soft start for marine AC

[lwarden]

I tried one of the Supco capacitors and it did nothing to bring down the spike in current when my larger AC unit kicked in. I installed a Micro-Air Easystart and I was impressed how well it damped down the startup current.

Now, my actual problem was not the AC unit but a bad breaker in the generator which melted down, but that is a story for another thread.....

[TWedd]

It sounds like you said it used to work better, but has started getting worse. I would check the following first.(some have already been mentioned).
1. check all wiring connection from the breaker to the unit. bad connections get worse and make starting harder as time goes on.
2. check, or replace all capacitors.
3. check or replace breakers.
If the problems still exist, install a hard start capacitor like the cheap supco shown earlier(these are more effective for low voltage situation tho).
The soft start controls are the best but most expensive option. If it used to work, then something is different. find what has changed/failed and repair it.
Sounds like low voltage due to bad wiring connection to me.

[Soo-Valley]

I would like to know;
1st. if you have two panels, one has a 30 amp main, does the other have one too?
2nd? If you have a 50 amp main breaker why do you need to have a 30 amp sub panel main breaker?
3rd. Can you move the troubled AC to the other panel?

[OldDan1943]

A. installed a new A/C
B. after a few months, suddenly the generator started a shallow and infrequent 'hunt'.

The only new load I added was the the A/C
I added a 'soft start', problem gone.

I have since added a 'soft start' to the other A/C too.

[Turtle Blues]

This is why there is a difference in terms.
A normal HVAC Hard Start capacitor like the Supco is designed to supplement a compressor on startup. It does not buffer the current surge or draw. It is designed to hit hard and fast to assist a compressor starting under load.
A marine AC Soft Start control depending on the brand may have several capacitors and more importantly a logic board to control the starting load. It is designed to smooth out the ramp up of a compressor. That is why they are exponentially more expensive.

[NVR II Nauti]

Had a 16K air con unit in the salon and a 6.5 K air con in the aft cabin of my Beneteau. Single 30Amp circuit.
Both ran fine at the dock but neither would run on the Honda 2200.
Added the MicroAir to each. The Honda loved it. Ran both effortlessly