Generator for the tractor

I have found that the generator needs to run on high idle til the A/C unit does what I call "prime's itself" ie. starts pumping out cold air. Then I can switch generator over to Eco mode, usually will run 5.5 - 7 hours on 1 gallon of gas. Different factors play in,
1. did I seal the window vent (have found a cheap and redneck way is to run duct tape around the window plastic vent piece to seal up the little gaps-- on hot days the hot air pours in trying to balance out the temperature inside the truck)
2. did I precool the truck down to 86 degree or less so the A/C didn't have to work so hard against a 120 degree interior (When the truck's A/C has been knocked out I have had to run the generator at full blast and barely got the truck down to 79 degrees inside on 110 degree day. As soon as you open the door to 'walk the dog' hot air pours in and the system has to work very hard again. There is some idling involved still, just idle truck A/C when ingress/egress and when setting up the system initially. )

Honda sells what I call at 49 state model and a CARB model. The only difference I can see in the CARB model is the fuel cap lol.

 

you got a darn good deal on that generator scott iv'e seen the 1000 watt model going for 1000 dollars. awesome setup

 

As I understand it, a capacitor stores electrical energy for an extra boost during a starting cycle. An electric motor takes far more energy to get going than when it is running at full speed, as you can well imagine.

 

Bob pretty much got it. It gives the compressor motor a start up punch, reducing the starting load on the generator. More commonly used to extend the life of tired household units, or make the system more tolerant to frequent cycling. Hard start capacitors run less than $20.

 

I got our eu2000i at Northern Tool. $979.99 on sale.

 

Do you think the hard start capacitor will allow the AC unit to start while the Gen is in eco mode?

 

That's the plan. Even if it still won't start in eco mode, it will at least reduce the startup load and not overload the gen quite as much when the compressor starts.

 

For my 13,500 btu rooftop unit, and a EU3000is, the hard start capacitor cured all the problems while the Honda was in Eco mode.

Martin

 

Mine is a 2000 running a 12,000 btu portable. 11.9A on the a/c label, 13.4 max I think printed on the gen. I don't quite have the margin you have with the 3000. My hopes aren't as high about eco mode working, but there should be an improvement. Several rv'ers have posted success stories, so I'm encouraged enough to buy one and try it at least.

The other interesting point on mine is that it's the a/c unit tripping it's own internal low voltage protection, and not the generator doing anything or tripping a breaker. If it weren't for that, it would probably work ok. Or maybe trip the circuit breaker on the gen. The throttle on the generator just doesn't rev fast enough to catch the a/c unit before it resets. With eco off, the gen struggles a second but the a/c compressor will start and the gen will settle down quickly under the load. The overload light is only on for a sec during that startup, and the breaker has not tripped.