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SoftStart RV for air conditioner

Posted: Sun Nov 21, 2021 9:54 pm
by Hubie
Has anyone installed one of the SoftStart RV devices in their roof top AC unit? It is expensive but supposed to prevent the momentary power spike that occurs when the ac compressor starts. My generator has to struggle to keep going when the compressor kicks on. Hubert

Re: SoftStart RV for air conditioner

Posted: Mon Nov 22, 2021 8:44 am
by skater
Hubie wrote:
Sun Nov 21, 2021 9:54 pm
Has anyone installed one of the SoftStart RV devices in their roof top AC unit? It is expensive but supposed to prevent the momentary power spike that occurs when the ac compressor starts. My generator has to struggle to keep going when the compressor kicks on. Hubert
I put an extra capacitor in mine; these are like $20 on Amazon. Pretty easy to wire up, too, but be careful with the plastic shroud.

Easy-Start (I think it is) makes a system that's much more expensive. I don't know if the extra cost is worth it or not. They're always at WBCCI's International rally selling them, and lots of people buy them.

Re: SoftStart RV for air conditioner

Posted: Thu Dec 16, 2021 4:17 pm
by Millennial Falcon
I tried the Supco SPP7E SoftStart capacitor... that's been discussed at: https://www.b190.com/viewtopic.php?p=13432#p13432

I bought it new from Amazon in December 2019 for about $40. It operated just fine.. but didn't quite give me a "soft enough" start and would sometimes still trip circuits if I was plugged into a 20amp circuit.

I ended up giving the unit away to someone else on the forums here, and installing a Micro-Air EasyStart 364 Soft Starter ASY-364-X20-IP. I was MUCH happier with the EasyStart. It lets me run my AC off a small, portable inverter-generator.

Some people have had luck with the capacitor... it just wasn't quite good enough for my 30 year old AC unit.