A quick question on using shore power and air conditioning

[Steve Morris]

I will be mooch docking in my brother's driveway for the next few days. He does not have a 30A outlet, just a 20A standard outlet. I know that I can't use the air conditioner on 20A, but I will be plugged in to use his shore power to charge the battery, run the microwave, etc.

IF I want to use the air conditioner for short periods, all I need to do is unplug the shore power so I don't pop his breaker, correct? Then I can run the air conditioner using the batteries and inverter. (This is where the Victron inverter would be perfect, as it splits the load across the shore power AND the batteries as necessary!)

Thanks for any assurance I'm doing the right thing!

[rich.dev]

If you have a Xantrex inverter, pretty sure you also want to change the AC input breaker (#28) setting from 25 to 15A, but I don't know if it will run your AC then! More experienced people will chime in for sure. 

[Steve Morris]

7 minutes ago, rich.dev said:

pretty sure you also want to change the AC input breaker (#28) setting from 25 to 15A

Sorry, incomplete information provided. Yes, I have the Xantrax inverter as installed in 2023 Olivers, and I have already set the input breaker to 15A.

For clarity, I do not want to run the air conditioner on shore power. I'm just making sure that when I turn on the inverter to run the air conditioner on batteries, does the inverter know to automatically use the batteries and not try to use shore power? Or do I need to unplug the shore power to be sure I'm only using the batteries?

Thanks for the input!

[rich.dev]

5 minutes ago, Steve Morris said:

when I turn on the inverter to run the air conditioner on batteries, does the inverter know to automatically use the batteries and not try to use shore power?

Ah yes good question, like you said, would be great if it splits the load across shore and batteries like the Victron! 

[Rolind]

I agree on the interesting question. I suspect based on my reading that if the trailer is plugged into a source that is insufficient  to start the air conditioner, the ems would trip shutting off ac power from the house, or the house breaker would trip.  Not sure which would happen first. It would be awesome if the inverter had a way to power the converter with low amperage shore power and run the converter with only battery power. I haven’t found any documentation that this is possible. Lets us know what the outcome is. 

[Ralph Mawyer]

FWIW, I run Dometic AC on 20amp circuit at home without any apparent issues. 
 

 

[mossemi]

35 minutes ago, Ralph Mawyer said:

FWIW, I run Dometic AC on 20amp circuit at home without any apparent issues. 
 

 

As do I, but I do have a Micro-Air EasyStart installed on my Dometic air conditioner.  
 

@Steve Morris

Do you have the Truma air conditioner?  If so, what is the starting amperage draw?  Have you tried the air conditioner on a 20A circuit?

Mossey

[Steve Morris]

Yes I have the Truma, and I haven’t checked starting amperage. I don’t intend to run it from his 20A outlet. I am going to simply unplug shore power when I want to cool down the trailer tonight. 
 

I sure wish I’d reprioritized mounting the 12V Sirocco fans, instead of working on the scooters and drawers in the Land Cruiser…

[John Dorrer]

Steve, back in April we camped in our son's driveway. It was cool and we didn't need AC. However, When I plugged into his outside outlet, I was tripping his breaker. I called Oliver and they had me lower a setting on the inverter. We weren't really using anything, but still had to adjust the inverter. Re-set it when we got ready to leave.

[SeaDawg]

1 hour ago, John Dorrer said:

Steve, back in April we camped in our son's driveway. It was cool and we didn't need AC. However, When I plugged into his outside outlet, I was tripping his breaker. I called Oliver and they had me lower a setting on the inverter. We weren't really using anything, but still had to adjust the inverter. Re-set it when we got ready to leave.

@John Dorrer, do you have the truma, or dometic? With or without ez start?

You were using the charger in your son's driveway,  obviously,  probably adjusted for a 30 amp connection? Did he have other systems in his home using power on that 20 amp circuit?

[John Dorrer]

5 minutes ago, SeaDawg said:

@John Dorrer, do you have the truma, or dometic? With or without ez start?

You were using the charger in your son's driveway,  obviously,  probably adjusted for a 30 amp connection? Did he have other systems in his home using power on that 20 amp circuit?

Just plugging in tripped. I Forwarded an e-mail from Hanna to Steve to share what I needed to do. #28 on the inverter had to be changed. I have easy start, but we weren't using anything but the lights, and the house was charging the batteries. Not sure how I can get that e-mail on here. There are great tables she sent in the e-mail.

 

[SeaDawg]

It may, or may not work, here. 

But, you could save as a pdf and post it, I think.

Or, simpler, take screenshot(s) of the table, and post as images. (Attach as files.)

Thanks.

 

[katanapilot]

6 hours ago, Ralph Mawyer said:

FWIW, I run Dometic AC on 20amp circuit at home without any apparent issues. 
 

 

As did I even before swapping to the much quieter and lower current draw Houghton/RecPro.  No issues and never tripped a breaker.

[SeaDawg]

21 hours ago, katanapilot said:

As did I even before swapping to the much quieter and lower current draw Houghton/RecPro.  No issues and never tripped a breaker.

We only tripped a breaker on 15 amp, in our driveway,  with our dometic 13.5.   Then, only if running another appliance. 

I'd try it on the 20 amp breaker, daytime, if it were me, as long as that's a dedicated circuit. See what happens. 

[Ollie-Haus]

When I plugged my camper into a 20 amp breaker right after coming home with the camper, it tripped the breaker immediately (installed a 30amp shortly after that). I had not changed the settings on the Xantrex system yet. I believe it is drawing too much power for charging the lithium batteries, even with everything in the camper shut off. If you set it up right, it will charge at a lower rate and not trip the breaker.

