A/C with EZ start

[shb2777]

Hey Y’all
Noticed today A/C is pulling between 18 and 20 amps with an ez start installed. Seems like when I first installed it was only pulling around 12 to 15 amps any thoughts on this. I think my A/C is just a 13,500 unit.
Thanks in advance for your help.
Steve

[Seanlb]

This happened to us last year.

We had run the ac with low voltage (extension cord) for a couple of days and it damaged the compressor windings.

We ended up having to replace the ac unit.

Hopefully you have something else going on…

[rmkrum]

If it’s really hot outside, those readings are probably a reflection of that heat load. The EasyStart does not reduce running amps, just start up surges.

[Meallen]

not sure how you are measuring amps. Are you tripping a 15 or 20 amp breaker? If your battery is trying to charge also, your total amps to the trailer will be higher. I often have to turn off the breaker on my voltage converter to be able to run my 13500 softstart equipped AC on a 15 amp generator.

[wulfraat]

Originally Posted by rmkrum;

if it’s really hot outside, those readings are probably a reflection of that heat load. The easystart does not reduce running amps, just start up surges.

^^^^^^^ x2

[shb2777]

Thanks everyone
I don’t think I took into consideration the other things that may have been running when I checked the meter. I thought about this about the time I hit post. But it is really hot here. Fort Cobb St. Park OK. I think we have a weak breaker at the post, I hooked up my dog bone and plugged in to the 50amp and everything seems to be fine now.
Thanks again

[Belegedhel]

I had a similar experience lately. Installed the EZStart in the spring, everything seemed to work fine on a 20A household circuit. Fired up the unit in the heat of the summer, and the compressor would run for a couple of minutes during which time the amperage as measured on the unit itself, would slowly ramp up until the EZstart would automatically shut off the compressor and display some diagnostic codes (that didn't really make sense). I never tripped a breaker.

I spent a while going back and forth with EZstart customer service. I can't really fault anything they said to try to help me, but most of their communication questioned whether I wired it up correctly, and the answer was a definite "yes." I did question whether my connections were secure. I had used a kit supplied by one of the retailers of the EZstart, and it included wire nuts and a spring-loaded gadget for making the connection of 3 wires. The EZStart documentation specifically says NOT to use wire nuts or any other connection that can vibrate loose. So I re-made all my wire connections (using crimped connections for the 2-wire connections), and bought a device from Lowe's to make the 3-wire connection that uses set screws to secure each of the wires (see the pic). I think it was designed to combine copper and aluminum wires, but it works well for this application.

Even after all this rewiring, I was still having the problem (note, that I was doing all this troubleshooting with the shroud off). I finally decided to try putting the shroud back on so that exhaust air from the AC unit would be properly directed past the compressor, and voilla--everything went back to working as it should.

So my conclusion is that I probably had a marginal electrical connection that was causing the initial problems, and then I got to troubleshoot for an extended amount of time because I was trying to do the work with the shroud off.

Another thing I realized is that I am using an outlet in my garage that is on the far end of the circuit, meaning that I have added an unnecessary 40 ft. to my electrical run, plus the length of my extension cord, which was another 20 ft. So I switched from using the extension cord and adapter to using the regular power lead for my trailer, and I installed a 30 Amp outlet on the garage electrical circuit right where the wire comes into the garage, in order to both shorten the run, and also to eliminate any required adapters (it is a 30A plug, but still on a 20A circuit). This seems to have helped as well, as when I ran the unit prior to doing this, the line/adapter that was plugged into the wall socket would always warm up after a little while. I don't have that problem now.

Good luck!

good luck!

[TigerPilot]

Originally Posted by Meallen

not sure how you are measuring amps. Are you tripping a 15 or 20 amp breaker? If your battery is trying to charge also, your total amps to the trailer will be higher. I often have to turn off the breaker on my voltage converter to be able to run my 13500 softstart equipped AC on a 15 amp generator.

Yes, I've also put the hot water heater over to propane to lessen the load. I would suggest a plugin volt meter placed in a socket that in regular view. You might be very surprised by the readings.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

You very much need to watch the meter for a while with the A/C off and then with it on. There are a variety of things that can cycle on and off. Even folks that give advice get bit by this from time to time .... umm ... errrr ....

The other thing that impacts the current drain is fan speed. Ours pull noticeably more with the fan running on high. If ours it set to "auto" the fan is running at "who knows" speed ( yes you can listen to it and guess).

Bob

[rmkrum]

Or you could install something similar to this:



Came from Amazon. Monitors voltage and current continuously, plus other data. In my setup it is connected to the output of the manual transfer switch so I know what shore power or generator is doing.

I also have an internal EMS/surge protector permanently installed to monitor conditions and shut down if the input power is wonky.



It’s the black box to the left in the picture of the power center under my rear dinette seat. (Seat removed whilst I was installing the EMS)

Not that I’m paranoid about clean power or anything…

[FalkTheHawk]

My experience similar to Belegedhel. Installed the ES364 into a Penguin II with help from the Hutch Mountain tech just to be sure. I'm an EE with a lifetime of wiring under my belt but I still checked everything twice. I also replaced the cowling before testing anything.



Monitoring the ES364 via Bluetooth, was able to train the unit 5 times as the manual instructs. After that was able to get it started 2 times. On a really hot day in the high 90's, A/C would not start as the ES kept throwing the overcurrent error.



I am using a 10ga extension cord and I am monitoring the AC input current and voltage using Progressive EMS, same as rmkrum. This feeds the shore power input to my 3000W Magnum inverter. The current would ramp up, sometimes as high as 21A. Voltage held to 110VAC or higher. If the compressor/fan started at all, it would immediately shutdown with the Overcurrent fault. Could be my imagination but I kept smelling wiffs of "electrical overload" -- triggering concerns about compressor burnout.



Microair tech support focuses on the wiring, assuming you are the idiot, similar to Belegedhel's experience. Hoping to avoid the fault, I asked them if I could adjust the parameters to increase the starting current which was trained to be about 11A. They indicated I could only reset and retrain using the BT interface and I am waiting for a really hot day to do this. That's where it stands. Currently I have no A/C.

[uncle_bob]

Hi

The EMS is only giving you a rough idea of how much current is being used. The surges and changes on startup (even with a soft start setup) are pretty fast. The EMS simply isn't designed to follow that kind of thing on the display.

One of the Wonderfull things about modern extension cords: Gauge does not mean what it once did. Back in the day, all extension cords had pure copper wire in them. In the modern era, most have aluminum wire with a really thin bit of copper coating on it. The net result is a higher resistance cord with a lower current capability. What once was a 10 gauge cord now would be an 8 or a 6 gauge ....

Bob

[FalkTheHawk]

Uncle Bob: I checked the EMS readings with a Kill-A-Watt meter on the end of the extension chord. I guess I could throw a scope on it. But the bottom line is the compressor would not start. Using the Bluetooth interface I retrained the ES and will be evaluating over the next week or so when the weather gets hot again.

My 10ga extension cord is rated for 30 Amps so it’s probably copper. An aluminum cord would be equivalent to a 12 AWS copper wire and would have a 20A rating. (The larger the gauge the smaller the wire).

In any case I am convinced it’s not a low voltage problem..

[Projet2907]

Originally Posted by Seanlb

This happened to us last year.

We had run the ac with low voltage (extension cord) for a couple of days and it damaged the compressor windings.

We ended up having to replace the ac unit.

Hopefully you have something else going on…

Did you have an Easy Start installed?