Im thinking about getting a used generator.

[Lesherp]

I am still a little confused on this. My trailer is closed up in the garage so I can’t go look at it. I have replaced a fuse and looked inside the converter. It seems like there were maybe 3 breakers. Do all have to be turned off or are you saying there is one for the converter, fridge and water heater? The fridge and water heater would still be running on propane I figure but I thought the water heater uses some electricity for the sensor. Did I mention my knowledge concerning electricity is limited LOL. The very reason I found myself replacing a fuse.

[Barb&Tim]

You have:

1 30A Main AC breaker (leave on)
1 20A Air Conditioner AC breaker (leave on)
1 20A Converter,Water Heater, Fridge AC breaker (Turn off)
1 20A GFI outlets AC breaker (leave on)

The water heater and Fridge will still operate on propane. They only need 120AC when you are actually running them on AC.

Tim

[Bill]

Although Tim is probably right, the circuit breaker lineup - meaning which appliances are fed from which breaker - changed several times over the years, and perhaps between models. The circuit lineup should be handwritten on a paper label within the converter, either on the inside of the door, or next to each breaker. You need to find the one for the converter, and see what else is fed from the same breaker.

Bill

Originally Posted by Bill

Good solution! First time I've heard it. And if you plan to keep the breaker off for many hours, the fridge and water heater can continue to operate on propane.

Bill

Interesting. The only place I ever heard of it was here.

What happens when you do this is that the Honda 2000 generator that I have is very close to its capacity. It seems to be able to run the a/c as long as it does not power anything else.

I rarely use the a/c, but sometimes when we are gone all day, when we return to the TM it is too hot inside to cook dinner.

I usually recharge the batteries during breakfast for about an hour.

The converter load in my TM might be bigger than yours because I have two 12 volt batteries instead of one.

[countrygirl]

We have both a Yamaha and a Honda. We bought the Yamaha 2400is new and traded a slightly used noisy construction type generator for a slightly used Honda 2000...with the idea of selling the Yamaha and running two Honda's together. We never did by the other Honda...we talk about but have not doe it.

We use the Yamaha 2400is when we need the air and the Honda in the early spring and for fall camping in the North.

We like both of the generators.

BTW...we have friends that have picked up Honda 2000's that run perfectly at pawn shopsfor around 500.00 and sopme times less and they have had no problems. It seems that times are hard for some folks and they are parting with generators and other seldom used items more frequently.

We have considered over the last year to go smaller...and buy a Chalet but the closest dealers are in N.Y. or Colorado. We like Aliners as well but now the new ones do not have bathrooms where the larger sized new Chalets do. We have friends with Aliners and the Honda 2000 will run there air conditioner...which is just a small window unit.

Then on the other hand we consider getting an upright travel trailer.

[Brittany Dogs]

I have given some thought to the concept of running one Honda 2000 to power the air conditioning unit with the converter powered off in order to apply that head-room fully to the AC unit. I’m glad it works for some units out there.

My caution note here, and I have no intention of scaring anyone, is that TrailManor used several different model number AC units over the years and the in-rush current and start-up power needed for the AC unit would be different from unit to unit. Plus other factors exist like outside temperature, how long it has been since the AC unit was last started, length of power cord, the condition of the generator and so on.

Before I purchased my new TM 2720SD, I remember e-mailing Dometic asking them if their AC unit could be powered by one Honda 2000i generator. I provided them with their specific product number. Their answer was a bit snippy with “well, you can try it”. That was their full answer. I translated that as “go ahead and brown-out you new AC unit and we’ll sell you a new compressor when you fry your original one.”

I do know that when I was dry camping and ran the Honda 2000i pair, and one of the generators ran out of fuel ahead of the other one, the AC unit overloaded the one that was still running and the generator shut itself down.

If you want to see if one Honda 2000i or a Yahama 2000 (both are nice units) will power the AC unit, I would only encourage taking a voltage reading of the generator when the AC is running to see if you still have 117 or higher volts. If the meter shows a reading near 105 or lower, you are likely not doing your AC unit any good. When I run the pair of Honda 2000’s and the AC has the compressor on, I have 122 volts on my volt meter.

Its tough to run the 13.5 AC with a 2KW anything. If it does, it is going to mariginal performance at the limits of a 2KW genset.

Changes in altitude and ambient temperature may make running the AC problematic.

The Yamaha 2400is runs at nearly 3KW for 10 seconds before derating itself. That is what Yamaha calculated it would need to start these AC units. You can probably run the ACs with a 2KW without issue, but starting is the problem.

I am about to finish repairing my 2400 shortly (the parts arrive over the weekend) so there will be a 2400 up for sale soon....

My Honda 2000 at 200 feet elevation will start the a/c once. It will not restart it.

I have had better success after turning off the converter.

In a private message, HarveyRV has suggested to me that I should try synthetic oil instead of dino oil. That is on my list of things to do next season.

[Lesherp]

I am heading out where I am not sure how much solar I will have and air conditioner might be handy so I thought I would try synthetic oil. Generator would run a few second and shut itself down with “oil alert” light coming on. Finally had to put regular oil back in and everything seems fine.

Has anyone figured out how to remove the used oil without making a mess?

[BrucePerens]

My air conditioner runs fine on the Honda 2000. If you can run your air conditioner only after turning off the converter, something is eating lots of watts. This could be an electric heater in your condenser refrigerator, or a "hot rod" electric heat modification in your water heater.