Generator problem, need advice

[T Peterson]

6 months ago we bought a Troy-Bilt 3550 watt with 5250 startup watts generator to run the a/c on our 22' travel trailer. It looked like a well made unit and I still believe it is, however it does not like the heat. In June I ran the a/c all day in 90 degree plus heat ran like a champ no problem, didn't even seem to be working that hard. Last weekend it was 103 degrees, fire up the gen. and a/c and after 3-5 min. it would trip 1 of the 2, 20 amp. breakers on the gen. Needless to say my wife was not happy. Is there any way to change from 2 20 amp. circuits to 1 30 amp. ? Or connect the 2 circuits together? I know I should have bought a Honda but that would have cost me almost as much as the trailer. Thanks in advance.



Tom

 

[TFucili]

Is there a wiring diagram in the owner's manual? It depends on how the genset is wound and wired. I'd recommend consulting an electrician to make sure the mods are done in a safe manner. Also, make sure that debris is not obstructing the flow of cooling air through the windings.

 

[T Peterson]

Thanks TFucili, I'll look closer to make sure they're open. Anyone else?

 

[nps]

The breaker is there to protect the windings from smoking. You put in a 30 amp breaker and you may get fire.



The 2 x 120 V circuts are actually out of phase legs from the 240V. Therefore, each is independent and you can really only pull 20 amps max from any single 120v load (like your A/C). Now if your AC was 240V, different story but it would already have the 40amps available. If you want to run other 120V appliances on the 2nd 120V leg - OK (but you would have to rewire your trailer to split the feeds and power the various appliances on the designated leg).



What can you do? Shade the breaker. The breakers work on heat. More current flow, more heat is produced, until it builds to the tripping point.



A breaker baking in the sun will trip much faster than one in the shade, regardless of the outside air temp. Your AC should not pull significantly more power based on the marginal differences in outside air temp you describe, so I suspect your breaker is sitting in the sun on the 104 day, but was in the shade on the 90+ day.

 

[Jumbo Jet]

Make sure that items like a "hot rod" in the water heater is turned off. Turn off all non-essential appliances, lights, etc. Turn them off at the breaker if you are doing a load test.



Get an amp probe and check the loads on individual circuits and the cord going to the generator - if possible.



Sell the generator and go find one of similar price that has a 30 AMP 120 Volt outlet - Generac for example.

 

[RustyJC]

Also, put the fridge on propane instead of AC.



Rusty

 

[T Peterson]

Thanks everyone, everything was turned off, fridge on gas, I even disconnected the battery to keep it from charging. I think nps hit the nail on the head, circuit breaker was shaded but still HOT. Maybe I can remove breakers from the genset and isolate them in a small ice chest with blue ice, or like Jumbo says, sell it and get something else, I would hate to take the hit on a new one. I did some research on this one and I think it really is a quality unit. The generator portion (windings)? is twice as big as other units, anyone know anything about this brand?

 

[nps]

The other possibility is the CB itself is weak. Were you using the same plug?



Try plugging the trailer into the other CB circuit to see if it holds better.



DO NOT remove the circuit breakers. What you could do for more reliability (and less headache that a cooler) is replace the CBs with 250V 20 amp fuses. A fuse is not susceptible to the heat - just harder to reset when tripped.

 

[T Peterson]

Sounds like sage advice, I'll do that. Also, do you think that the fact my black power cord was laying in the dirt and also very hot had added resistance? Maybe I should leave it coiled in the TT and buy some kind of killer wire to run to the genset, thoughts?

 

[nps]

Sounds like sage advice, I'll do that. Also, do you think that the fact my black power cord was laying in the dirt and also very hot had added resistance? Maybe I should leave it coiled in the TT and buy some kind of killer wire to run to the genset, thoughts?

Na - don't go overboard. Don't think the wire will affect much.



I plug my 32' trailer into my house when loading and unloading - I usually use a power strip outlet on my workbench that is protected by a breaker on the strip. On a hot day if I have the garage door open when the sun is hitting the garage I can't keep that breaker set. But in the morning or evening no problem - all with the same load.



Providing there is nothing wrong with your A/C, a fuse should cure the problem. If a fuse blows, then you should take a close look at the A/C and measure the amount of current draw.

 

[B.G. Smith]

, "I even disconnected the battery to keep it from charging. " If you didn't turn the power to the inverter off, it is still using some power. You should check the speed of the generator, if it is not running at rated speed the voltage will be low and the cycles will be low which will cause things to heat up quick. bg

 

[T Peterson]

Thanks again guys, now that I'm home I'll throw a meter on it and make sure the voltage and power draw from the A/C look OK.

 

[Jumbo Jet]

If you look at a picture of a Generac and your Troy-Built, you will see that they are nearly identical. The unit you have is built exclusively for Lowes. The Troy-Built unit one size larger has a 30 amp 120V outlet.



Very interesting discussion on circuit breakers. I've never experienced this problem. I previously used a 6250 Watt Generac. I now use a 'quiet' Yamaha 3000iSEB inverter/generator. I've run it about 60 hours non-stop in 100* weather powering my A/C while it was sitting in the back of my truck.

 

[Eric_77]

15 amp plug could be issue can you move up to a 20 amp twist lock or other 20-30amp plug



also a long exension cord will drop the voltage raising the amp draw.