7.2KW generator not able to handle a circular saw

[RT21KRH]

I just LOL'd at the ineptitude of the dealer, and the audacity of them trying to sound like an expert when you obviously know your way around technology. Hilarious...

Well, in defense of the dealers, I asked my service manager about issues with the 2021’s and she said they have not seen one back at the dealership (yet?). That was 6 weeks ago. So of all the trucks that left none have returned with problems. Then I asked my master tech (very talented could fix anything) about training on the 2021 and he said all of 2020 to date no new in-person classes certifications etc concerning the powerboost or the 2021. Just a couple of basic on-line videos. Probably would not be good if something really went wrong. Hopefully training ramps up later this year.

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[John_C]

Since my dealer was no help, I figured I'd experiment myself. I bought this soft starter, and low and behold, it fixed my problem! They offer a few models, but I figured the 20 amp 120V would fit my needs since the 240V model was sold out. You can even program it to ramp anywhere from half a second to 7 seconds. Plus it's made in the USA, which is a big plus to me.

 

[Changae12]

I just took delivery of my Powerboost platinum 7.2 last week. I decided to test the onboard power and discovered that the system would say I exceeded the maximum capacity of the system if I used more than 3600 watts. It appears that “a” and “b” outlet power combine to give the 240 outlet the 7200 watts of power. Plugged into the 240, it seems to only want to use the “b” capacity of 3600 watts. I can watch the load on the screen increase on the screen only on the “b” side only to shut down before increasing beyond 3600watts. Also, even if I dont use the 240, and simply I plug into the “a” and “b“ outlets and try to use at the same time, the system shuts down saying I exceeded capacity no matter how little power I use. I am really hoping I am missing something simple here. Has anyone else experienced this?

 

[hemiblas]

So it seems like it is an inrush current issue. As mentioned motors can pull 4 to 6 times rated current on startup. This can be especially true for older motors. Circuit breakers for motors are generally oversized for motor loads. In this case...something is sensing the higher amp draw and shutting down the generator. Maybe it is seeing over the 3600w limit for a split second on that specific outlet? It could also be an arcing issue, but that generally trips the breaker or overcurrent protection device. Since that hasnt happened here....we go back to inrush.

 

[imnuts]

I just took delivery of my Powerboost platinum 7.2 last week. I decided to test the onboard power and discovered that the system would say I exceeded the maximum capacity of the system if I used more than 3600 watts. It appears that “a” and “b” outlet power combine to give the 240 outlet the 7200 watts of power. Plugged into the 240, it seems to only want to use the “b” capacity of 3600 watts. I can watch the load on the screen increase on the screen only on the “b” side only to shut down before increasing beyond 3600watts. Also, even if I dont use the 240, and simply I plug into the “a” and “b“ outlets and try to use at the same time, the system shuts down saying I exceeded capacity no matter how little power I use. I am really hoping I am missing something simple here. Has anyone else experienced this?

How are you using 240V but only getting load on one of the two hot legs? If be more concerned about that than the fact that the system is limiting you at its load capacity.

 

[Bocephus87]

I just took delivery of my Powerboost platinum 7.2 last week. I decided to test the onboard power and discovered that the system would say I exceeded the maximum capacity of the system if I used more than 3600 watts. It appears that “a” and “b” outlet power combine to give the 240 outlet the 7200 watts of power. Plugged into the 240, it seems to only want to use the “b” capacity of 3600 watts. I can watch the load on the screen increase on the screen only on the “b” side only to shut down before increasing beyond 3600watts. Also, even if I dont use the 240, and simply I plug into the “a” and “b“ outlets and try to use at the same time, the system shuts down saying I exceeded capacity no matter how little power I use. I am really hoping I am missing something simple here. Has anyone else experienced this?

What kind of electrical loads are you connecting with 240V? Is this feeding something like a 240V electrical panel? If so the power balance could be how the load is distributed there. If single devices, that's a bit odd.

