To Parallel or Not?

[Wlnixonjr]

Hey to all,
I would appreciate any input. We have a Classic 33 with two AC's and 50 amp service. I am considering either a couple of Champion 2500 Watt dual fuel generators or a single Champion 4500 Watt dual fuel. If I parallel the two 2500 Watt generators I will have 50 amp service, correct? It looks like the 4500 Watt has a 30 amp outlet. So, while the single is attractive, I would only be getting 30 amp service?

Any thoughts or comments? All appreciated!

Bill

[Bill M.]

I do not think you get “50 amp” service either way. 50 amp service has 2 50 amp legs.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

Full up 50A service is 50A at 240V. That's 12KW. Your AS probably never uses all of that at one time, but that's what the service *could* supply. Put another way, it's 100A at 120V.

It is pretty easy to get a Classic up into the 45 to 50A at 120V "draw" range. I have an unfortunate pile of data on this. 50A at 120V is 6 KW. Something like a Honda EU7000 is the typical answer if you want to "run it all". No, it's really only half what a full circuit could pull. It's "good enough" for most typical things in a Classic.

So how do we trip the breaker on the EU7000 ?

Main A/C pulls 18A with the fan on high
Second A/C pulls 16A with the fan on high
Hot water heater pulls 12A
Microwave pulls 14A
Fridge pulls 3A

At this point we are at 63A. That's 7,560W ... you just tripped the breaker on the EU7000. We didn't even have to plug in the InstaPot or have anybody drying their hair. No we didn't count in startup surges on the A/C units ....

Yes that's one honking big generator ....

Bob

[Wlnixonjr]

I'm speaking from a complete, or near, complete lack of electrical knowledge. The larger single generator has a 30 amp outlet. If I parallel the two smaller generators, there is a choice of either a 30 amp outlet or a 50 amp outlet.

When we have camped where there is only 30 amp service, our AC usage was limited to a single AC and not much else. I was thinking if the two generators, running parallel, I could plug into the 50 amp outlet and would get more than if I was plugged into a 30 amp?

I am not looking to power everything. However, if we have to make an unscheduled stop or choose to boondock, I would like to run the AC or heat when needed.

[TKCamper]

I have a 30 Classic and currently have two Yamaha 2200 watt generators. When I need to use a generator I really only use one of them. Between my last two Airsteams I have only used both generators once and that was to run an A/C at elevation. Really depends what type of camping you do, most of my boondocking is around 4500 feet in elevation and it doesn’t get hot enough that I want to hear two generators running at 70% throttle. My fantastic fan with the windows open keeps it comfortable and I only need to run the one generator at idle for a short time to charge batteries or a idle it up to run the microwave for a few minutes. I went with the two generators as the weight is much more manageable and they use less fuel just idling while charging batteries.

[Al and Missy]

I'm confused. When I look at the Champion 2500 dual fuel generators it says they have 2 20A outlets. The parallel kit says it has a 30 amp outlet.


I think what you actually want is the two generators wired so each drives one leg of the 50A RV service and they share a neutral. As long as you stay under 6000 watts total capacity you should be good for the current in the neutral leg. You could then use one when you didn't need AC or only wanted to run one unit.


IMHO, YMMV, etc.


Al

[uncle_bob]

Originally Posted by Wlnixonjr

I'm speaking from a complete, or near, complete lack of electrical knowledge. The larger single generator has a 30 amp outlet. If I parallel the two smaller generators, there is a choice of either a 30 amp outlet or a 50 amp outlet.

When we have camped where there is only 30 amp service, our AC usage was limited to a single AC and not much else. I was thinking if the two generators, running parallel, I could plug into the 50 amp outlet and would get more than if I was plugged into a 30 amp?

I am not looking to power everything. However, if we have to make an unscheduled stop or choose to boondock, I would like to run the AC or heat when needed.

Hi

Ignore the plug.

The only thing that matters is watts or kilowatts.

If you have the kilowatts, you can easily adapt to this or that plug.

Bob

[Wazbro]

The Champion 2500 only provides 1850 watts continuously, less then 15.5 amps each. IF you install easy-starts in both A/Cs one generator could run each A/C with fan on low and pretty much nothing else. At least I think the 33 Classic has 2 15,000 btu A/Cs, if one is 13,500 btu you might be able to run the converter IF your batteries are reasonably charged and on the leg with the smaller A/C.

[Silverminer]

Well the jury is still out , but I have 2 AC's and I choose to go with two Micro Air Easy starts. I'm able to run one AC on on a single Honda 2000li. I have not tried to run other appliances however.lat the same time. Since I'm also on 5O amps, I noticed a camp sits with 50 amp hookup both AC start very quickly without too much drain with the Micro Air Easy Starts. .Since I had them installed at Colonial, they are covered by my extended warranty.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

With the fans running on high, you can easily see 18A into a 15K BTU A/C unit. That 2.2KW is more than most of these small generators like to put out full time.

Bob

[rlyoung1952]

It should work with the 2500 dual fuel as long as you get the 50-Amp Parallel Kit.