The inverter will select shore power whenever it's plugged in. I just unplug the shore power when I want to run the AC on inverter in this scenario, and when finished I plug the shore power in to top off the batteries. Others have covered the process for setting up the inverter for 15/20 amp service. 

[Steve Morris]

As noted earlier, I had already set my inverter to 15A service. I did this in March, just after taking delivery, since I don’t have 30A at home. 

Today we tried running the Truma air conditioner on my brother’s outdoor 20A outlet. Surprisingly, it worked just fine! The ambient temperature was 75 degrees, and the thermostat was set at 66 degrees. The air conditioner was set on low mode. I didn’t try it on medium or high. 

Thanks for the input!

[Rolind]

That is great news. It makes me wonder if my EU2200 would also run the air? I know Truma says at least 3000w generator is required. But maybe if I was not at altitude and maybe if the batteries were already fully charged do the converter wasn’t pulling any current? We are headed out next week maybe I’ll give it a try.

[John Dorrer]

Here is part of an e-mail from Hanna in Oliver Service

 

[SeaDawg]

So, if you want to charge your batteries, at a site with 30 amp, you need to remember to change setting 28?

I don't have your gear. 

Asking, because undoubtedly,  someone will change settings, forget to change them back, and may have issues charging.  (My guess.)

[Rolind]

I think if you turn the xantrex inverter/converter to a lower max amp setting, such as 15a, to accommodate a low amp rated input and forget to turn it back up when you plug into 30a shore power, your batteries will still charge but at a slower rate, Provided the max draw from all the loads doesn’t exceed 15a. 

[Allen Lee Rohner]

I have no issues running Dometic  AC on 20 Amp Shore power.  I always wait until my batteries are charge up before turning on my Dometic  AC. Also use the  HUGHES Autoformer Voltage Booster.  On the 20 amp service if voltage drops to 113 volts or below the Autoformer will boost up the voltage.

I have the 3000 Watt Xantrex Freedom XC Inverter

[I M in KS]

On 7/1/2023 at 5:28 PM, Ollie-Haus said:

When I plugged my camper into a 20 amp breaker right after coming home with the camper, it tripped the breaker immediately (installed a 30amp shortly after that). I had not changed the settings on the Xantrex system yet. I believe it is drawing too much power for charging the lithium batteries, even with everything in the camper shut off. If you set it up right, it will charge at a lower rate and not trip the breaker.

The inverter will select shore power whenever it's plugged in. I just unplug the shore power when I want to run the AC on inverter in this scenario, and when finished I plug the shore power in to top off the batteries. Others have covered the process for setting up the inverter for 15/20 amp service. 

Newby here. I was plugged in to a 15A outlet in a driveway. I set Xantrex 3000 setting #28 to 15A (tried several others as well), but could not get the inverter to charge the 390Ahr lithium batteries. If I unplugged the 15A shore power for a couple minutes & plugged back in, the inverter would show charging battery on initialization, but then went to bypass. EMS showed something like 125V, 1 or 2A 60hz and E0 (no errors). I had no loads on. Tried several combinations; but only the solar was charging the batteries.

 

Should the Xantrex charge the batteries from 15A shore power? Batteries were dead in morning & I had to operate jack by hand. A/C was never operated.

[SeaDawg]

I can split this topic, if you like, so that your question gets more attention. 

I looked up your profile, so others know:

Elite 2, 2022, hull #998,  picked up a month ago. So, you bought a pre-owned trailer, correct?

What other loads were on in the trailer? Microwave? Fan (what speed?) Or, just lights. And, were there any other loads on the 15 amp circuit from the home, or is it a dedicated outlet for the trailer? (Meaning, nothing else in the home or garage can be plugged into this circuit., and the circuit breaker only controls that single 15a outlet.)

I don't have your gear, but I do have an older xantrex on our boat. With only 15 amps to work with, if there is much of any draw on that circuit, I think your xantrex would direct those amps to other draws, and not to charging. Hence, the initial show of charge, then switch to no charge.

Have your batteries ever shown "full 100 per cent  charge" since you've owned the trailer? Our batteries, even agm, need to reach 100 per cent from time to time, to "reset" the algorithms of the monitor. 

Others with your gear will have better suggestions.  

With my limited knowledge,  I'll leave it to you to explain the situation further, and let current /newer owners answer.

 

 

[bugeyedriver]

I'm able to run my Coleman Polar Club , 9.3KW  fine on a home 20 Amp system.  But I cannot simultaneously heat my water heater with A/C running.  Anytime I forget the hot water heater is on A/C, it immediately trips the CB and I have my "DOH!" moment.  After placing the water heater on propane only, I'm fine.

[NCeagle]

9 hours ago, I M in KS said:

Should the Xantrex charge the batteries from 15A shore power? Batteries were dead in morning & I had to operate jack by hand. A/C was never operated.

Yes the Xantrex should charge the batteries from 15A of shore power as long as there are "extra" amps around for the inverter to use.  It looks like you have checked for other loads on the battery and you have none since your EMS is showing 1 or 2 amps and good (125) voltage.  There is another setting many of us use to turn off the charger when we don't want or need charging - it's setting #26 (charger ignition control).  If #26 is set to OFF the charger will work and charge the batteries.  If #26 is set to ON it will not charge the batteries.  So, make sure the setting #26 is set to OFF on your inverter.

One other quick check comes to mind...  make sure the connections to your batteries are tight.  If the ground is loose some things may work and others may not.  This is a long shot given your symptoms but maybe worth a quick check as well.

Good luck and keep us posted!