 

[Changae12]

I connected my camper to the 240v. It seems to only use the “b” leg and limits out the truck at 3600 watts. Everything shuts down and it a message appears saying capacity exceeded. I can add incremental draw by plugging things into the camper outlets or turn more components on like the a/c and fridge. My main concern is part of the reason I bought the truck was to be able to power the camper a/c. I am really hoping I don’t need to take to the dealer as I doubt they will know how to fix.

 

[BLoflin]

I connected my camper to the 240v. It seems to only use the “b” leg and limits out the truck at 3600 watts. Everything shuts down and it a message appears saying capacity exceeded. I can add incremental draw by plugging things into the camper outlets or turn more components on like the a/c and fridge. My main concern is part of the reason I bought the truck was to be able to power the camper a/c. I am really hoping I don’t need to take to the dealer as I doubt they will know how to fix.

Your camper is 120VAC. It is probably a 30A rated 120VAC connection. This has 3 pins: Hot, Neutral, Gnd. When you go to a powered campground you will probably have a 30A 120VAC plug to into.

30A at 120VAC is 3600Watts.

No matter where you are getting your power (truck, home wiring, campground) you are basically limited to 3600Watts.

This is why RVers learn, they can't have someone using a hairdryer, while the coffee maker is brewing, and bacon is frying in the microwave, someone is taking a hot shower, all while having the AC on.

It's possible that your camper actually has a 50A 120VAC plug (usually for RV with 2 A/C units). This is a 4 pin plug: Hot1, Hot2, Neutral, Gnd. You get 120VAC from Hot 1 (or Hot 2) to Neutral. You get 240VAC from Hot 1 to Hot 2, but this is not used in your camper. If so that really is 2 separate 120VAC circuits, each rated up to 50A. In that case you need to get the right dog bone to attach each side of the trucks 240VAC 30Amp plug (each side being 120VAC) to drive each side of the 50A 120VAC camper plug. Then you could pull 3600 + 3600 Watts into the 2 different camper AC circuits.

Net: if your camper plug is 3 pin, then your camper is limited to 3600 Watts. It is not a truck issue.
or
If your camper plug is 4 pin, then you have 2 separate AC circuits in your camper, and you need to get the proper cable/dogbone to go from the Truck to the Camper to feed both sides of 120VAC.

 

[Prospectorguy]

Should have just bought a battery operated Milwaukee saw and ditch the cord.

 

[oldschool]

Should have just bought a battery operated Milwaukee saw and ditch the cord.

This may be a little off topic, but I thought I'd mention it here. There are some tools that the motor can be wired for 240 or 120 volts. They have inductive motors up to about two hp which can be changed by simply by changing jumper positions in the motor itself. It's not always obvious this can be done. Check the label on the motor itself to see if this is possible. I have an older air compressor that can run on a regular household outlet 120. The power cord was 120 configuration. I was able to change the jumpers to change it to 240. I then put a plug on it to plug into the 240 connector on my propower. Before I changed it to 240, my propower was unable to start the motor. When the compressor was running on 120, it would pull a full 20 amps. Starting current was higher.
Now the compressor runs at about half the current and the load is spread across both legs of the
propower 240 outlet. This also allows you to run a longer extension cord if needed. I have a radial arm saw that I'll changeover soon.

 

[Changae12]

Your camper is 120VAC. It is probably a 30A rated 120VAC connection. This has 3 pins: Hot, Neutral, Gnd. When you go to a powered campground you will probably have a 30A 120VAC plug to into.

30A at 120VAC is 3600Watts.

No matter where you are getting your power (truck, home wiring, campground) you are basically limited to 3600Watts.

This is why RVers learn, they can't have someone using a hairdryer, while the coffee maker is brewing, and bacon is frying in the microwave, someone is taking a hot shower, all while having the AC on.

