Contractor Generator and A/C

[Tom Nugler]

Has anyone run the A/C off a contractor type genny?
I've got a 4000W 25 year old Colman I use to keep the well, freezer and fridge running during outages.
We go a grand one going on now. Maybe 2 more nights before juice comes back. The better half refers to it as the "Little House on the F****ing Prairie"
I'm not worried about amps or volts. I wonder how "dirty" the output is. I ran a ceiling fan for while last night and it was humming a lot more than usual. I'm not inclined to cook my new A/C due to a crappy output.. I suspect it puts out a lot of transients and spikes.
Any thoughts are greatly appreciated,

Tom

[Steve & Susan]

I have not, but I have camped next to someone who did - PLEASE DON'T unless you are alone in the entire campground - they are VERY noisy and don't make for good neighbors! As to the cleanliness of the output, I can't say but at the last rally there were several people using them. The next rally will have a separate camping area for those who use that type of generator.

[Tom Nugler]

Originally Posted by Steve & Susan

....they are VERY noisy and don't make for good neighbors!

Yes it is.
Fortunatly we're at home. I only run it enough to cool the fridge and refill the well's expansion tank. Last report was over 100,000 people with out power in the county.
The idea is to cool down the Airstream tonight to give the better half a couple hours of relief from the heat.

Tom

[Steve & Susan]

Originally Posted by Tom Nugler

Yes it is.
Fortunatly we're at home. I only run it enough to cool the fridge and refill the well's expansion tank. Last report was over 100,000 people with out power in the county.
The idea is to cool down the Airstream tonight to give the better half a couple hours of relief from the heat.

Tom

Those that were in use at the rally seemed to have been older generators so they apparently worked in that capacity for some period of time - it was 90 degrees out and they ran all night keeping their AS cool. One guy had his mobile shop in a truck and backed that next to his AS to run the AS off of that generator. So they are in use out there for that purpose. Maybe give Jackson Center a quick call?
Best of luck with the power outage - I hope they get things back to normal soon!

[garry]

Generators put out a "fairly" good sign wave they are better than a MSW inverter.

Just about every motorhome comes with a generator and they run AC's just fine.

[jdalrymple]

If it runs the refer in your home and your well pump ok, it should be fine for the AS A/C. Just an electric motor compressor.

Hope it gets better!