Dometic in HP Mode & Honda 2200 Generator Issue

[Dr. Ohat]

Hi All,

Just back from our first trip of the season with 2 issues, one I'll walk thru here, the other is a water pump issue so i'll defer that to another post. AS is a 2021 25' FC FB. While on our trip I tried to run the dometic in heat pump mode with our Honda 2200 generator; that dometic unit has a soft start on it and using the 15/20 amp plug on genny. After about 7 minutes the E7 code on Dometic popped, HP shut down, and overload light on the genny turn on while it keep running (sounded like in ECO mode). did it multiple times.
Did not do this in cooling mode though.

One thing I noticed was that I had pulled the 50amp cord as I moved the genny to a further location from the AS 50amp Smart Plug. Upon inspection I see some very mild signs of arcing on both the smart plug and the power cord receptacle, both on the one prong/receptacle that was probably pulled slightly out of being fully seated as I moved the cord.

Here is a pic of the smart plug arcing:



When I got home i tried the HP (in HP and cool mode) on shore power (30 amp) with no issues. Tried the genny again and same issue even with plug properly installed. Genny worked fine on cooling mode.

Unfortunately I also realized I don't have the owners manual for the dometic AC unit, so need to go look up operating specs. Maybe the HP is drawing more power and the arcing damage is just enough to trip the genny in HP, but not on 30amp SP?

So, thoughts on whether the minor arcing is what is tripping the genny into overload? If so, why not on short power (30 amp).

Can minor arcing damage to the AS smart plug be repaired? Lightly file down the damage or something similar?

If not I just made a $365 50 amp 30' pwr cord mistake and whatever a new Smart Plug costs!

Thanks,
Greg

[Dr. Ohat]

Update to my last post (that got 0 replies...).

Cleaned up the smart plug prong with steel wool.

Ran both Zone 1 & 2 HPs on 30amp shore power. Was surprised that they went from about 1400W at starting up to 2100 & 2275W respectively after 10-20 minutes.

Ran both zone 1 & 2 HPs on Honda 2200 with fairly similar results, 2055 & 2180 respectively after 10-20 minutes. Shut down the HP before the generator overload kicked in at 2200.

The good thing is that they ran much longer on the generator before nearing overload at 2200 after cleaning up the smart plug prong.

So, the question I am puzzling now is, should the HP be pulling over 2200W? Can't find anything in the manual about power draw. Just assumed that I could run a HP on a 2200. Temps here in MD around 70, breezy, ran the HP inside from about 65-75 degrees each time, in that range.

Thanks for any thoughts!
Greg

[Al and Missy]

I'm guessing here, but I suspect that the heat pump can't pump heat into the inside of the trailer very well due to the inside temperature. This would be similar to the air conditioner mode drawing more current when it is hot outside. Cool the inside down with the AC mode and try the test again.

[JMynes]

I have a pair of EU2000s.
One EU2000 will run the AC. When I tried the HP it went off on overload. I found this puzzling, so I plugged a Kill-a-Watt in to the generator, sure enough the HP draws more current than the AC.
If I want to use the HP I have to use both generators.