Soft Start Kits For Air Conditioner Units: Yes or No? Your Thoughts?

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gigguy

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Jul 11, 2016
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Just getting opinions on soft starts for air conditioners whether they are a good idea or not. I have a 2009 Damon Daybreak with Coleman air conditioners. I recently had to have my generator repaired. It was not handling the initial amps it takes at the initial start up of the air conditioners. It turned out my Generac generator has a belt inside and was wore out. It could be heard slipping as it bogged down and would quit putting out power. Now, it handles air conditioner start ups just fine and runs much better.

However, I was wondering if a soft start kit on the air units would be beneficial in the  long run for the life of the generator. I was told my air conditioners may already have the soft start kits in them. I also was told Coleman no longer is in business. Any thoughts would be appreciated.
 
The Coleman brand name is a trademark that is applied (under license) to many outdoor products, so one "Coleman" may go out of production while another Coleman brand continues on. The Coleman  brand of RV air conditioner is a product of the Airxcel company, has been around for many years, and remains a major played in RV air conditioning.

Most Coleman Mach a/c units have a start capacitor (more often called "hard start" than soft start), but they can deteriorate or fail totally over time. It's neither expensive nor difficult to replace yourself, so installing a new start capacitor and "run" device is something you can do if in doubt.

The amp load at compressor start will still be substantial, probably 2x the normal run amps (20-25A instead of 12), but it may not last quite as long.
 
Hey, that's good info. When the shop replaced my roof AC they installed once of those "Coleman" Mach units. Nice to know where it came from - the only place is says Coleman is in the instruction manual. Everything on the actual unit is branded Mach.
 
Thanks Gary for the info. My next questions to you would be, is the terminology I used wrong? Is it indeed hard start? How then would I know if it has deteriorated? Does this indeed help the generator?
 
almost all roof top a/c units have a  dual value run cap (metal with three posts) that is in the system all the time if it is leaking or swollen it needs to be replaced.
you need to keep the mfd ratings but may go up (never down) in in vac usually 370 vac and you can go to 440vac. just be sure you get a run capacitor and not a start cap.a electric motor shop  or ebay will have one.
if your a/c has a hard start kit on it it will have a start cap that is round plastic. if one of the post is burned off or there is a hole in the top it will need to be replaced. if you have any question on them take them to  a motor shop.they will have cap checker, just be sure you mark where each lead goes
 

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