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07-23-2021, 04:55 AM
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#1
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Adventures with Beagles
Join Date: Jul 2021
Posts: 11
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15a Shore Power and A/C
Good morning friends! We will be picking up our new-to-us 2019 Outlook 31R next week. We are going to "test camp" in the driveway for a night or two to familiarize ourselves with everything before we go out on a longer trip at the end of August. I don't have a 30a outlet outside so I will be plugging into a 15a. In order to run the A/C, should I have the inverter on? Thanks!!
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07-23-2021, 05:25 AM
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#2
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Winnebago Owner
Join Date: Sep 2017
Location: Apple Valley, MN
Posts: 135
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If your unit is like most units when you plug into 120v your inverter is bypassed so leaving it on does not acheive anything...just turn it off. Second, it is very unlikely that your air conditioning will work with 15 amp outlet as the startup up the ac will go above 15 amps and will pop the circuit breaker. If you want to use the air conditioner in your driveway you are going to have to use your generator as we have to do when we are unloading or loading for a trip.
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2005 Winnebago Journey 36G, Cat C7
Apple Valley, MN
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07-23-2021, 05:32 AM
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#3
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Winnebago Owner
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Asheville, NC
Posts: 1,652
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Most garages have 20amp service. Our 13,500btu A/C runs just fine on it.
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Jim. Former, 2021b Micro Minnie 2108DS
Medically grounded, but still lurking the Micro Minnie Discussions
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07-23-2021, 06:03 AM
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#4
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Adventures with Beagles
Join Date: Jul 2021
Posts: 11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by neub
If your unit is like most units when you plug into 120v your inverter is bypassed so leaving it on does not acheive anything...just turn it off. Second, it is very unlikely that your air conditioning will work with 15 amp outlet as the startup up the ac will go above 15 amps and will pop the circuit breaker. If you want to use the air conditioner in your driveway you are going to have to use your generator as we have to do when we are unloading or loading for a trip.
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Thank you!
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07-23-2021, 06:30 AM
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#5
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Winnebago Camper
Join Date: Jul 2021
Location: Scandia, Minnesota
Posts: 30
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My a/c and TV both work on 15A shore power from my garage. Use a HD extension cord 12 gauge not 14.
2002 Mini, don't know what air conditioner I have .
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2002 Mini Winnie
Old Moto Guzzi motorcycle wanted.
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07-23-2021, 07:15 AM
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#6
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Site Team
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spring Branch, TX
Posts: 7,783
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Keep in mind that if your batteries are not fully charged when you start your test, the on board converter will immediately start charging your batteries and this will reduce the number of amps available to run the A/C.
People forget about this and think they have “nothing” running so they can use all 15 amps.
Don’t you have a RV park or campground near enough to conduct your test close to home without being actually at home? That would be a much better test.
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2017 Winnebago Adventurer 37F
2016 Lincoln MKX Toad
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07-23-2021, 07:15 AM
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#7
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Winnie-Wise
Join Date: Dec 2020
Location: Upstate SC
Posts: 302
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marine359
Most garages have 20amp service. Our 13,500btu A/C runs just fine on it.
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I did not know this. I was wondering why it actually worked. Thanks!
Quote:
Originally Posted by Fotoguzzi
My a/c and TV both work on 15A shore power from my garage. Use a HD extension cord 12 gauge not 14.
2002 Mini, don't know what air conditioner I have .
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Also, shorter the better (25' or less) to avoid voltage drop.
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2020b Micro Minnie 2108TB / 2022 F-150 Super Crew 4X4
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07-23-2021, 08:23 AM
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#8
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Winnebago Owner
Join Date: Dec 2015
Location: Jacksonville, Fl
Posts: 225
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As for the inverter question, no don't turn it on.
1) The air conditioner isn't likely to be powered off the inverter.
2) The inverter probably doesn't actually 'work' when plugged in to shore power.
3) Even if the inverter does work when plugged in you'll just then be running the converter/charger more to replace what the inverter is drawing out of the batteries. Due to not 1 to 1 conversion you'll actually be using more AC power to replace what the inverter is drawing as opposed to just using shore power.
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2013 Winnebago Sightseer 36V
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07-23-2021, 08:38 AM
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#9
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Adventures with Beagles
Join Date: Jul 2021
Posts: 11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by creativepart
Don’t you have a RV park or campground near enough to conduct your test close to home without being actually at home? That would be a much better test.
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We wanted to do that but we cannot find a campground with availability near us in the next couple of weeks. It's been crazy this year trying to find a campsite!
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07-23-2021, 10:49 AM
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#10
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Winnebago Owner
Join Date: Jul 2020
Posts: 127
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The AC should work just fine on 15-20 system. HOWEVER, do not try to run high amp items like the Water Heater which will most likely trip your GFCI whenever it turns itself on. May have an issue with the microwave i'm not sure since we seldom use. This will be a check and see thing during the trial.
Once the ac is running you can turn various items on to see what happens, not all at once but again during the trial run. We stayed in SILs TT a couple of weeks ago and the AC worked fine dont know what else they had on since it was just an overnite stay for us. He was planning a trip for later in week so I think he had refrig on at a minimum. Yes he was running a HD extension from the garage.
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07-23-2021, 10:55 AM
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#11
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Site Team
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: Spring Branch, TX
Posts: 7,783
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We paid $210 to have a 30-amp RV plug installed just inside our garage door. That's been a wonderful addition.
