Understanding Your Shore Power Cord & Dometic Air Conditioner
In this article, you will get to know the shore power system, the Dometic Air Conditioner, and how the two interact in your Vandoit.
How does plugging into shore power provide electricity to my Dometic Air Conditioner? How much shore power does it need?
Read this conversation with a real Vandoit customer to learn more!
Customer Inquiry:
I need help understanding shore power, please. I’ve had several people tell me that I should only use the A/C when connected to 30 amps. I’ve run the A/C when connected at home, which I understand is only 20 amps. The extension cord melted where the plugs were connected. Would that have been due to running the A/C? Or perhaps because my extension cord was too small or too long? When I connect to 30 amps, will I need an adapter? When I replace the power cord, what specifications do I look for?
Vandoit Customer Support Response:
The Dometic air conditioner we utilize is a bigger air conditioner than is needed for the space of the van. It is often used in bigger RVs with multiple cooling zones (AKA rooms). The reason we do this is so the air conditioner is not stressed and running at max wattage. This allows the air conditioner to run at approximately 1100 watts, give or take, depending on context. If you did some quick conversion math, this would translate to approximately 9.17 amps (DC power). So, you do not need a 30amp outlet to power the air conditioner. In fact, we actually set the inverter to only take in 13 amps max at a time for this reason. So, even if you plugged into a 30amp outlet, the van would only take 13 amps at a time. An additional reason for this is that most house outlets are a 15amp breaker. So, if someone uses other outlets in the house connected to the same breaker, we do not want to accidentally flip the breaker at the house and have your air conditioner shut off while you are sleeping and drain the batteries.
The cord Vandoit provides is a heavy duty 30- or 50-foot, 14-gauge extension cord and will run properly with the above listed load. Cords melting occurs due to too much heat buildup. This can happen for one of two reasons:
1. Your extension cord is a standard 16-18 gauge extension cord and cannot handle the 13 amp load requested from the van. Essentially you are trying to run a large amount of energy through a smaller cord, much like trying to push the same amount of water through a smaller pipe.
2. You are linking multiple extension cords together.
It is important to note, we assume these numbers with following two rules of thumb: Keep the air conditioner thermostat set to the low 70s at the lowest and the fan on the "low" setting. Often times we see thermostats set to the lowest possible setting in hopes of getting the van in the mid 60s. The van air conditioner should be operating like a house air conditioner in that it kicks on and off as it runs. If it is running non-stop, without turning off, you are probably asking too much out of it. In cases of extreme humidity heat, even these rules of thumb may not get you there. Other things to keep in mind would be parking on dirt, gravel, or grass as opposed to pavement, parking in the shade, or next to body of water where it is cooler. You can also turn the van on to do the initial cooling of the van, so that the Dometic air conditioner only has to keep up after. This can take a heavy load off the Vandoit electrical system.
[Customer Support included 6 troubleshooting questions that are answered by the customer, below.]
Once we receive this information, we will move forward with next steps in trouble shooting.
Customer:
Thank you for the thoughtful and detailed response. Your explanation of the power draw makes sense. I have taken photos and sent answers to your questions below.
[Below are the 6 troubleshooting questions and answers referenced above.]
1. While plugged into shore power, please send a photo of your inverter screen. Please make sure whatever extension cord being used is not melted and matches the specifications of the Vandoit provided cord. :)
Answer: attached is a photo of the inverter screen. For some reason, the inverter keeps turning itself off and Go Power shows 0 amps even though shore power is plugged in. I’m also attaching photos of shore power plugged in.
2. Please send a picture of the melted Vandoit extension cord. Please send photos of what else you are plugged into.
Answer: Only the Dometic fridge is on, plus running the Dometic A/C a couple of hours prior to the shore power and second extension cord melting. Since then, the shore power is plugged directly into my outlet, and I’m running only the fridge.
3. In the response found in the other ticket you mentioned the "Power cord plugged into an extension cord." Please clarify what this means. Did you have the Vandoit provided cord plugged into an additional extension cord?
Answer: Yes, I had the VDI-provided cord plugged into a second cord. I do not know the gauge of the second cord but am sure your diagnosis is correct that that cord is smaller, thus causing the heat that melted the cords.
4. What else was running in the van while running the air conditioner?
Answer: Only the Dometic fridge
5. Please send a picture of your shore power settings from your inverter by following the instruction on the attached video.
6. Please send a picture of your air conditioner thermostat while running on the settings you had it set to when cords melted.
Answer: the A/C will not come on today because shore power is not charging. But, when I had the problem the other day (melting cords), I had run the A/C for a couple of hours. Few days before that, at 72 degrees.
Shore power is not pulling any amps. Any idea why?
Vandoit Customer Support:
It looks like you're getting power from your wall outlet, but it's not getting to the inverter. Can you try pulling out the shore power connection and taking a picture of the outlet itself? After that, please push back in the extension cord fully to make sure it's seated all the way down.
Customer:
Yes, that was the problem. The plug was not fully seated. The inverter now says it’s charging. Thank you!
I think I'm good to go now. I know what I did wrong with the second extension cord, and everything is charging now.
You guys are awesome.
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