Portable Inverter Generator or Reg. Generator?

[ClassicalBGP]

I have ordered the hard start kit, figured I needed one either way. I will check the a/c (listening for it to kick on) this weekend.

My post was a little confusing. When on shore power, I do run both the charger and the a/c. For whatever reason the other day, I decided that if picked up a small generator, I could run the a/c away from the dock. First attempt, I made sure the charger was off before testing the a/c and it would not kick on and blow cold. So, started looking and found this thread. Back on like page one, there were some post about testing for ground and grounding. Thought that might be an issue.

[sailorboy1]

A portable gas generator wouldn't start my AC, but I didn't try the hard start as I installed a diesel generator to take care of it.

The other issue I had was that my boat has "trip pak" breakers for the shore power on the main panel. These measure between the hot and neutral wire and if a current it trips them. But the inverter generator make a +60 - -60V output and that caused the breakers to trip. I disabled it by removing the trip wire. You probably don't have this type of breaker but be aware

[Zven]

I have a 6kW diesel generator, and an air con system that draws less than half of that, for the most part. Both are probably a decade old.
Earlier, however, it was totally impossible to use the two together. I found that the reason was the heavy power draw every time the compressor starts. It has an LRA of 85 amps, at 220 volts.
That is a lot of power.
A hard start kit saved the day! It made all the difference in my case, and the two units now live happily together.

[ClassicalBGP]

So, I ordered a "hard start kit" see pic below Now I'm confused. I'm missing something?

[ClassicalBGP]

.......instructions.....

[HopCar]

That looks like what I used. As I recall I just attached the two wires from the hard start to the spare terminals on the capacitor attached to the compressor. I used tie wraps to strap the hard start onto the compressor.

[ClassicalBGP]

So there is a capacitor built into the a/c that this thing gets wired to? This it? I feel like saying hold my beer and watch this.

[ClassicalBGP]

FYI. LRA40!!!

[HopCar]

You've gone beyond my skill level. We need to get a real air conditioner expert involved to help you hook it up. I don't recognize anything in the photo. Mine had a run capacitor that actually looked a lot like the one in the drawing on the package.

[ClassicalBGP]

Originally Posted by HopCar

You've gone beyond my skill level. We need to get a real air conditioner expert involved to help you hook it up. I don't recognize anything in the photo. Mine had a run capacitor that actually looked a lot like the one in the drawing on the package.

Thank you for the help. Maybe someone will join in. If not, I will wire it to the run capacitor and hope for the best.