Micro Air 366 Easy Start Install on Coleman Mach 13,500btu A/C

[ace911]

I just installed the Model 366 Easy Start from Micro Air on my Coleman Mach series 13,500 btu A/C unit. The 366 series is the option for the bare circuit board, with the capacitor.It needs to be installed in a protected area, away from moisture.The install went smoothly. I had plenty of room inside the electrical compartment for the circuit board and new capacitor. The Easy Start works really well. I can no longer hear the compressor starting up. I've ran the A/C all weekend with my Honda EU 2000. It was 95 all weekend and the a/c unit was working pretty hard. The Honda would trip on overload if the water pump came on, and the Progressive Charger on the trailer was set to boost at 14 volts. Other than that, I'm impressed with this upgrade, and I saved some money by buying just the circuit board. No problems running the Honda in Eco Mode either. I had previously installed the Sure Start kit form Hyper Engineering and the Honda would not run in Eco Mode. The Micro Air module starts the compressor in Eco Mode every time. I had no failed starts all weekend.

[aeblank]

Nice job. Way cool. I hope to do the exact same thing (except the cheap boy harbor freight 2k). I wanted to do the pcb-only, so it's nice to *see* it.

[Brewhedd]

Thanks for posting this, just what I need, I may go with the sealed unit though. There are probably a lot of people that think you can run a 15k AC unit with paralleled 2000 watt generators. This is not a setup that's going to work (at least not without affecting the life of the AC unit or generators) with most generators because the startup current is 45 to 50 amps. Not only that but the compressor cycles off and on even when you haven't reached the set temperature. One thing I found very interesting was their video, which shows that using an upgraded start capacitor doesn't reduce startup current. In fact the startup current increased.

[spock123]

Originally Posted by Brewhedd

Thanks for posting this, just what I need, I may go with the sealed unit though. There are probably a lot of people that think you can run a 15k AC unit with paralleled 2000 watt generators. This is not a setup that's going to work (at least not without affecting the life of the AC unit or generators) with most generators because the startup current is 45 to 50 amps. Not only that but the compressor cycles off and on even when you haven't reached the set temperature. One thing I found very interesting was their video, which shows that using an upgraded start capacitor doesn't reduce startup current. In fact the startup current increased.

I must be missing something here, how is that a 30 trailer has a 15k a/c with 30 amps. Or I hookup my camper that has 50 amps to a 15 amp plug and run my 15k a/c

[aeblank]

Startup current is very short, as in hard to measure with a digital gauge because the sampling is too slow. Breakers blow way slower than that, so it's over before they "notice". 50 does sound awful high to me though, too. But I dunno.

[ependydad]

Thanks for the pictures. I've got 2 MicroAir EasyStarts waiting in a box for me at the camper. I need to get the nerve up to opening the A/C and wiring them in. As I've mentioned elsewhere- electrical scares me.

[Brewhedd]

Originally Posted by aeblank

Startup current is very short, as in hard to measure with a digital gauge because the sampling is too slow. Breakers blow way slower than that, so it's over before they "notice". 50 does sound awful high to me though, too. But I dunno.

50 may or may not be a little high, I was guestimating. The video on MicroAir's website shows a 13.5k unit required 40 to 41 amps startup current.