Need some help

[Mike S.]

HI, just purchased a 23' Flying Cloud. So far we love it. I am trying to get a generator that will run the appliances and the ac unit. Does anyone have a guess at what the minimum size would be required? I have a 4000 watt generator but it struggles with the ac. I think the power cord being 30 ft. long is affecting it. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

[RUMSHIP]

4000 should be plenty. The ac only pulls around 2000. The rest should be marginal.

[Mike S.]

The generator I have will run the ac for about a minute before the circuit breaks. Nothing else is on. I should be more specific, it is 3500 continuous and 4400 surge watt capacity. I wonder what the drop is for a 30 ft. cord. Should still be enough. Thanks for the reply.

[Naper]

You should be fine. What is the gauge of your 30' cord? What type / brand is your generator? Have you checked the output?

[Wazbro]

Many people use the 2800 watt continuous Hondas and Yamahas with 13,500 BTU AC no problems.

Do you have a 13,500 BTU or a 15,000 BTU AC?

[Mike S.]

We have the 13,500 ac unit. The cord is fairly large, don't know the specific guages of the wire inside of it. It's the cord that came with the trailer. The generator is Duro Max. Trying the cheap one before I have to spend more money on the Honda.

[TBRich]

Welcome to the Forums, Mike...

You have more than enough wattage to run your AC unless there is an issue with the generator, the cord, or the breakers. If you got the cord with the AS it should be fine for 30 feet carrying 30 amps.

We run our 13, 500 BTU AC running two Honda 2000w genrators in parallel.

There is something else going on in your situation.

Hint: your camping neighbors will be more friendly if you have a quiet generator.

[Mike S.]

Thanks for the replies. It's cooling off a little (97) at 8:30, so I tried to do more troubleshooting. I measured the voltage at an outlet with the generator running. Constant 136 volts. Turned the fan on, constant 136 volts. When the compressor came on, 134 volts. Breaker kicked in @ 45 seconds. Not sure how to measure amps. Felt good for a short while. The trailer is at my house, wife won't go until everything is working well. The generator is really not loud, I have had hondas in the past, maybe just a tad louder. Not bad though. Everything worked fine at the rv store where purchased, on shore power, so I think the generator is the problem.

[richinny]

you're a short ride to an Airstream campground. why not take a ride over to check them out and see if the ac runs ok?
Top of Georgia Airstream Park

[Snedwid]

We have 2 Honda 2000 gens hooked up in parrallel, and they power our 2010 FC23FB just fine, but the wife always shuts the AC off prior to running the microwave just as a matter of good engineering principles due to starting surges. We use the factory supplied power cord.

[TG Twinkie]

It is probably the inrush current when the compressor on the AC starts that is tripping the breaker on the generator. What is the current rating of the breaker on the generator?
If it is 15 amp, it's too small. It could also just be a bad breaker.

[ROBERTSUNRUS]

Hi, I think a better generator will hold right at 120 volts, your's might be too high. My Yamaha 2400 will run my 11,000 BTU air conditioner, my inverter, and my refrigerator all at once and has done it at high altitude.

[dkottum]

Try to return the generator and get a Honda or Yamaha, better money spent and less grief for you and your neighbors who have to listen to it.

doug k

[purman]

I had a cheap harbor freight mig welder ONCE! It would weld about a 9" line and trip the over heat breaker. Two of them did this. I took the second one back and then went and bought a Hobart mig welder. Never a problem. Sometimes it pays to get the right one in the beginning. Saves you money and time.

[Wazbro]

I just remembered on a review of a cheaper generator someone stated that it was actually 2 generators in 1, each generator producing 1700 watts to get a total of 3400 watts just not from 1 outlet so an RV could only run on 1700 watts from that generator.

[cars7070]

I have a champion 4000 with the 30 amp rv plug works perfect quiet very cheap to run ! As we tow in hot weather it runs in the back of the truck makes for a cool a/s when we get there !