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Old 06-28-2010, 07:16 PM   #1
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Danhard A/C with Honda 2000 watt generator

Just picked up my van 2 weeks ago from Indiana. Love pretty much everything about my build. One of the key things I built the van for was camping in remote locations in hot humid southeastern climates where A/C is practically a must for it to be bearable.

On the SMB website under generators it gives very detailed descriptions of how to use a Honda 2000 Watt portable generator to power the Danhard A/C system. I specifically bought the generator and Danhard to be used together. The A/C works great with Shore Power but this weekend I tried the generator, never dreaming it wouldn't work and it doesn't. The A/C will come on briefly and once it does you can hear the generator rev very high and within about 30 seconds the generator shuts off power to the generator’s outlets and an "overload" warning light comes on.

I haven't talked to the main folks in Indiana I have been dealing with because they are on vacation this week but the guy they put on the phone pretty much said he didn't think it would work. He said it takes close to 20 AMP’s to run the Danhard and my generator is 16.7 max AMPs and 13.3 rated AMPs.

This really bothers me because I bought the generator box from Aluminess made to accommodate the 2000 watt Honda, plus the money I have in the generator. Now I'm not sure what my next step is going to be. I may get the 3000 watt Honda but it doubles the weight and I'm not sure Aluminess can make a box that will fit on the rear bumper swing away mount that will be big enough or strong enough to accommodate it.

Is there anyone out there with the Danhard A/C that is able to run theirs off the 2000 Watt Honda? I'm hoping they installed the wrong A/C or something. The claims on the Sportsmobile site seem very convincing that it should work. Any insight is appreciated.

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Old 06-28-2010, 09:40 PM   #2
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Re: Danhard A/C with Honda 2000 watt generator

are you starting the AC with the inverter? the start up loads are to high for the generator. once running the gen. should provide enough power to run the unit.

this is from SMB website:


Running an A/C. Roof mount or Danhard
Continue from above Generator Operation instructions. Note — your generator is now running.
Turn on inverter.
Turn on A/C.
The inverter will start your A/C. The A/C will run off your battery for about 10 seconds.
Inverter will sense if the incoming amperage is sufficient to run the A/C. If amperage is sufficient, inverter will allow A/C to run off generator. This is all automatic.
As long as A/C is running, it will be running off the generator.
Note — when running A/C on generator keep inverter in On position.
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Old 06-28-2010, 09:55 PM   #3
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Re: Danhard A/C with Honda 2000 watt generator

Quote:
Originally Posted by campervanbeethoven
are you starting the AC with the inverter? the start up loads are to high for the generator. once running the gen. should provide enough power to run the unit.

this is from SMB website:


Running an A/C. Roof mount or Danhard
Continue from above Generator Operation instructions. Note — your generator is now running.
Turn on inverter.
Turn on A/C.
The inverter will start your A/C. The A/C will run off your battery for about 10 seconds.
Inverter will sense if the incoming amperage is sufficient to run the A/C. If amperage is sufficient, inverter will allow A/C to run off generator. This is all automatic.
As long as A/C is running, it will be running off the generator.
Note — when running A/C on generator keep inverter in On position.
I was told by the TX folks to do run the A/C in exactly this fashion and that the batteries and generator would 'power-share and that the inverter light would flash after a few seconds. The inverter definitely needs to be 'on' (which is flipped to the left for my Tripp Lite).
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Old 06-28-2010, 10:49 PM   #4
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Re: Danhard A/C with Honda 2000 watt generator

If you do some research in this section you will find a post about how to run it in. I'm fairly sure it will work as the previous post mentions unless Danhard changed something.

viewtopic.php?f=13&t=1110&hilit=mcbeast
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Old 06-29-2010, 06:21 AM   #5
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Re: Danhard A/C with Honda 2000 watt generator

I studied this problem

I opted for a custom Aluminess box and Yamaha 2400
and a Coleman Polar Cub roof air

pics in gallery

Maybe someone here runs the ac as prescribed

Gents, anyone using the danford with a honda on a
regular basis??
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Old 06-29-2010, 06:31 AM   #6
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Re: Danhard A/C with Honda 2000 watt generator

I'm pretty sure I'm starting it up the way it recommends on the web site. I will try it again tonight when I get home. The one thing that I may have done differently is turning on the inverter before I cranked up the generator but I don't think this is the case. I can't imagine that would matter.

I even turned off the breaker for the TV and fridge to reduce the load. I have run a pretty big power saw off this generator ripping 8' plywood and it had no trouble. I'm amazed it is struggling this much to power this A/C unit.

The only other thing I can think of is the generator I have is the Honda EU2000i and they are recommending the Honda EU2000ia. I have no idea what the difference is between the two models, they seem to be the same specs. I'm wondering if the "ia" model has a 30 amp plug. I have to use the converter plug that allows you to plug the 30 AMP power cord into a normal 3 pronged outlet. That converter plug may limit the amperage somewhat.

I may try getting the A/C going off just the inverter and batteries then once the A/C is going, stepping outside and plugging in the generator. The only problem with that is once the A/C cools the unit down and I'm sleeping I don't want to have to run outside and plug the unit back in every time I want the air to kick back on.
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Old 06-29-2010, 07:08 PM   #7
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Re: Danhard A/C with Honda 2000 watt generator

OK, the issue is resolved. The Honda 2000 generator powers the Danhard A/C quite well now that I found the problem.

I called the Texas SMB location thinking they would know the most about the Danhard system. They put me on with a gentleman named Kevin (I believe). He was extremely helpful in walking me through the possible fixes/issues. After eliminating several possibilities he mentioned that the inverter might be configured improperly. There is a little tiny group of switches on the front of the inverter and the far left one controls the output of the battery charger in the inverter. If it is in the down position the out put of the charger is set to high output. It needs to be in the up position (low output) or the generator is overloaded trying to charge the batteries on high and power the A/C. Now the Generator doesn't seem to be straining at all to power all systems.

One thing I noted in the Triplite manual is while the low position charges the batteries much slower, it is much better for the battery itself.

Thanks for everyone's help. I hope to get some pics of my new conversion soon to post.
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Old 06-29-2010, 07:30 PM   #8
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Re: Danhard A/C with Honda 2000 watt generator

Great to hear! I just got my EU2000 from FedEx today and was nervous about test out the a/c when the SMB is out of the shop on Thursday. No worries now... hopefully...
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Old 06-29-2010, 09:37 PM   #9
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Danhard A/C with Honda 2000 watt generator

Glad you got it figured out. My setup is similar to yours and it runs great off battery for a few hours and indefinitely with the Honda 2000.
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Old 07-27-2010, 03:12 PM   #10
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Re: Danhard A/C with Honda 2000 watt generator

Can anyone tell me how many amps the Danhard pulls?
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