delay air condition start on generator

[mcintoshMD]

Took delivery of the 2020 AI 19 last week. Took my dog to get the grocery, turn off MB engine. Start the generator,, go to climate and start the a/c, it kept recycle to heat, cool and fan then went to off nothing happened! I tried my luck doing the same things and hope for different result, after several cycles the fan kicked in and was able to change the mode to a/c.

Why all these? Anyone has same experience?

The AS dealer said it was dealing with dirty current, what's that?

[Pahaska]

You can not immediately use the AC when you start the generator. It has to warm up a bit. I have to wait until I hear the microwave beep before I can use AC.

[Titus]

My microwave beeps twice when starting the generator. First beep after ~30 seconds is just a brief burst of power to the microwave (and other circuits too I assume), then it goes off again. Power comes on for real after about 2 minutes.

When starting the AC there is a delay within the thermostat - presumably this delay is to let you chose what mode you want furnace, fan, etc. In the AC mode the fan starts first then the compressor starts 5-10 seconds later.

Similar for the furnace. Furnace fan starts then a few seconds later I hear the gas light. If the gas doesn't light (such as if I forget to turn on the LPG valve) then the fan shuts down.

[Pahaska]

Originally Posted by Titus

Similar for the furnace. Furnace fan starts then a few seconds later I hear the gas light. If the gas doesn't light (such as if I forget to turn on the LPG valve) then the fan shuts down.

The furnace has a sail switch that is closed by the action of the fan. The furnace will not light until the sail switch closes and will immediately shut off the gas if it ever opens. That is for our safety. You sure don't want combustion without the fan running.

[mcintoshMD]

These are so useful, I could now understand the logic of "dirty current" at the start up.

Thank you very much!

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by mcintoshMD

These are so useful, I could now understand the logic of "dirty current" at the start up.

Thank you very much!

MCINTOSHMD - You got it - startup current is dirty current and dirty current usually at startup. The only exception is when there is a "real" problem with gen.. The term "dirty" does not imply unusable (like "dirty" water does not mean totally unusable). It just means unstable or has not stabilized yet to the point where sensitive electronics can safely use the current without compromising parts. It is the reason for the built-delays TITUS & JOHN mention.

[cazual6]

In addition, even though you have passed the "dirty power", when you set the fan to auto, it also has a delay of a minute or two.

Just be patient, keep it on cool, set the fan to auto, then wait for a but.

You can speed it up by selecting a fan speed also. However, I prefer to have the system cycle as needed, so AUTO works for me.

[1919]

I too have a 19 footer. And yes, it can take an eternity for the 110 power to kick in after the generator starts. Do not try to start the A/C, it won't work until the 110 is up and stabilized. And also yes, mine too always defaults to HEAT on the Czone panel. Why, don't know, but it is stupid, eh? Agree with another answer you received, use the auto fan button. The Czone controls are stupid and confusing. Not intuitive. So, start the generator, wait for the microwave beep, then go to the Czone control, turn on the A/C, cycle from heat to cool, leave the fan at AUTO. Check to make sure your setting is lower than ambient temperature. Should be good to go. The Czone controller sucks for this and many more reasons.....for example can the fonts get any smaller? Yikes!

[Alex AVI]

Originally Posted by 1919

And also yes, mine too always defaults to HEAT on the Czone panel. Why, don't know, but it is stupid, eh?

1919 - There are 4 possible defaults to POS (Power On Startup) on any Heating/Cooling system control ssystem - Heat, Cool, Fan only, or Full Auto. I would venture to guess that as a starting point, 25% of the population would prefer Heat as default, 25% would prefer Cool, 25% would prefer Fan, and 25% would prefer Full Auto. Those preference numbers would probably shift about +/- 50% based on their current location (desert, beach, mountain, forest), time of day, the season of the year, the current temp, the current humidity, and their need/preference to use the a/c over the microwave or the microwave over the a/c.

The point is it becomes very obvious there is NO default CZONE (or Firefly) setting that will satisfy 100% of the users 100% of the time. The HEAT default does not ever make sense to me in the hot desert of S/W Nevada in Aug (even in mild Vegas winters) BUT for that owner in Chicago or MN in Jan, they probably would say COOL default doesn't make sense for them.