Tip Newmar Dometic A/C has softstart

[Joe Hogan]

Today the Newmar mobile service Mark came to discuss installing the Micro Air soft start. He informed me that Dometic installs a softstart in all Newmar A/C from the factory. This is a Special Order from Newmar factory.
Apparently DP units have softstart.
I now have three unopened MicroAir units for sale.

 

[Richpatty]

Interesting. Did they say what brand of soft start they install?

 

[gburgman]

Today the Newmar mobile service mark came to discuss installing the Micro Air soft start. He informed me that Dometic installs a softstart in all Newmar A/C from the factory. This is a Special Order from Newmar factory.
All attest DP units have softstart.
I now have three unopened MicroAir units for sale.

I have been in all 3 of mine and no e had soft starts. Bone stock just like the 2 replacements I have had to do.

I added micro air soft starts to all of them..

Now the non dometic ac units may have built in soft starts but I bet they are not as good as micro air units

 

[SteveMA]

Any idea what year did they started this? I was just in my middle unit (top cover replacement and there was not a softitart unit (2020 Mountain Aire)

 

[redbaron]

There is a common misconception that the "hard start" is a soft start. All dometic have a factory installed "hard start" capacitor, but I have never seen a "soft start".

I discussed this with Newmar back in 2019 during FPU, and was told they order them all that way with soft start so they would not install my MicroAir. I got on the roof and checked it out and found that they just didn't know what they were talking about.

I had to install my Microairs myself.

 

[redbaron]

Today the Newmar mobile service mark came to discuss installing the Micro Air soft start. He informed me that Dometic installs a softstart in all Newmar A/C from the factory. This is a Special Order from Newmar factory.
All attest DP units have softstart.
I now have three unopened MicroAir units for sale.

BTW, if your in Florida, the Mobile tech from Newmar is not very technical. He is a nice guy, but is lacking in technical ability. I would question all information provided by him.

 

[Joe Hogan]

The information provided came directly from Newmar HQ Electrical Engineer conversation. According to Newmar HQ the Domectic A/C has a separate Capacitor installed at the request of Newmar for the start sequence that is equivalent to the Softstart units.
Additionally the A/Cs are setup with a staggered start delay to avoid start sequence overlap. When you turn on all A/Cs at once they will have various delays to avoid overload.

My particular issue, drained House Battery on arrival, will be resolved by running the generator during legs that require house a/c running. According to the Engineer, the engine alternator just cannot keep up with house loads.
Verified the engine alternator is suppling power to network.

Interesting side note, the KIB screen is not a reliable depiction of timely actual electrical information.. Only coarse information like Shore power On/Off and error circuits might be timely. Fine detail on activity the Victron Screen is the go to.

 

[Underboss]

Today the Newmar mobile service mark came to discuss installing the Micro Air soft start. He informed me that Dometic installs a softstart in all Newmar A/C from the factory. This is a Special Order from Newmar factory.
All attest DP units have softstart.
I now have three unopened MicroAir units for sale.

I was told the same thing.

 

[Holdmybeer]

Dometic offers an optional capacitor they term "Smartstart". Smartstart like Softstart and Microair capacitors ramp up draw gradually, whereas a Hardstart capacitor jolts the compressor with a sudden stored up burst( think kickstart). Hardstarts are common in residential units and are ordinarily installed to extend the serviceable life of older units. A Hardstart in a rooftop a/c would place a lot of stress on an RV's electical system.

 

[RobertE]

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is the purpose of soft start? For a generator?

 

[Holdmybeer]

Sorry for my ignorance, but what is the purpose of soft start? For a generator?

It greatly reduces the wattage required to start and run an a/c. Dometic claims their Freshjet 5 with smart start will operate on a 2kw generator. I installed a Softstart on my 15 k a/c on a 30 amp system. Before it would trip out if both the a/c and microwave were running together. Now it’s no problem.

 

[redbaron]

Dometic only makes one type of Soft Start for the Penguin II, called the SmartStart. I have never seen this in any model year of any newmar. It does benefit from a direct plug n play installation. Would be very easy to see if your unit has this, as it will be a separate installation next to the panel for connections.

If newmar did install these starting in 2024-2025 model years, that would be a great advertising point that they really should get out in front of. I have not opened an air unit on a 24 or later unit.

 

[Joe Hogan]

Today the Newmar mobile service Mark came to discuss installing the Micro Air soft start. He informed me that Dometic installs a softstart in all Newmar A/C from the factory. This is a Special Order from Newmar factory.
Apparently DP units have softstart.
I now have three unopened MicroAir units for sale.

Contacted Micro Air for a RMA for the three unopened units. We’ll see…

 

[Joe Hogan]

Micro-Air is accepting the return. This is a welcome event.

 

[Richpatty]

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

 

[Joe Hogan]

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.