Running AC on Generator Power

[wayneskid]

Originally Posted by wayneskid

My Tripp-Lite has a 3 position switch;
Auto Invert-Off-Charge Only. In Off I'm pretty sure the batts aren't charging.

Correction Off

[jquayle]

Originally Posted by wayneskid

My Tripp-Lite has a 3 position switch; Auto Invert-Off-Charge Only. In Iff I'm pretty sure the batts aren't charging.

Didn't matter if I shut it off at the switch. (Again, as I recall from my conversation with airstream directly) the Tripp-lite will still charge the batteries regardless of how you set the switch.

The model they used after the trip

[jquayle]

[QUOTE="wayneskid;1321779"] My Tripp-Lite has a 3 position switch; Auto Invert-Off-Charge Only. In Iff I'm pretty sure the batts aren't charging.[/QUOTE

It didn't matter how if I turned it off from the switch on the Tripp lite either (the one on the front, under the bench)

again, from what I recall a year ago with my conversation directly with airstream, that unit will always charge the batteries as a first priority. That charging feature is not affected by the switch.

[David M]

Originally Posted by wayneskid

My Tripp-Lite has a 3 position switch;
Auto Invert-Off-Charge Only. In Iff I'm pretty sure the batts aren't charging.

Thanks Wayne. I'll try testing it with the inverter switch in the off position, but that 3 position switch is under the rear seat (not on the remote panel). I leave the rear seat in the bed position with a mattress topper, so it would be a real PITA to switch the inverter off every time I needed to use the a/c. I'm pretty sure the switch position is not the problem because I tested the a/c while plugged in to 20 amp shore power last night for a couple hours and it worked as it should. The system drew 17 amps when in this configuration. I can't imagine the charge controller acting differently when running on generator vs shore power, or would it?

[David M]

Oh, and in last nights test while plugged in, I turned on both televisions while the a/c cycled on and off - as I imagined it should.

[wahoonc]

Originally Posted by David M

Thanks Wayne. I'll try testing it with the inverter switch in the off position, but that 3 position switch is under the rear seat (not on the remote panel). I leave the rear seat in the bed position with a mattress topper, so it would be a real PITA to switch the inverter off every time I needed to use the a/c. I'm pretty sure the switch position is not the problem because I tested the a/c while plugged in to 20 amp shore power last night for a couple hours and it worked as it should. The system drew 17 amps when in this configuration. I can't imagine the charge controller acting differently when running on generator vs shore power, or would it?

You have 30 amps available on shore power versus the 20 amps or so that the generator provides.

Aaron

[UKDUDE]

I'm still pretty new to my 2013 Interstate, but I do know the generator takes a little while before it can accept a load from any of the appliances. And the way to determine when its ready is to look at the Power Control System Panel. I am attaching a picture...In my picture it says "00 AC Amps". When you initially start the generator it will of course display a higher value than "00" but notice the value has a couple of dots in it, such as "8.5." After a few minutes, those dots will disappear, and that's the time you can start to load it up.

[wayneskid]

The Tripp-Lite switch on the face of the unit itself, not on the remote panel, has these positions: Auto/Remote-DC Off-Charge Only. In the DC Off position, the unit is de-energized and AC In is connected to AC Out. This is from the Tripp-Lite manual.

[lewster]

The only way to disable and isolate the charging circuit in your inverter/charger is to throw the circuit breaker that provides it with 120VDC. It should be marked in your breaker box.

[wayneskid]

Originally Posted by lewster

The only way to disable and isolate the charging circuit in your inverter/charger is to throw the circuit breaker that provides it with 120VDC. It should be marked in your breaker box.

You saying the manual is wrong? And what "120VDC" are you talking about?

[65CV]

I think Lew had a typo. I believe he meant 120 Volts A/C. I'm assuming that your air conditioner is a standard alternating current type, run off of a generator that produces DC to charge your batteries and AC to run your air conditioner.

On my last trailer, I was disappointed to discover that a 2400 watt generator was not large enough to run my 11,500 BTU air conditioner. The problem wasn't the running amps, but was the amount of extra current required to get the compressor running. While normally operating, I recall about 12-14 amps, but it shot up to 22-24 amps to start the compressor. This caused the generator to kick off on overload. It was this experience that made me think you may have an undercurrent condition in the 120V ac circuit.

I was able to measure voltage and current with a Kill-A-Watt unit. Not sure if yours is tied directly to the generator or not. If it has a plug, you can do the same.
If it is hard wired, an alternate quick test would be to connect a digital multimeter or plug in a Kill-A-Watt into one of your 110 plugs. Then watch the voltage when the air conditioner comes on. If it drops below 108, you most likely have a problem.