Of course, you have to have 30-amps available on your service panel or it get real expensive real fast.
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2017 Winnebago Adventurer 37F
2016 Lincoln MKX Toad
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07-24-2021, 02:56 PM
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#12
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Winnebago Camper
Join Date: Mar 2021
Posts: 19
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Another option is to install an easy-start in your A/C to reduce the amperage necessary to start your A/C. After putting one in my A/C tuns fine off of 15A service or 2500W generator.
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07-28-2021, 04:36 PM
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#13
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Winnebago Owner
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Texas
Posts: 107
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We have run our AC from the garage 15amp, but if either the fridge or freezer kicks in as the AC starts up then it's iffy for the breaker. In our dock we have 20amp (plus 30amps and 50amps). We use the 20amp while in storage just because it's easier to hook up, and we use a !0ga extension cord just to be safe.
I just installed a MicroAire EasyStart today for our basement No.1 unit (we really don't use the No.2 compressor). It now starts up on 12amps peak and runs quietly on 8amps (versus before on 28amps and 11amps respectively). I think we'll love it; it does seem to run quieter and it certainly starts more quietly. We bought ours from Hutch Mountain thru Amazon. Their service is great and they include a little install kit with tie wraps and connectors.
Good luck.
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Butch and Peggy
N.Central TX; 2000 Itasca Suncruiser 32V;Workhorse P-32 Chassis; Chevy Vortec 454 L21 w/Banks Pwr Sys; Ultra-Power ECM; SteerSafe; Timbren Suspension kit rear; Onan Emerald 5K
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07-28-2021, 05:08 PM
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#14
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Winnebago Master
Join Date: Oct 2018
Location: Apache Junction, AZ
Posts: 1,244
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Marine359
Most garages have 20amp service. Our 13,500btu A/C runs just fine on it.
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As does ours.
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07-28-2021, 07:47 PM
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#15
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2020 1706FB Owner
Join Date: Jul 2019
Posts: 48
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Our house is reasonably new and we could not run the air conditioning unit when plugged into the garage. It just tripped the breaker. It's best to go out to a nearby (1 hour away or less) campground to really test things out anyway. If you seen sleeping in your trailer the neighbours will think that you two are breaking up.
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07-28-2021, 08:49 PM
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#16
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2018 22M
Join Date: Apr 2018
Location: Full Time
Posts: 48
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For what it’s worth, when I stay at my Cuz’s in Summer my AC works fine on his 15 PROVIDED I turn both my hot water heater and fridge to run on propane instead of electric (if you have that option). I then always cut it off when using micro or toaster.
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07-29-2021, 05:31 AM
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#17
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Winnebago Owner
Join Date: Oct 2020
Location: Asheville, NC
Posts: 1,652
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Glen 3
Our house is reasonably new and we could not run the air conditioning unit when plugged into the garage. It just tripped the breaker. It's best to go out to a nearby (1 hour away or less) campground to really test things out anyway. If you seen sleeping in your trailer the neighbours will think that you two are breaking up.
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You may be having a problem because you’re not getting enough juice to the ac circuit. Your converter/charger may be sending a high percentage of the incoming amperage to its dc battery charging circuit. If your charger is not programmable, try disconnecting the batteries. Then your ac should fire right up. If the battery is 100% SOC, just disconnect all other ac and dc loads at the breaker box, and give it another try. If ac starts up, start reconnecting breakers one at a time.
Those of us with either programmable chargers, or inverter/chargers won’t have this problem.
__________________
Jim. Former, 2021b Micro Minnie 2108DS
Medically grounded, but still lurking the Micro Minnie Discussions
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07-29-2021, 12:51 PM
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#18
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Winnebago Master
Join Date: Nov 2005
Posts: 1,520
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My house was built in 1949 and has not been rewired since and the 15 amp outlet will run one AC unit after the house batteries have been fully charged. You need a good source of 12 volt power to turn the storage switch off and enable the thermostat so I plug into the 15 amp outlet and wait until the converter/charger goes to its low cycle, turn the now cooled refrigerator to propane and then allow one AC unit to run. You can't run anything else besides the AC unit and a few lights though on 15 amps so the vacuum, microwave, coffee pot, toaster, hairdryer, etc can only be used when the AC isn't blowing. You may on some systems need to turn the AC fan switch to low speed too.
Many new houses did have defective 15 amp breakers installed in them that might trip at closer to 10 amps and some 15 amp GFI breakers in the house may trip even when not overloaded simply from having them plugged into a motor home and turning any item on that has a fairly good current draw to it.
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Neil V
2001 Winnebago Adventurer WFG35U
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08-02-2021, 06:26 AM
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#19
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Winnebago Camper
Join Date: Jan 2018
Location: Ocean Isle Beach, N.C.
Posts: 46
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Dedicated 20 Amp
If your not savvy enough to run a dedicated 30 Amp to where tour RV will be kept try to at least run a dedicated 20 Amp. I did that to my hot tub and it’s truly a piece of cake to do it. Those 5 extra amps could make the difference Less strain on your capacitors as well.
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08-02-2021, 06:58 AM
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#20
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Adventures with Beagles
Join Date: Jul 2021
Posts: 11
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Thanks! I have run new electric before. I think 20a is a good ides.
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