Running AC from Generator 150 feet away

[mtnman1000]

I have a TT with a 13,500 BTU Dometic AC and am struggling with finding a good way to power it. My off grid property has an Onan 5.5 KW propane generator for use when the solar system needs charged or additional power is needed. I tried to use a a 100' 10/3 extension cord plugged in before the transfer switch that feeds the house and nothing is drawing power in the house. This resulted in 115 volts when the AC compressor is not on but once it turns on it goes down to 99 volts after a couple of minutes making the fan run slower so I cut it off. There is a bit of additional solid copper from the generator to the outlet I am using of about 30' plus the 30 amp RV plug which is 25' if I remember right.

My question is, is the voltage drop due to not a heavy enough gauge extension cord? If so, I can run some romex under the grass and install an outlet near the camper so what gauge would be recommended. My power draw is 11 amps when the AC is running plus another 2 for misc items.

Thanks in advance.

[greenrvgreen]

I was under the impression that the freq had to be insanely high (radar) for a coil to affect voltage. What kind of real-world results did you find? (AWG, footage coiled, A, V, etc)

Thanks!

[flylipsdaddy]

Just a Thought from an open minded person - Are you coiling up ANY OF YOUR CORD? a friend showed me that just a couple coils on my cord Resulted in Reduced voltage,After we Straightened out my "Neatness" the AC ran fine.Knew 12 volts did that,but didn't know that 120 volts would do the same.

[marcsbigfoot20b]

Try to adjust the voltage on page 35 or 6-5

Manual for you gen model

[Kayteg1]

The older gensets had adjusting screw on governor/carburetor linkage.
If you find it - adjust to get 62 Hz
Newer generation does everything electronically and I hate those things.
Hopefully you can figure it out.
Than seeing 115V no load, your generator might have bad coils.

[mtnman1000]

I need to head to Montana for a few days so will try ramping up RPM this weekend to see what happens under load.

The 115V is due to the length of cable but is 117 V at the house and I've never seen it higher.

[Bird_Freak]

Bipeflier wrote:

Dennis12 wrote:
Sounds to me like you have a CHAMPION and don't like the noise. Buy a Honda and sit it right beside your unit.

I nominate this post for the LEAST HELPFUL in the past year!

Agree, just another Honda troll.:S

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Do some observation to see how the governor moves. Repeat the test. With a lot of care noodge engine speed a little higher and see if voltage tracks upward. Turn off or unplug all sensitive electronics before you do this. Short sleeve shirt. No watch. I have seen bad voltage regulators droop engine speed and voltage.

[marcsbigfoot20b]

No load the gen should be at 120-123 volts and 62-63 HZ.

[mtnman1000]

There is a house wired to the generator via a transfer switch but I turn off all breakers to the house when testing so no load there.

The genset is an Onan 5.5 HGJAE. L1 output at 120V is going to the transfer switch. L2 at 120Vis going to the outlet I am using for the TT. Bear in mind my Honda 3k has 0 issues running everything.

Here are the results of the frequency tests over a 2 minute period:

115V @ 60hz with no load

101V @ 58.7hz once AC kicks in

100V @ 58.6hz

99.5 @ 58.6hz

99 @ 58.5hz

At this point I shut it down. Is this possibly a governing issue as Kayteg1 had mentioned? I can find no info on adjusting in the owners manual.

[MEXICOWANDERER]

Cheaper and easier to use is a handheld digital multimeter. Shows instant readings to point one Hz least significant digit. Ex= 59.6 Hz.

[greenrvgreen]

The OP mentioned a "house". Is there a stick house ALSO hooked up to this gennie? The OP says everything is off in the "house", but if something is coming on after a few minutes, that would explain this.

This only makes sense if something in the TT, or something in the stick house is coming on after a few minutes and drawing down more power. Even then, you should be able to hear it in a heavier burden on the generator. Moreover, the AC should audibly change tone when the V drops from ~111 down below 100.

Variables:
--What is the amperage draw? Is the load increasing?
--Is the V meter accurate? Is there another meter that can confirm this?
--Can the OP isolate the TT from the house, so that it is the only load?
--Is there a converter/battery charger in the TT? That would explain an increased load from the TT. What about a water heater?

[road-runner]

Kayteg1 wrote:
Is the weak generator constant RPM or inverter-type?
If you have a meter, check Hz on the output. Could be the governor needs adjustment, or carburetor cleaning.

Great advice, and without a frequency meter, a plug-in, motor driven electric clock can be used. At 60hz it should run accurately. This is of course if any of these clocks exist any more.

[Kayteg1]

Is the weak generator constant RPM or inverter-type?
If you have a meter, check Hz on the output. Could be the governor needs adjustment, or carburetor cleaning.

[mtnman1000]

Hi all.

Yesterday I installed the new outlet much closer to the generator and had the same results. After about 2 minutes it crawled down from 112 volts to 96 volts while the AC was on. I decided to see what would happen running my Honda 3k off of the 100' 10/3 extension cord and it ran like a champ. This leads me to believe there has to be an issue with the genset itself. I just wanted to see if any of you might have any ideas about this outside of cabling as I can't really see that as an issue at this point.