Jim102
Cabot, Arkansas
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About a month ago we went camping and used the electric water heater and the AC at the same time, tripped the breaker in the MH. I am being told if you use the AC and water heater at the same time to run the water heater on gas, is this what everyone does?
Thanks,
Jim
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othertonka
Stockton, CA
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Yes, run the water heater on Propane when using the AC when you only have 30 amp hook ups. I also have a switch that requires that if the water heater is on electric, I can not use the Microwave. I have to switch to one or the other, water heater on electric or Microwave. I can't run both at the same time. I like it that way and that is why I don't run AC and water heater on electric at the same time. Works for me. AC on, water heater off or on Propane.
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curt12914
Northern NY State
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Thirty amps isn't a lot of power, but you really should be able to rum the AC and electric element in the water heater together without a problem.
Take a few minutes and check to make sure the electrical connections in your breaker box are tight. BEFORE DOING THIS MAKE SURE THE POWER IS DISCONNECTED AND THE GENERATOR AND INVERTER (IF YOU HAVE ONE) ARE OFF! It isn't uncommon to find the lugs on the breakers loose.
What size cord are you using and how long is it? Long runs or undersized cord can limit your capacity.
Using other high current draws (microwave, toaster, coffee maker, hair dryer, curling iron) with the AC can also kick the breaker.
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goldendagger
moving
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the ac needs about 23amps to start and somewhere around 15 to keep going, varies a little from unit to unit, if it's that close you might what to do an actual read on yours, high amps usually will indicate a problem, bad ac/ or to small of power cord. now the water heater? i would quess somewhere around 15-20... i have ran the heater and air several times together w/no issues. but then i just leave the gas on also (heats a lot quicker). and i turn it off when not needed, so really to only time it should be an issue is when washing, and taking showers...but if i try the micowave anytime during this excerise, 30amps will trip.
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Jim102
Cabot, Arkansas
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I'll play around with it....One question, does anyone how long it takes to heat the water with gas? (best guess)..
Jim
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curt12914
Northern NY State
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I just saw a post about a Kill-A-Watt meter from Camping World. Apparently they are on sale for $25 right now.
They are a great tool to tell what your various loads are.
You can start different things and find out what they are drawing.
It's also possible your 30 amp breaker is weak.
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skipnchar
Topeka Kansas USA
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It's possible that your converter isn't capable of handling both at the same time but a 30 amp power supply SHOULD do so with no problems at all. We regularly use AC, Microwave and electric water heater all at once with no problems.
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curt12914
Northern NY State
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Jim102 wrote:I'll play around with it....One question, does anyone how long it takes to heat the water with gas? (best guess)..
Jim
The propane water heater is much faster than the electric element.
It's hard to say how fast (you can easily time it, since it's easy to tell when it's running when you are near it outdoors), but I would guess it will heat a tank full of water in about 5 minutes.
I always think of the electric element as a supplement when using a lot of water, like when taking a shower, or to maintain the temperature once the propane and electric have it hot.
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fla-gypsy
North Florida
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WH and A/C should not be a problem together. I do it all the time in my TT along with a lot of other stuff
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othertonka
Stockton, CA
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skipnchar wrote:It's possible that your converter isn't capable of handling both at the same time but a 30 amp power supply SHOULD do so with no problems at all. We regularly use AC, Microwave and electric water heater all at once with no problems.
The Convertor has nothing to do with supplying 120 V AC to the Airconditioner except that it also consumes amperage when pluged into shore power, which further limits what you can run at one time. You just have to ADD all the amps of the appliances you are using and make sure that they don't add up to 30 Amps. The Convertor converts 120 V AC into 12 V DC to charge your batteries and run all of the 12 V DC lights, water pump, ect. Just my opinion, you have to do the math to see if it can be done.
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