SoftStartRV Soft Start for RV Air Conditioner, RV AC Soft Start Kit for Air Conditioner, Easy Start Even with a Small Generator, 100% Waterproof, Trailer Camper, Motorhome HVAC -NetworkRV

I have a 2003 Roadtrek 190 Versatile RV, fitted with a Dometic Cool Cat 10,500 BTU Heat Pump Air Conditioner.I wanted to be able to run the air conditioner using my Pulsar PG2300iS 18000watt running (23000watt peak) Portable Gas-Powered Quiet Inverter Generator. Unfortunately, when I turned the air conditioner on the generator would stall every time.Then I decided to get a SoftStart unit. The first task was figuring out where the wiring was hidden in the air conditioner. It turned out to be easy enough. I had to remove the roof cover and unscrew two lockdown screws at the rear of the air conditioner to be able to move the a/c backward. I also removed two screws from inside the RV to take off the front cover. I found that I could push the a/c back and rotate it slightly to get at the wiring compartment cover, held in place with two more screws. The a/c heat pump circuit diagram was attached to the inside of the cover.I went to the SoftStart website to look for a wiring diagram that matched my diagram. Unfortunately, none of the available examples matched mine. So, I put in a ticket request for help and they answered the same evening with a quick diagram to get me started, and with a promise that a professionally designed diagram for the Cool Cat was being processed. Armed with the rough diagram I was able to work out all but one of the connections. Installation was easy. Mainly cutting and splicing five wires into the circuit wiring. The step by step directions that came with the unit were excellent. I did have an issue with the Blue wire. It was shown directly connected to R on the compressor. I tried that and it didn't work. Because my unit is a heat pump there is a Cold Control also connected to R. I solved the problem by removing the White wire, going to the Cold Control, at the Run Capacitor, and connecting the Blue wire to the White wire. Problem solved!Now, the Pulsar 1800watt generator starts the a/c unit every time.The SoftStart unit is amazing. It is so gentle and quiet that it is hard to believe that the a/c unit is running. The cool air certainly proves that it is.The SoftStart's online help was impressive. They not only responded quickly via email but they had also attempted to contact me by phone several times to give me wire by wire directions. I live in a black hole for cell phone signals and was not getting their calls. So they sent further emails asking me to contact them.I do have previous a/c experience as well as an electronics background so I was able to work out the final part of the puzzle myself, but they were 100% there trying to help. Please DO NOT attempt to install a SoftStart unit based on my review. Always contact SoftStart and they will advise you to step by step with their phone assistance.All in all, I highly recommend the SoftStart unit. It is amazing, and if you have a basic air conditioner unit then you will be able to make use of the online information and excellent included installation notes, and live phone call assistance if necessary to do the installation. If you don't feel comfortable doing the installation then do contact an electrician to have the work done. Capacitors can hold a dangerous charge even after the power has been disconnected and electricity is potentially lethal so don't take any unnecessary risksI think that the SoftStart unit is worth every penny.

I knew about the soft start for a long time. My neighbor installed on on his rig and said it was well worth the money. I put it off for a long time until my generator was really acting up. I first had to fix the source of the issue which was the generator but I knew the soft start was a must once that was addressed.I have to say I am very happy I purchased and put the unit it. The install is very straight forward and only takes a couple of hours. I am not crazy about the universal kit so I got my own connectors to use in place of the provided ones. I understand the need for a single kit that works across different AC units. That said, the product is great and my AC is quiet and no longer has the loud thump when starting and stopping. It reduced the load on the generator as well.They also have a great tech support team and will even walk you through the install if you are not sure about how to proceed. Truth be told it is only 5 wires and is really well documented. Even if you are not the most handy person you will not have an issue installing the unit as it it really that easy. The hardest part for me was deciding where to place it and getting up and down the ladder.

As the title says, this product works.I purchased a brand new, 2021 North Trail 21RBSS travel trailer in September 2020. At the dealership, I tested the ability of my WEN 56225i 2250-Watt Portable Inverter Generator to start up and run the roof mounted, 13,500 btu air conditioner.That generator did not even come close to getting past the initial amp surge during the start up of the air conditioner; it went into overload immediately and shut down.Next, I plugged in the new Westinghouse iGen4500 dual fuel generator that I had recently purchased. It had plenty of capacity to start that air conditioner, even with the microwave and electric furnace running at the same time. [That is a wonderful and fairly quiet inverter-generator, btw. Very clean sine wave, and it measured at 55dB at 15 feet distance. Both gas and propane run well with the flick of a selector switch. And don't get me started on the ease of the start button, and that wonderful remote start up capability. And no it did not fall under the recall for a potential for small fuel leakage issues as it was manufactured AFTER the recall for potential fuel leaking. I've been carefully monitoring it, and have seen no problems with that issue.]Then I gave the dealership's service tech's the SoftStart SSRV3T package, as it arrived via Amazon. 15 minutes later, it was installed. I plugged in the little Wen generator again, and tried to start and run the A/C.The starting of the A/C took a teeny bit longer -, but not by muc -, compared to the trailer being plugged into shore power, or to my larger inverter generator. But that is how it is designed to function. . . slowly ramp up the starting sequence instead of having it start with a huge amp surge.Since September, we have used the trailer for over 40 days of 'boondock' (dry camping) in desert and high temperature, off road campsites. When air conditioning is wanted, the combination of the small Wen generator-inverter plus the SoftStart module have performed flawlessly.