It's possible that your camper actually has a 50A 120VAC plug (usually for RV with 2 A/C units). This is a 4 pin plug: Hot1, Hot2, Neutral, Gnd. You get 120VAC from Hot 1 (or Hot 2) to Neutral. You get 240VAC from Hot 1 to Hot 2, but this is not used in your camper. If so that really is 2 separate 120VAC circuits, each rated up to 50A. In that case you need to get the right dog bone to attach each side of the trucks 240VAC 30Amp plug (each side being 120VAC) to drive each side of the 50A 120VAC camper plug. Then you could pull 3600 + 3600 Watts into the 2 different camper AC circuits.

Net: if your camper plug is 3 pin, then your camper is limited to 3600 Watts. It is not a truck issue.
or
If your camper plug is 4 pin, then you have 2 separate AC circuits in your camper, and you need to get the proper cable/dogbone to go from the Truck to the Camper to feed both sides of 120VAC.

Your camper is 120VAC. It is probably a 30A rated 120VAC connection. This has 3 pins: Hot, Neutral, Gnd. When you go to a powered campground you will probably have a 30A 120VAC plug to into.

30A at 120VAC is 3600Watts.

No matter where you are getting your power (truck, home wiring, campground) you are basically limited to 3600Watts.

This is why RVers learn, they can't have someone using a hairdryer, while the coffee maker is brewing, and bacon is frying in the microwave, someone is taking a hot shower, all while having the AC on.

It's possible that your camper actually has a 50A 120VAC plug (usually for RV with 2 A/C units). This is a 4 pin plug: Hot1, Hot2, Neutral, Gnd. You get 120VAC from Hot 1 (or Hot 2) to Neutral. You get 240VAC from Hot 1 to Hot 2, but this is not used in your camper. If so that really is 2 separate 120VAC circuits, each rated up to 50A. In that case you need to get the right dog bone to attach each side of the trucks 240VAC 30Amp plug (each side being 120VAC) to drive each side of the 50A 120VAC camper plug. Then you could pull 3600 + 3600 Watts into the 2 different camper AC circuits.

Net: if your camper plug is 3 pin, then your camper is limited to 3600 Watts. It is not a truck issue.
or
If your camper plug is 4 pin, then you have 2 separate AC circuits in your camper, and you need to get the proper cable/dogbone to go from the Truck to the Camper to feed both sides of 120VAC.

Thank you for the detailed response! So glad my truck isn’t the issue and just my understanding of electricity! My A/C at startup with nothing else on was exceeding the capacity of the system. I plugged it into my 7000w generator for startup, which also happened to be the first of the year, let it run, then tried the truck again and it worked fine. The truck said it was using about 1800 watts. I really appreciate you taking the time to educate me.

 

[uavmx]

Thank you for the detailed response! So glad my truck isn’t the issue and just my understanding of electricity! My A/C at startup with nothing else on was exceeding the capacity of the system. I plugged it into my 7000w generator for startup, which also happened to be the first of the year, let it run, then tried the truck again and it worked fine. The truck said it was using about 1800 watts. I really appreciate you taking the time to educate me.

I had the same prob with my 15k BTU AC. The first time it started it would trip, then after would be fine. I installed a softstart on the AC and had no problems with it tripping on start.

 

[Twilighthan]

Should have just bought a battery operated Milwaukee saw and ditch the cord.

With the advancements these days on high voltage battery tools, I Rather charge those batteries and run them independently if that makes sense for the scenarios.

 

[Twilighthan]

Since my dealer was no help, I figured I'd experiment myself. I bought this soft starter, and low and behold, it fixed my problem! They offer a few models, but I figured the 20 amp 120V would fit my needs since the 240V model was sold out. You can even program it to ramp anywhere from half a second to 7 seconds. Plus it's made in the USA, which is a big plus to me.

I got this to test on a 2HP Air Compressor. It didn't work because the air compressor needs the spike to get the motor running. It was worth a shot though.

 

[John_C]

I got this to test on a 2HP Air Compressor. It didn't work because the air compressor needs the spike to get the motor running. It was worth a shot though.

Did you try changing the settings on the unit? The ramp time, current curve, etc are all programmable. Maybe ramp it by 1 second instead of 2? Mine has been working flawlessly.

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