Help... Multiplus in overload only when running from generator power

DIY
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1

Please help, did my research, watched video, read the manual and still perplexed.
Multiplus 12/2000/80-50 120V 2765 on v481 firmware. (yes, I know its old and I did update to v556 after all my testing was complete so didn’t have a chance to see if it had an impact).

Generator is a Westinghouse igen2550
Air Conditioner that overloads is a Coleman Mach 3 13.5k unit with Coleman softstart.
Battery is 280 Ah Lithium

Settings:
Multiplus switch in the 1 position. I did not do anything to any dip switches.
AC1 input current limit of 29.0 Amps
Dynamic current limit ON
Accept wide input frequencies ON
AC low disconnect 90V; high 140V
Ground relay ON (even though I’m using a bonding plug because of a Progressive Industries surge unit installed on-board
Charger Enbled and set to battery specs.
AC Input Contorl all OFF

When I’m on shore power, everything opperates as expected. Air Con working, microwave too… When the generator is connected, power is supplied and all works well. Even microwave operates. When the Air Con fires ups, the I can hear the Multiplus click and fan comes on briefly, then the unit displays an “Overload” error. When monitoring the display, I did notice that VA jumps to 1850ish. The generator does kick up for a brief moment then falls back to low idle once Multiplus shuts down.

Thoughts… My soft start is garbage and I need a MicroAir. Or hopefully one of my setting is off.

Any help would be highly appreciated.
-Boris

2

2 things. First, yes the soft start is crap compared to the microair. Even with the soft start you can still have a very high inrush current at startup.

Second, try lowering the boost factor to 1 and see if it helps. Default is 2 and with a single 3000va unit this can be too high for starting an ac unit. You can also try disabling dynamic current limiter. Play around with those 2 settings and see if you can find the magic number. What works for some doesn’t always work for others.

3

Thank you. Did the trick. After reading well into the night, the power factor adjustment of 0.5 was sufficient to fire up the AC. All other variables were kept constant.