Anyone use surge capacitors?

[onenationundergoat]

I want to eventually run my AC on solar and I've been looking into capacitors that slow down the startup of the compressor so the surge isn't drawing so deep. Does anyone use these on their fridge or AC? Our mini fridge has a startup draw of 550w and it frequently kicks off our inverter so it would be nice to install one there too.

[cadillackid]

I used to put these on every install I ever did, just because it helped even in regular homes.. are you using a standard window or RV type unit?

https://arnoldservice.com/product/su...ter-capacitor/

-Christopher

[onenationundergoat]

Standard household window unit. 8000btu

[onenationundergoat]

And do you use one on your AC in your bus?

[cadillackid]

Originally Posted by onenationundergoat

And do you use one on your AC in your bus?

I dont have a cap on mine because my unit is a Soft-start type so theres no compressor surge.
-Christopher

[onenationundergoat]

It's really puzzling us about this startup draw. We have a fridge that pulls 100w standard and 550w peak and the AC pulls 6.5A at 115v so less than 750w standard and not sure what the peak is on it. Guessing 3x that. But if we have the AC compressor already running and the fridge comreppor tries to come in, it trips the generator. Our Honda 2000i should be rated for about 1600 continuous and 2000 surge. With the fridge kicking on while the AC is already going it should only add up to about 1300 watts so what gives?

[cadillackid]

same issue as anoither member that had as 3100 watt genny and wouldnt even start his A/C on its own except every once in a while.. he has a rooftop 12k i think.. im guessing its losses in the wiring, generator circuitry, super sensitive breakers so generators dont come back in for warranty..

just like GM in the 80s surmised the many cavaliers would be sold to teens / college age kids that they automatically reduced the bass output on the stereo the louder you turned it to avoid arguments of "defective speakers"..

-Christopher

[onenationundergoat]

So should installing hard start capacitors on the fridge and AC solve the problem?

[PNW_Steve]

I had a travel trailer with a single 12.5k btu roof air and a 3kw generator. Ther roof air would run fine on shore poser but would not start on the generator.

I took the (brand new) generator back and the dealer tested it and told me it was fine. He suggested that I look at a "soft start kit" for the AC.

I called the local RV parts house and to my surprise they stocked this kit ($20). I bought it and installed it. Took about 20 minutes. Problem solved.

The kit consisted of an additional cap and some jumpers.

The other member that Christopher refers to found another solution. He bought a $2000 generator and that fixed his problem.

In my 5th wheel I run my fridge (10.8cf residential) from batteries/inverter and it runs fine. The compressor has a much lower LRC (locked rotor current) than the AC compressor. I would not expect the same startup trouble with the fridge that we have had with AC units.

Really... If you want to consider running AC from solar (tall order) I would not be looking at anything but inverter mini-split units.

Ask Christopher, he is MUCH more of an AC guru than I will ever be.