Tip Newmar Dometic A/C has softstart

[Joe Dutchstar]

That is good news. Were we able to confirm that Newmar is really putting in real Softstarts?

According the the HQ electrical engineer there is additional Capacitor(s) and circuitry to aid in the startup process. He did not elaborate if this is equivalent to a SmartStart system offered by Dometic or just a "Hardstart" type device.
My experience is the draw on A/C start does not exceed 20-22 amps briefly at start then settles at 12-15 amps.

 

[Holdmybeer]

There would be no point in adding a hard start capacitor to a new a/c, none. It has a start capacitor and a new compressor

 

[Neal]

I think that’s the test you need to examine before returning them. Someone with a soft start to analyze the amp load at startup and compare to yours.

 

[Holdmybeer]

I think that’s the test you need to examine before returning them. Someone with a soft start to analyze the amp load at startup and compare to yours.

Or look inside the cover.

 

[redbaron]

According the the HQ electrical engineer there is additional Capacitor(s) and circuitry to aid in the startup process. He did not elaborate if this is equivalent to a SmartStart system offered by Dometic or just a "Hardstart" type device.
My experience is the draw on A/C start does not exceed 20-22 amps briefly at start then settles at 12-15 amps.

That’s what I thought. With a microair, it will never exceed 15 and often just 12. Starts at 2amps and slowly goes to 12-15.

That’s the job of a true soft start. The extra capacitor is just the normal fan hard start. Nothing special. Been in all dometic for years.

 

[Neal]

That’s what I thought. With a microair, it will never exceed 15 and often just 12. Starts at 2amps and slowly goes to 12-15.

That’s the job of a true soft start. The extra capacitor is just the normal fan hard start. Nothing special. Been in all dometic for years.

Concur and that's what got my attention too. I recall when using the soft start my GEN does not load up like it did without one and that was instant confirmation of the soft start working. I'm sure a more technical analysis with amps is proof, glad you could provide that as I'm away from my coach. Those with Victron VRM etc. can also view this load.

 

[redbaron]

I fell for the Newmar claim back in 2013. I argued on the other site with a few that where trying educate me on a hard start vs soft start.

I accused micro air of being snake oil, until I called and talked with their support. Turns out it was the inventor of it (or his son) that I was talking to.

I ate some crow and had to walk back posts. The final proof was when I installed and could actually run 2 airs on 30 amp.

Not possible without a soft start.

 

[Richpatty]

I agree with Redbaron. I feel like the initial surge should be quite low...if any. 20-22 seems typical without a softstart.

 

[DennisT]

We went through the A/C units (Dometic - they have switched to Coleman for the new builds) today during the Academy class.

What they put out is the compressor starting capacitor is larger than what they used to put in the air conditioners and should help minimize the initial starting surge.

We had one apart in the class and there was nothing that looked like the previous picture and it was not mentioned, just the capacitor.

 

[Chuggs]

I installed the original Easy Start on both of my original rooftop units. When one of my units failed…I jumped at getting the newer Bluetooth enabled one. It will show your start amperage on your cellphone app. That unit failed, so I moved it to my new Freshjet 5 and the Bluetooth allows you to easily do a relearn. The older models can relearn…but you have additional steps of opening the housing and moving a jumper back and forth to trigger the relearn. I normally see a 15A Locked Rotor Amp and 12 amp running amperage. Beats a 30A LRA…! None of my meters are designed to capture in-rush amperage. Maybe the next one I buy will have that feature. But the Bluetooth enabled Easy Start can capture it.

 

[MarkMaxPayne]

Still curious when Newmar claims to have started doing this. My 2023 New Aire didn't have soft starts installed on the ACs and I installed them myself within a month or two after purchase. They made a huge difference on starting up and I was even able to run one AC when only on a heavy duty 20A 120V garage wall outlet cord while moochdocking; the hardest problem was fighting with SilverLeaf to keep turning off the battery chargers as it wanted to turn them back on automatically. I leave my panel on the DC screen so I can see if one or both of the DC chargers turned on even though I set both to off.

Best,
-Mark