Rear A/C ceiling

[cajunjohn]

Another question about my newly purchased 1999 FDS... can the generator run both front and rear ceiling A/C units simultaneously, or does the rear only work on 50 amp shore power?

Don't know if rear A/C is on the fritz or not!

As a newbie MH owner, I have the double whammy of being an orphan, right off the bat!

Thanks for any input you guys can give!
jt

[cajunjohn]

Another question about my newly purchased 1999 FDS... can the generator run both front and rear ceiling A/C units simultaneously, or does the rear only work on 50 amp shore power?

Don't know if rear A/C is on the fritz or not!

As a newbie MH owner, I have the double whammy of being an orphan, right off the bat!

Thanks for any input you guys can give!
jt

[Algoma]

If you have the Onan 7500 then it should power the whole coach.
WRV weren't much help with problems on the old coaches so you haven't lost much. The guys on this forum are your best bet.

I had another thought if you cannot run the rear A/C but the front is OK. Do you realize that the front A/C and rear A/C are controlled separately? The front is Zone 1 and the rear is Zone 2. You have to toggle the thermostat to change Zones and then set the temperatures independently. If you have the 4 button thermostat you do this by pressing the top 2 buttons together. If you need the thermostat instruction book let me know and I will try to find the link I used to get my copy.

[rvservicemike]

most generators cannot run 2 airs.
sometimes you have to just shut some stuff off.


most airs take 20 amps per air.

refers 11 amps.

h2o heaters 10 amps-15 amps.

microwave 10-20 AMPS

converter 10 amps..


as you can see the list of amps is much larger than any supply of power....

conserve.conserve. conserve.

hope this helps.

[Old Rv'er]

Ok, mine is newer, and today, once I got it started, I ran, the following. It's a 8KW Onan quiet Genset in an Apex Coach.
Battery Charger
Microwave - Nothing cooking
Dishwasher - Not washing
Both front and Rear A/C units cooling for 10 minutes, then switched them to heat for 10 minutes.
Generator ran fine, and carried all that load with no sweat.

[Old Scout]

Ok--two issues here. 1) once you master the two zone feature on the thermostat, you should be able to assess whether yr rear a/c is working. Rvservice guy has it about right--its a simple matter of math, starting with the 35 amp breaker on the 7.5k generator [perhaps the 8k Onan has a bit larger breaker]. Each of the A/Cs pull about 12 amps in running mode, a bit more to start the compressors each time, at max charge the inverter pulls 10 more amps so now you are at 34 amps [I think]. So about anything else you try to run [coffee pot, hair dryer, etc will trip the breaker. So in hot weather its probably a good idea to turn yr inverter/charger down to 5 amps and yr water heater to propane. Then yr two A/Cs will do fine along with the occasional microwave meal or whatever else you fancy.

[cajunjohn]

Thanks to ALL of you guys!!!
You helped to save me a time and money consuming trip to the local RV repair shop!
I remembered that the thermostat had to be switched to furnace by pressing the top 2 buttons simultaneously, but had forgotten that the same 2 buttons control BOTH units independantly of each other. THANKS SO MUCH!
Sincerely,
john

[midflajim]

FYI. May not apply to you but I had a problem with the A/C's and it turned out a choke needed to be installed in the wiring to prevent a certain frequency from locking up the thermostat. The thermostat manufacturer provided the choke and a tech installed solved all problems. Sorry I can't be more technical.

Jim
06 Apex

[Wil Rathke]

Our previous MH was a 1999 Alpine with the 7.5 kw Onan. It would run both front and rear AC and the microwave. 7.5 KW equates to 62.5 amps.

[Algoma]

Wil is right. The 7500 is actually rated at 65 amps, so what about this 35A breaker?
When you plug into the 50A socket at the campground you actually get 2 120v circuits at 50A each for a total of 100A. The coach runs these separately to the front and rear of the coach so that the front A/C runs off one 50A circuit and the rear runs off the other 50A circuit. When you run the generator you get 2 120v circuits but this time with a limit of 35A on each circuit, limited to a total of 65A combined. Other devices like the refrigerator, microwave etc. are split between the 2 circuits to balance the load. So you have plenty of power for both A/Cs and all the other devices as well.
If there is an overload the breaker will trip on the generator and you will lose ALL power, not just one A/C unit.

[takepride]

midflajim:

That frequency interruption is almost certainly a florescent light. If I run either of two florescents nearest the front AC, the air conditioning won't work.

It cost me hundreds of $$$ to figure it out myself, since Duo-Therm, Coach Care and Camping World were all clueless, but still wanted paid for the various solutions they tried (when the light was off). Of course it worked for them then. I suspect they never duplicated the problem, but charged me for a "repair", anyway.

I found several clues on this forum and then tested it out. Viola!

[midflajim]

Wait wait its coming back to me now, that's it the florecent lights (how could I forget). On the Apex there are no florecent lights thats the reason for the choke, they could not isolate the problem but the choke fixed it

Jim
06 Apex

[takepride]

midflajim:

Wanna trade? I hate florescent lights, cannot stand the color and brightness. However, I believe that WRV has hidden some in the APEX as a hex.

Since I only use one florescent as a "security" light while stored, I don't have to worry about their output or the problems they cause. Now the only problem is they're making my ceiling look cheap. Were I rich, I'd add puck lights to the ceiling and delete the Thinlines. Naturally that would require re-covering the ceiling too.

Ahh, only money.