Will my Kohler 5e run a Cruisair 12,000 BTU Unit?

298VISTA2000 · **Posted:** Sun Jun 26, 2016 8:35 pm

My 298 Vista currently has a Cruisair 10,000 BTU self-contained system and I have a chance to purchase a used Cruisair 12,000 BTU unit but I want to make sure my Kohler 5e will pull it. Thoughts?

acguy · **Posted:** Sun Jun 26, 2016 9:29 pm

It will run it with no issues. That unit might draw 10 amps while running, I assume the Koehler generator is 5000W which would give you 45 amps.
What's wrong with your old unit?

298VISTA2000 · **Posted:** Mon Jun 27, 2016 4:01 am

acguy wrote:

It will run it with no issues. That unit might draw 10 amps while running, I assume the Koehler generator is 5000W which would give you 45 amps.
What's wrong with your old unit?

Glad to hear this and your screen name "acguy" is even more reassuring. As for my current unit, there is nothing wrong with it (yet) but it is 16 years old and I am sure its days are limited. Moreover, we are in GA where it gets very hot and humid during the summer and we could always use more BTUs. Thanks.

acguy · **Posted:** Mon Jun 27, 2016 6:50 pm

We spent weekend up here in the north with temps in the 90's and humidity around 80-90% RH. Our 10,000 but unit has no issues making it too cold in the cabin.
A bigger unit will not make colder air, also bigger unit may not run long enough to pull the moisture out of the air before is satisfy's the thermostat

noexcuses · **Posted:** Tue Jun 28, 2016 9:35 am

Cruisair specs

10,000 BTU/hr unit: Full Load 10.5 amps; starting 24 amps
12,000 BTU/hr unit: Full Load 11.5 amps; starting 26 amps

Flyer51 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 28, 2016 9:56 am

acguy wrote:

We spent weekend up here in the north with temps in the 90's and humidity around 80-90% RH. Our 10,000 but unit has no issues making it too cold in the cabin.
A bigger unit will not make colder air, also bigger unit may not run long enough to pull the moisture out of the air before is satisfy's the thermostat

The unit on my V278 takes forever to cool the cabin. My brother-in-law can turn the one in his Regal 3060 on and it's cool within 5 minutes. Mine will take an hour or better which causes the Admiral discomfort and we all know what that means for the Captain. I know Firecadet put in an additional vent in his 268 which as I recall helped. I was thinking of trying the same. It seems like the two small vents which are not much larger than what is in a auto do not allow enough air output.

Jdpber · **Posted:** Tue Jun 28, 2016 10:07 am

what you have to keep in mind is the KICK ON Draw. when the unit kicks on it pulls FULL 100% power at the start up then idles down to operation. SO do your math if the AC, Fridge, Lights, Radio, TV, Keriokie Machine, Hair Dryer etc etc HYPOTHETICALLY what will be on and what will your TOTAL PULL be at that kick start. Then you should not blow fuses. In my camper i have a 10k unit and as stated above in that freak situation POP trip the breaker on the GEN. SO keep this in mind. That said you should be nice and cold. AS my camper air space is equal to your cabin and i can make it frost the windows..

firecadet613 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 28, 2016 12:07 pm

Flyer51 wrote:

acguy wrote:

We spent weekend up here in the north with temps in the 90's and humidity around 80-90% RH. Our 10,000 but unit has no issues making it too cold in the cabin.
A bigger unit will not make colder air, also bigger unit may not run long enough to pull the moisture out of the air before is satisfy's the thermostat

The unit on my V278 takes forever to cool the cabin. My brother-in-law can turn the one in his Regal 3060 on and it's cool within 5 minutes. Mine will take an hour or better which causes the Admiral discomfort and we all know what that means for the Captain. I know Firecadet put in an additional vent in his 268 which as I recall helped. I was thinking of trying the same. It seems like the two small vents which are not much larger than what is in a auto do not allow enough air output.

The additional vent helped a bunch....the V-berth on the 268/278 doesn't get any airflow. I also upgraded the Cruisair unit to the next size up which helped. The biggest issue, in my mind, is the vacuum that's created when the cabin door is swung open - it brings a lot of cool air with it. The sliding cabin door on the 318 doesn't do that. I've had no issues keeping my 318 cabin cool with the factory installed Cruisair unit - and I keep it like a meat locker in there.

298VISTA2000 · **Posted:** Tue Jun 28, 2016 8:32 pm

Jdpber wrote:

what you have to keep in mind is the KICK ON Draw.

Yes, this is a concern and the draw is said to be up to 4 times the running amperage of the unit and I guess that is why I have a 10,000 btu unit that draws 10 amps and a generator that can pull 40 amps. However, Cruisair/Dometic now has a SmartStart soft starter that reduces the startup power demand in case my 5e Kohler has trouble.

www.iFourWinns.com

Will my Kohler 5e run a Cruisair 12,000 BTU Unit?

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