When to start the Generator?

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4ducksrus

4ducksrus

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Joined
Nov 17, 2010
Posts
814
Okay so here's the "stupid" question...LOL  I know that everyone on this site says that it's ok to drive down the road with the genie running and the AC on.  Here's the question...Let's say you're already driving down the road and then it gets hot outside, do you need to stop and turn the generator on or since the switch is right up front, can we just turn in on while in motion and then turn on the A/C?  I realize that it would be me doing the turning on of stuff and NOT the driver!!! ;D

Thanks for helping me to just understand this procedure.  Our old MH didn't get that hot inside and we never had to run the roof A/C while driving down the road.  This one seems to get a little hotter inside and so I'm thinking we may have to try it this week since we are going to be traveling across the Central Valley of California and it gets pretty darn hot there!!

Thanks much,
Mikie
 
Others may have different advice, but I do think there is any issue with starting the generator (and the A/C after the gen. is running) while going down the road.  As I understand things, the generator is separate from the MH engine and would, therefore, cause no problem.  We have turned ours on (and off) while going down the road.
 
Thanks Wandering, that's sort of what I thought...but, I wanted to make sure that I didn't blow anything up! LOL ;D

Mikie
 
Nothing fun about blowing things up (at least in most cases) ;) but you can start the generator while driving with no issues.
 
Thanks 1joester2, I appreciated hearing from others BEFORE I do something stupid!  ;D

Mikie
 
Mikie,

You definitely can start the generator while driving down the road.  With ours, we turn it on and then wait for the gauge on the electrical panel to show that the 110 voltage is operating (we have gauges that show both 12 volt and 110 volt).  Then we turn on the A/C.  We have two A/Cs, front and rear.  Generally we just turn on the one in front and that makes it comfortable enough for us.  We generally also have on the dash air because the cooler "breeze" in our faces is nice if it's 110 degrees outside!  But, if you have a gas engine and are going up a long western-style grade, you may want to turn the dash air off so the engine doesn't overheat.

ArdraF


 
Mikie starting the generator and AC while driving is perfectly okay, just make sure and let the generator come up to speed and run for a few minutes before putting the AC load on it. You are right about it being hot here in the Central Valley. We used ours on the road last weekend.
 
Thanks everyone!  You guys and gals rock!!  Now, I can leave on vacation and feel comfortable (no pun intended LOL) turning on the genie and A/C!!

Mikie
 
The other side of the question is be sure to turn off the A/C before you shut down the generator.  You want to let the generator cool down for a couple of minutes without a load - it's been working pretty hard powering that air conditioner and it's in a hot environment.

It's also very hard on the generator's circuit board to turn off the generator with a load on it.  This is the biggest cause of circuit board failure.
 
Thanks Lou, that's really good information and something that I don't think we would've thought about!

Mikie
 
We can speak from our experience (good) - firing up the generator going down the road is not a problem and we do it all the time, often just to run the microwave.

We can also speak from our experience (bad) - be SURE that the A/C's are off before starting, and OFF before stopping. It's cheap insurance as already noted.

Letting it cool down a bit was a great tidbit that will go into my checklist.

Be cool!  8)
 
4ducksrus said:
Let's say you're already driving down the road and then it gets hot outside, do you need to stop and turn the generator on or since the switch is right up front, can we just turn in on while in motion and then turn on the A/C?  I realize that it would be me doing the turning on of stuff and NOT the driver!!! ;D
Click to expand...

Kinda depends on where your generator switch is... mine is right up with a bunch of other switches in the driver cockpit area, so I can (and have) started the generator while driving.

On the other "hot" side of things, be aware that it can be pretty difficult for the roof A/C to "catch up" and cool down the whole interior of the RV once it already gets too warm.  Especially if it's a sunny day and the sunlight is beaming through that gigantic Class A windshield.  ;)  Best bet is to pre-cool the RV interior before even shoving off, if you expect the drive to be done during a hot portion of the day.  This works much better for our RV as the engine is up front and right under the driver/passenger floorboards... maybe not so much of an issue on DP's but still can't hurt to keep the trip nice and cool. 8)
 
Here's a question I had the other day. If you are running the genset and arrive at your detination should you shut down the A/C and then the genset before you hook up to shore power or can you plug in shore power with the A/C going and then turn off the genset?  ???
 