Caveat: I am not an electrician or a certified tech. I echo Lewster's advice to have it professionally checked.

Good luck.

[David M]

Got it figured out! After reading all your inputs (thank you everyone), I remembered reading something about charging options in the Tripp-Lite manual (yeah, when all else fails, RTFM ). There are 2 sets of dip switches on the inverter under the bench seat. The "Group B" dip switches B1 and B2 sets charging options. There are 4 options as follows: Most Limiting, Less Limiting, Least Limiting, and No Limiting. Mine was pre set by either the factory or the dealer to "No Limiting", which sends the gen power to charge the batteries at any load size (shuts down all AC appliances). I first reset it to Least Limiting, which ran the A/C, but shut down as soon as I started to recline the bench seat. So I now have it set to Less Limiting and it works like it should! The A/C stayed on with both TVs and the water pump running so this should be good. If not, I may try setting it to Most Limiting in the future. Let me know what your settings are at. Thanks!
David

[David M]

Originally Posted by David M

Got it figured out! After reading all your inputs (thank you everyone), I remembered reading something about charging options in the Tripp-Lite manual (yeah, when all else fails, RTFM ). There are 2 sets of dip switches on the inverter under the bench seat. The "Group B" dip switches B1 and B2 sets charging options. There are 4 options as follows: Most Limiting, Less Limiting, Least Limiting, and No Limiting. Mine was pre set by either the factory or the dealer to "No Limiting", which sends the gen power to charge the batteries at any load size (shuts down all AC appliances). I first reset it to Least Limiting, which ran the A/C, but shut down as soon as I started to recline the bench seat. So I now have it set to Less Limiting and it works like it should! The A/C stayed on with both TVs and the water pump running so this should be good. If not, I may try setting it to Most Limiting in the future. Let me know what your settings are at. Thanks!
David

Here are relevant pages of the manual (I hope I attached it correctly).

[wayneskid]

Should have thought of the DIP switches Glad you got it figured out. BTW, the manual is available as PDF on the Tripp-Lite website.

[David M]

Originally Posted by wayneskid

Should have thought of the DIP switches Glad you got it figured out. BTW, the manual is available as PDF on the Tripp-Lite website.

Yeah, I never thought that the dip switches would have been set that way as a default. I'm really curious if this was jquayle's problem.

[lewster]

Originally Posted by lewster

The only way to disable and isolate the charging circuit in your inverter/charger is to throw the circuit breaker that provides it with 120VDC. It should be marked in your breaker box.

NOPE! That's exactly what I meant. When inverter/chargers are properly installed, they have a dedicated circuit breaker on the input line from the breaker box. On larger coaches with auxiliary circuit breaker boxes dedicated to the 'inverter circuits', there is also a 30 amp output circuit breaker in the auxiliary box. If you want to isolate the inverter/charger from your circuits, you simply throw the inverter's input circuit breaker. No power to the unit, no draw from the charger circuit.

If you don't have one of these, then what is protecting the circuit feeding 120VAC into the inverter/charger?

[73shark]

It definitely could be as that is what we changed on mine last summer and it seems to have fixed the problem.

FWIW my compressor start current is ~ 32 amps.

[David M]

Originally Posted by 73shark

It definitely could be as that is what we changed on mine last summer and it seems to have fixed the problem.

FWIW my compressor start current is ~ 32 amps.

Do you remember which charging option you changed it to?

[jquayle]

Originally Posted by David M

Thanks Wayne. I'll try testing it with the inverter switch in the off position, but that 3 position switch is under the rear seat (not on the remote panel). I leave the rear seat in the bed position with a mattress topper, so it would be a real PITA to switch the inverter off every time I needed to use the a/c. I'm pretty sure the switch position is not the problem because I tested the a/c while plugged in to 20 amp shore power last night for a couple hours and it worked as it should. The system drew 17 amps when in this configuration. I can't imagine the charge controller acting differently when running on generator vs shore power, or would it?

mine is in that same config 90% if the time! The memory foam mattress makes it fun trying to crawl under there and access the panel.

Just wanted to say I have the same experience. AC runs fine off shore power. (20 amp, not on a 30 amp circuit)

[David M]

Originally Posted by jquayle

mine is in that same config 90% if the time! The memory foam mattress makes it fun trying to crawl under there and access the panel.

Just wanted to say I have the same experience. AC runs fine off shore power. (20 amp, not on a 30 amp circuit)

Check your dip switch settings and let me know if it fixes your problem. It worked for me