AC help please

[Nealziedan]

What is the wattage of this air conditioner, I have beating myself up trying to figure it out. I know watts=Voltage X Amps but which ones--- here is the picture link of the sticker----(for my portable generator that I don't want to blow up) thanks for any help:thumbsup:

15957


Moved your post here as it was off topic for where it was.

Anubis

[NHawk]

thats what he said so I let him go:tehe:, anyways I know this is off topic, but figured I'd ask since some people are engineers here.
What is the wattage of this air conditioner, I have beating myself up trying to figure it out. I know watts=Voltage X Amps but which ones--- here is the picture link of the sticker----(for my portable generator that I don't want to blow up) thanks for any help:thumbsup:

15957

Use the minimum supply circuit amps. 230 x 24 = 5760 watts and then I would double it (some people use 1.5 times) for the starting amperage which is always higher than the running amperage.

[Nealziedan]

Use the minimum supply circuit amps. 230 x 24 = 5760 watts and then I would double it (some people use 1.5 times) for the starting amperage which is always higher than the running amperage.

Oh man, was hoping my generac 7,000 continuous-8375 starting watts generator would be able to handle it, anyways thanks for the help I appreciate it

[NHawk]

Oh man, was hoping my generac 7,000 continuous-8375 starting watts generator would be able to handle it, anyways thanks for the help I appreciate it

No problem, but there is another thing you didn't think of...

Don't forget the air handler that has to run in the house. That would add to the amperage too.

[Nealziedan]

No problem, but there is another thing you didn't think of...

Don't forget the air handler that has to run in the house. That would add to the amperage too.

Thanks, where would you find that out if possible, and if you had to make a safe guess how much do you think it will use?

[i3eni2ru]

Most generators arent a nice sine wave..
2T AC =24000 BTU divide by 3.4 equals 7058 watts.. the start surge may be
THREE TIMES THAT for a 1/2 second..
1.5T =18000 BTU = 5300 watts and the furnance fan hasnt started......
Course the furnance has to be running for the blower fan, thats 10 amps maybe 14 amps by itself.. so now add 1200 watts for that...

now we are at 7100 + 1200 = 8300 and we still havent covered the start load.
So if you want to gamble a new board for your furnace...

Run it, and report back.. Maybe your furnace is to old to have a control board.
Just watch for smoke...... It may or may not. I cant see it from here!!

What happens, is there is a big current load at start up and the voltage goes way down, so any voltage sensitive items, like transistors, and intergrated circuits, go nuts.. Its all designed to be run AWAYS at 120v, not 100 or 135 if there is poor voltage regulation in the generator, bad things may happen.

Found that at hvac talk .. might help you

[NHawk]

Thanks, where would you find that out if possible, and if you had to make a safe guess how much do you think it will use?

There should be a label on the air handler itself.

If the air handler has the capability of having a heat kit installed, use the "no heat kit" minimum circuit amps for the current draw IF YOU ARE ONLY USING THE AIR CONDITIONER.

Also, if it does have a heat kit then you need to size it for the amperage shown for the heat kit that's installed. If you don't and for some ungodly reason the heat kicks on, your generator will be toast if it's too small. (ie: I have a 10Kw heat kit installed in my air handler and it has a minimum circuit amp total of 39.6 amps or 9504 watts just for the air handler)

[Nealziedan]

Thanks i3eni2ru and thanks NHawk, I will take your advice as I do not have much breathing room to play with by your explanations, its not worth the risk and I can live both without AC and stay alive by not taking a chance lol:thumbsup:

[aquadave]

you have a ruud 3 1/2 ton nice unit. min circuit is the smallest breaker you can use for the condenser not load. your load is 17.9@230 and 1.5@230 plus your indoor fan of about 2.5@230 so about 22amp total plus start. so a generator that can produce a constant 6k (big difference between surge and constant) will do it but you won't have any lights or refrigerator. you might want to look at a 12k for an emergency generator and make sure you properly wire in the transfer switch