I have connected to shore power then shut down the generator quite a few times with no issues. I do, however, turn the A/C temp control to the warmer setting and wait a few seconds until I hear the compressor kick off. Then I shut down the generator and readjust the A/C.

Joe
 
macnkat said:
If you are running the genset and arrive at your detination should you shut down the A/C and then the genset before you hook up to shore power or can you plug in shore power with the A/C going and then turn off the genset?  ???
Click to expand...

I was told by my dealer I could, but he was wrong and a $300 controller board was involved. Yours may be different, but...

Lesson for the day - turn off the air before you turn off the generator. Then turn off the generator, then plug up to shore power. Then bring everything back online.

In my case, relays stuck on the controller board with all the power trying to switch across from the generator to the shore power. You will not melt in the several minutes it takes to go through the steps, and probably have a much better chance of longer life for the electronic components.

I have left the inverter on for a test when switching power, and even my computers don't cough (thanks to Ned for that info).

I am no electrician but it makes sense to shed loads as much as possible when switching back and forth. We have not a problem since we adopted this method.

Take it with a grain of salt.

Kim
 
The transfer switch will keep the generator powering the RV even when plugged into shore power, so follow the same procedure as when on generator alone.  Shut down the A/C (and any other large loads), let the generator cool down for a few minutes, then shut it off.  Also, be sure to turn off the breaker on the pedestal before plugging in the shore power cord.  Make sure any large loads, like the A/C are off, then turn the pedestal breaker on.
 
macnkat said:
Here's a question I had the other day. If you are running the genset and arrive at your detination should you shut down the A/C and then the genset before you hook up to shore power or can you plug in shore power with the A/C going and then turn off the genset?  ???
Click to expand...

It's always a good idea to remove large loads (like roof A/C) before switching power supplies.  Then turn it/them back on.  I tried what you described once, and my malfunction switch freaked out and I had no shore power for awhile... until I took it into an RV dealership the next day, and they wiggled the transfer switch box and it clicked back to life.  After which they charged me $50.  :p
 
skyking4ar2 said:
I was told by my dealer I could, but he was wrong and a $300 controller board was involved. Yours may be different, but...

Lesson for the day - turn off the air before you turn off the generator. Then turn off the generator, then plug up to shore power. Then bring everything back online.

In my case, relays stuck on the controller board with all the power trying to switch across from the generator to the shore power. You will not melt in the several minutes it takes to go through the steps, and probably have a much better chance of longer life for the electronic components.

I have left the inverter on for a test when switching power, and even my computers don't cough (thanks to Ned for that info).

I am no electrician but it makes sense to shed loads as much as possible when switching back and forth. We have not a problem since we adopted this method.

Take it with a grain of salt.

Kim
Click to expand...

You can plug into shore power either before, or after, you shut down the generator, because the design of the transfer switch will allow the generator to maintain priority through the transfer switch until it is shut down. 

Your damage happened because you didn't shut down the air conditioner prior to shutting down the generator.  It didn't happen just because you plugged into shore power first. 

When the generator is shut down, the voltage slowly decays to zero, rather then being quickly removed, as in a power outage or shore power unplug.  It is the act of subjecting the air conditioners (or other appliance control boards)  to this decaying voltage that generally causes the problem.

Your procedure is still the safest and should be continued.  i.e. always remove the load(s) from the generator before shutting the generator down.  This protects both the generator and the loads.
 
Ned said:
...  Also, be sure to turn off the breaker on the pedestal before plugging in the shore power cord.  Make sure any large loads, like the A/C are off, then turn the pedestal breaker on.
Click to expand...

I have never turned off the breaker prior to plugging in. What does that step accomplish?
 
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