MECHANiCAL CONTROLLED A/C VS KEY PAD CONTROLLED A/C

[onehoser]

I watched a youtube vid about a sportsman 1,000 watt generator/inverter running a 5,000 btu window air conditioner without issue but they did mention that the a/c unit must have mechanical controls and that the generator wouldn't have been able to run an a/c unit with key pad type controls. is this true? anyone have any experience or issues with either types of controls?
of course i watched the vid after i ordered a sportsman 1000 watt genset and have a key pad type 5000 btu window shaker a/c, lol


tony

[featherliteCT1]

My Honda 2000 watt portable generator runs my 8k btu window unit air conditioner that has a remote control to operate the air conditioner. I never noticed any difference between running and changing the settings of the air conditioner, with and without the remote.

Please let us know how your smaller 1000 watt generator works with your smaller 5k AC.

[working on it]

* When I built my squareback trailer 7+ years ago, the first thing I installed was a 2500 watt Craftsman generator (from the '90s), so the trailer could have power off-grid, especially to power a 5000 btu A/C (always planned for, but added a year after the generator). I added a separate 12vdc system for on-board electronics, with an inverter to supply 120vac via the battery, if the park power failed.


* Before I installed the A/C, I asked a tech at work if the electronic controls of a modern A/C might be affected by surges from the old-school generator, if used, and he said not to chance it, and get a unit with mechanical (rheostat & simple on-off switches, no microcircuitry). So, taking that advice, I found a LG 5012J unit with mech controls, and it's performed perfectly. Still haven't used the generator at camp, though.


* If I were to get an electronically-controlled A/C, or use a lot of ac-powered gizmos at camp, still relying on a generator...the I'd either replace the current generator with an inverter-type ($400-1200 for a 2k watt unit), or get a "line conditioner" (Tripp Lite 2400watt for $210 ) to modify the non-sine-wave power that my old generator puts out.

[onehoser]

on our last camping trip we ran our 5,000 btu portable a/c with electronic key pad with rita's honda eu2000i for 10 days without issue and did a test run on the 5,000 btu window shaker (with key pad) with the same genset for about half an hour. the window shaker uses 455 watts when running and possibly 910 watts on start up while the sportsman puts out 800/1000 watts, so i can see how this could be an problem with electronic key pad on start up. it looks like it's going to take amazon a few weeks to deliver the sportsman 1000 generator inverter so i'm going to have to wait before i can test it.
i will post results when i get them, thank you for the replies...


tony

[onehoser]

the other option would be to install a soft start capacitor in the window shaker for about $30 but i guess i'll have to burn that bridge when i get to it.....

tony

[ris]

We have a 5000 btu a/c with control knob not press button. We have many hours on our Honda 1000 generator running this a/c. After the a/c is running we can also turn on our sterling power 10 amp battery charger at the same time.
Richard

[onehoser]

genset arrived today, i put in oil, gas and ran it for the prescribed time without load, plugged in the 5,200 btu air conditioner(i thought it was 5,000) and it fired up no problem! ran it for about 20 minutes. i am impressed with how light (19lbs) and quiet it is.


now to start cutting the floor for the venting



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[featherliteCT1]

Great to know that the 1k generator runs that 5.2k air conditioner.