2007 Meridian AC

C&C R · 06-25-2008, 01:46 PM

We have a 2007 Meridian with what they call central air. No zones, just one big air conditioning system. Hate it.......
When running the air, we can not run much else. That's on 30 amp. Not all campgrounds provide 50 amps.
Anyone else have this problem? All our other MH's had a way of shutting off one end of the coach air condition and I could make coffee or use the microwave on 30 amp.

Carol

C&C R · 06-25-2008, 01:46 PM

We have a 2007 Meridian with what they call central air. No zones, just one big air conditioning system. Hate it.......
When running the air, we can not run much else. That's on 30 amp. Not all campgrounds provide 50 amps.
Anyone else have this problem? All our other MH's had a way of shutting off one end of the coach air condition and I could make coffee or use the microwave on 30 amp.

Carol

Harry B · 06-25-2008, 03:25 PM

The "one big unit" is actually comprised of two compressors and not one big one. These two units combined will run on less than 30 amps. Two compressors running concurrently use about 24 amps.

Turn your room thermostat SET temperature one or two degrees lower than your existing room temperature and watch your EMS panel. One of the compressors will turn off shortly and your A/C will now only draw about 12-13 amps. This is how you can temporarily work on only one compressor. EMS will automatically turn one compressor off as well, I just can't remember the sequence as to what turns off first

cbeierl · 06-25-2008, 04:39 PM

If you look on your EMS panel in the OnePlace center you can see the loads which will be shutdown automatically as needed to keep the load within 30A (or 20A if that's selected). On my coach those are 1) Water heater, 2) A/C comp #2, 3) Fan speed, 4) Refrigerator. You may not be able to run a coffeemaker, the microwave, and the A/C at the same time, but I would expect that you could run either the coffeemaker or the microwave along with the A/C.

AFChap · 06-25-2008, 05:43 PM

All of the above will work, but if you want to do it the old fashioned blunt way, you could turn off the "AC Circuit 2" breaker. (mine is in the breaker box under one side of the bed). That will prevent the second compressor from starting. I don't use it for that purpose, but did trip it when the #2 circuit had some problems until we could get it repaired.

NeilV · 06-25-2008, 06:30 PM

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-title">quote:</div><div class="ip-ubbcode-quote-content">Originally posted by C&C R:
We have a 2007 Meridian with what they call central air. No zones, just one big air conditioning system. Hate it.......
When running the air, we can not run much else. That's on 30 amp. Not all campgrounds provide 50 amps.
Anyone else have this problem? All our other MH's had a way of shutting off one end of the coach air condition and I could make coffee or use the microwave on 30 amp.

Carol </div></BLOCKQUOTE>

Carol,

The unit is designed to work on 30 amps. With your EMS set correctly it will automatically shut off the second compressor in the True Air unit, fridge, water heater to allow use of a coffee maker, microwave etc switching everything back on when you are done. The system is a thing of beauty as it makes 30 liveable. I have the same system in a 30 amp coach and have no problems whatsoever.

Your 50 to 30 amp adapter may not be registering with you EMS correctly see if your Powerline EMS is showing 30 or 50 amp when you are connected to a 30 amp servce. You may have to manually set this sometimes which will then allow the system to work as designed.

Duner · 06-25-2008, 06:42 PM

Carol, are you having problems with the 30 amp campground breaker popping open?

If so, then maybe your EMS is not working properly. With a normal functioning EMS, you can run A/C and use just about anything else that uses 12-15 amps, including microwave or coffee maker. Toasters and 1800 watt hair dryers pull more than 15 amps and could cause a problem.

One thing that I've found is that if you had several days of dry camping and then plug into a 30 amp service, your house batteries may be low and need a lot of charge current for a few hours. The EMS does not control this load. But on the Dimensions panel, you can change limit the input current to 5 amps (or even 0 amps, just don't forget to turn it back up later).

We're in the 1000 Trails system and most campsites are 30 amp. We've camped for weeks at a time on 30 amp and almost never blow the cg pedestal breaker. What I find a bigger problem is low voltage and this is fixed with a Hughes Autoformer that steps the volts back up. If you do have a problem with 30 amps, check the voltage when you have the A/c running, If it's less than 108 volts, that's causing the A/C compressors & blower motors to pull more current and run hotter and can drastically reduce the life of the the motors.

Let us know what you're experiencing & the forum folks can point you in the right direction.
If you get into the habit of watching the AMPS on the EMS panel when you first arrive at a 30 amp campsite, you'll see a pattern of what is normal and what may be pulling too much current.