champion 2000 watt generator question

[cvin]

tried using one champion 2000 watt inverter generator tonite using the 110 adapter

nothing but a few led lights were on inside and out

i had one 18 volt milwaukee battery charging off the gen
and one electric bike battery that charges off 110 at home plugged in to the outside of the trailer

all i wanted it to do was charge the trailer batteries a little- not even sure it needed them charged, have been driving the truck all day...

and maybe try the tv to see if it works

but thing bogged down and quit after a few minutes

will i always have to use both 2000 watt hooked together just to be plugged in at all?

my thinking was if i was not running ac or microwave etc this should be fine...

[ctbruce]

One should power the things you are talking about. What is your tow vehicle? Some need a fuse installed to send power to the trailer to charge. Even at that it will only be a trickle and top off the battery.

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[tm826]

Do you have an electric hot water heater? If so, was it on when you plugged the genset in?

[cvin]

Tow vehicle is 2008 mercedes, it is definitely charging the batteries but maybe not as much as i thought
Good info that it is only a trickle , i was not aware of that

Guess the next question would be does the battery charger in the camper draw enough to bog the generator down?

My water heater is both gas/electric but i only had the gas on - actually it heats so fast i usually leave it off and just turn it on 5 min before needing it, so think water heater was off altogether

Frig was on gas only not auto..

I did have several lights on inside and outside but they have all been swapped to led so thought they were not drawing much

Going to try to charge the batteries in a few hours with it and make sure every single thing is off and see what happens

This one is a few years old, have a new one on order and will compare how they act etc and report back

[zuley]

One thing to consider. Not certain how your fridge works but mine will automatically switch to AC when and electrical source is hooked up even if it has been running on propane previous. Having said that when we dry camp I've had no issues using my Champion 2000 to bring the batteries back up. I plug the TT power cord into the gen using an adapter and let the on board charger do it's thing.

[JoePK]

Hello, I have the larger size Champion but had a similar problem like you're talking about. It turned out that the line feeding air to the gas tank was partially pinched. Try running it without the gas cap completely screwed on. Try to feel or see if that black hose coming off the gas fill area is pinched anywhere. Hope this helps

[cvin]

hey zuley, my frig has the option to do auto where it switches or to stay on gas

joe that is good info, hoping to run it tonite now, picked up some work to do
will check that out good

thanks for the help guys

[RLM5150]

Did you have it running in Econo mode?

[cvin]

sorry i am taking so long to post back- laptop was dead

tried the gen again and made sure everything was off, just wanted it to charge the trailer batteries
again it bogged down and quit
tried it with the gas cap open also
definitely something wrong with it, annoyed with my generator shop right now- they just had it and tested it

should be picking up my new one today or tomorrow and will see what it does in comparison

was not in econ mode

will update this as i figure out the problem

[JRTJH]

It sounds like you have the water heater electric element turned on. The switch located in the lower left corner of the outside compartment of the water heater is installed "upside down". You have to push on the bottom of the switch to turn it on and on the top of the switch to turn it off. You may already know this, but many people are caught unaware by this switch configuration.

The easiest way to identify what trailer circuit is "loading" your generator is to turn all the circuit breakers in the trailer to OFF. Connect the generator, with the output turned on and the ECO switch in the OFF position. Go inside the trailer, turn on the main 30 amp breaker, then one by one, turn on the auxiliary circuit breakers. When you notice the generator "bogging down" the breaker you "flipped on" is the one that controls the circuit that's got the load on it, causing the generator to "load up".... Determine which circuit is producing the load, then look for something on that circuit that's turned on.

Normally, the converter/power supply will draw about 500 watts of AC power, add the 1100 watts for the water heater and you'll be "at maximum load" for most 2000 watt generators (usually 1600-1700 watts max continuous power output).

[cvin]

excellent info john, thank you

i was just going off what is on the wall for switches on the frig and hot water heater, did not think to do the breakers

was thinking i should unplug that 110 plug in the outside frig area just to be safe even though i do not have it on auto- will always be running off gas

when i have time in the next few days will try the breakers etc

[cvin]

I did what john suggested and flipped all the breakers off then turned them on one by one

Everything was fine until I switched on the AC breaker which was the last one to turn on- then it bogs down pretty bad but managed to stay running

Slightly surging after that....

I have no idea what to think, I have the Coleman mach AC with the black control box on the wall and it's switched to off??

So does the air-conditioner drive something all the time anyway? Or do you guys think something is wired wrong in here ?

[JRTJH]

If the thermostat is turned off (and the A/C is not running) then it should not draw any current. I'd make a WAG that you've got something else wired into that circuit. What it is would be "anybody's guess" but the A/C doesn't draw power if it's off.

I don't have any idea what it is, but it sure sounds like something else is sharing that circuit breaker.

[cvin]

Yay, this should be fun trying to figure out what else is on it....

Anybody with experience on the wiring etc. like that please chime in

[Rich7756]

The thermostat usually controls the furnace and the a/c has its controls on the a/c itself. Yours could be “on” via the control panel on the a/c. I seriously doubt anything is tied into the a/c circuit somewhere else. The a/c has a dedicated homerun meaning the wire runs from the breaker/panel directly to the a/c and thats it. If anything is tied into the circuit youd likely see it in the panel/breaker box, youd have to remove the cover but my money is on it being turned on.

[JRTJH]

Originally Posted by Rich7756

The thermostat usually controls the furnace and the a/c has its controls on the a/c itself. Yours could be “on” via the control panel on the a/c. I seriously doubt anything is tied into the a/c circuit somewhere else. The a/c has a dedicated homerun meaning the wire runs from the breaker/panel directly to the a/c and thats it. If anything is tied into the circuit youd likely see it in the panel/breaker box, youd have to remove the cover but my money is on it being turned on.

This thread has been "dormant" for about 3.5 years. Since there's been no discussion on the topic since then and the OP has not signed onto the forum since September, 2020, I'd suspect either the issue has been resolved or the trailer has been "replaced with one without a Suburban furnace"....

[Rich7756]

These forums help other people to find solutions to problems as well so the original person might have resolved the issue but tom from down the way might be trying to figure out his issue and run into the solution here. Suburban furnace?? The original problem was a power issue