Generator Auto-Start

[cmillsap]

(07-08-2017 15:08)davidbrady Wrote:  Hi Chuck,

It's interesting how the converters did things differently. You'd think by now, especially considering employee migration from one converter to another, that they'd settle on a standard way to electrically connect things.

My Vantare has four SMXII's and four CruisAirs. All the loads are wired thru the inverters, so the inverters see an accurate picture of the true load drawn by all coach systems. (An advantage of this setup is I can control which of the four CruisAirs the inverters get to power). I have a smart power management system that prunes loads when shore and genny power are lost. Among the items pruned are two CruisAirs. The inverters can power two CruisAirs for up to four hours, depending upon need. Even with all this, I usually make it a rule to leave the coach with only two CruisAirs running. My Trace auto-genny start is always enabled.

With a pet on board, I think having the Auto-Genny start enabled is a must. Each CruisAir consumes around around 2kW. Four of them running is still only half of your generator's capacity, and staggering the compressor start time delay soothes the in-rush current the genny sees. For even better current in-rush control, you can install a soft starter for your CruisAirs. These things are solidstate current limiting devices that hugely reduce current in-rush. Dometic makes one.

David,
The thermistor for the SMX that controls both bath and bedroom A/Cs is located just in-between the two rooms and the bath is wide open to the bedroom. Also, the 2 A/Cs share the same delivery ducting allowing either A/C or both to cool both rooms. That way 3 A/Cs running will cool all the rooms. I usually only run 3 A/Cs as I can shut off the bedroom A/C or the bath A/C from any one of 3 switches located throughout the coach. Smart thinking by Marathon......