Welcome to the third entry in November’s Medium Mod Contest. One Medium Mod will be published in every Email Alert in November. At the end of the month, we’ll hold a reader vote to determine November’s winner. Click here for information about the 2023 Mod Contest, including how to enter.
Charles Coushaine, Punta Gorda, Florida
SoftStartRV For Easy Air Conditioner Starting
2001 Ford F-350
2012 Chalet DS116-RB
When staying in friends’ driveways and plugged into their house 110V, 15A outlet, our air conditioner almost always tripped their circuit breaker. Our air conditioner also took our generator to the point that it would barely run when the compressor kicked on.
To help our air conditioner start during low-power situations, we installed a SoftStartRV SSRV3T by NetworkRV. Our Dometic 11,000 BTU air conditioner requires up to 2,300-watts of power during start-up. This is just too much for a standard household 110V, 15A outlet.
When ordering a SoftStart, you download the wiring diagram specific to your air conditioner. This clearly shows how the product is to be wired making the project easy; even for a ‘non-electrical’ person.
However, my air conditioner was made by one company and re-branded and sold by another. As such, a direct wiring diagram was not available.
Luckily, SoftStart has a great technical service department and they walked me through the installation over the phone.
All I needed was to send them pictures of the air conditioner wiring from my camper roof. From there, they knew exactly how to get it wired up.
The total wiring time on the phone was about 20 minutes. The entire process is recorded in my video below.
So far the SoftStartRV SSRV3T has worked out fantastic. My air conditioner seems to start much easier and runs quieter. I can no longer hear when the compressor starts. They claim that, once installed, you can even run your air conditioner on a portable 2000-watt generator.
It took me four hours to complete this modification and cost me $275. In my opinion, the skill level of this modification is medium.
Disclaimer: The modifications above are submitted by Truck Camper Magazine readers. It is your responsibility to make sure that any do-it-yourself modification project you undertake is safe, effective, and legal for your situation.
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