It's just a 1-9 knob afterall, with no temperature reference, and my gf has already been caught using the "turn it all the way, then back-off a little" method of setting it. #eyeroll