Posted 2012-08-15 9:21 AM (#146365) Subject: air- cond. run on gen.-hot wire smell...
Member
Posts: 11
Location: OK.
I have a new Honda EU 3000 generator- I hooked it up to my Sierra LQ/Elite trailer, ducted air-on a thermostat. I turned it on and it ran and worked great. It was about 93 deg-cooled it down to 80. It ran for about 3 hours-and worked great. BUT-when I went into the LQ after the 3 hours-I definitely smelled "hot"- maybe plastic or wiring? Very strong smell. I turned it all off quickly! Why? Now what? Help-any ideas or what to do? Thankyou!
Posted 2012-08-15 10:52 AM (#146368 - in reply to #146365) Subject: RE: air- cond. run on gen.-hot wire smell...
Expert
Posts: 5870 Location: western PA
When was the last time the filters in the AC unit were cleaned, or the various coils? A dirty unit will draw more than a normal amount of current. Is the breaker for the AC unit opperating correctly? You might try resetting it a couple of times, and try to determine if it is latching and releasing properly. If the AC over heated and the breaker didn't release, the circuit would heat up quickly.
I would try to find the exact source of the burnt plastic smell. There may be burnt insulation or a damaged electrical component, that could later become a fire hazzard.
You might also check the voltage being produced by your new generator. If it's low, the AC unit will have an increased resistance, which can damage its circulating fan and compressor motors. You would probably also notice an over heated "hot" smell under that condition. The fact that you had the offensive smell inside the trailer, limits your search to the internal circuit, its breaker and the AC unit itself.
Posted 2012-08-15 12:22 PM (#146369 - in reply to #146365) Subject: RE: air- cond. run on gen.-hot wire smell...
Regular
Posts: 54 Location: Farmington, IL 61531
I had a similar situation occurr earlier this year. In my case I also had a slight haze of smoke in the LQ. If your AC will not start again after this happened I would suspect you have burnt up the start capacitor on your AC unit. I removed the cover from my AC unit and it was obvious the start capacitor was burnt up. Cost about $35 for the part and I replaced it myself. It has worked fine since. The capacitors are known to fail in this manner if they set unused for long periods of time. My local RV repair shop had more than one of them on hand when mine failed.
Posted 2012-08-15 12:36 PM (#146370 - in reply to #146365) Subject: RE: air- cond. run on gen.-hot wire smell...
Member
Posts: 11
Location: OK.
Thankyou for the suggestions. I used the very heavy duty cord that came with the LQ that I use all the time-and plugged it into the 30 amp outlet. I had just cleaned the air filter before I turned it on. I did have generator set on the "economy" setting. I understood that it needs the "extra" boost to start the air cond. - which it would do automatically- but when running it would go back to economy as needed on its own...Is that incorrect? Do I need to have it on the "normal" setting? I did plug in to shore power this morning -120- and let air run a couple of hours-it is not as hot today-we got a little rain and it is overcast. I did not smell the burnt smell... Thanks all.
Posted 2012-08-15 2:32 PM (#146371 - in reply to #146365) Subject: RE: air- cond. run on gen.-hot wire smell...
Expert
Posts: 2958 Location: North Carolina
I would not use the econ setting on the genset. Especially with a 3kw genset. Maybe with a larger unit. When it throttles down, the genset has a harder time starting the compressor motor. The voltage produced for the time until the genset comes up to speed again is too low for the compressor. The compressor then operates on a "brown-out" condition.... Drawing too much current and overheating.
Posted 2012-08-16 2:26 PM (#146398 - in reply to #146365) Subject: RE: air- cond. run on gen.-hot wire smell...
Member
Posts: 11
Location: OK.
Thankyou for your suggestions. It makes sense. Sometimes the economy settings are good things, sometimes not. I believe the booklet said it will kick up into regular setting when starting-then back to econ. automatically-but with air being on thermostat it probably kicked off and on too often or not quick enough..? No matter, I won't use it now. I will also get coils etc. checked out. Never learn unless I do it wrong first it seems...
air- cond. run on gen.-hot wire smell...
