Micro-Air EasyStart

We’re leaving in January for warmer climates. Other than getting somewhere warm as quickly as possible so we can dewinterize the aluminum palace, we do not have an itinerary.  My crystal ball told me that there are going to be times where our Zamp solar package just isn’t going to be adequate. My fear was boondocking in the heat of a desert somewhere and no way to run the air conditioner or being in someplace like Alaska during an extended period of rain.

The answer was some sort of a generator. But here’s the thing, I don’t want to have to lug gas cans thousands of miles in the bed of my truck. I don’t want some giant monstrosity that’s too heavy to move around and sounds like a 747 taking off.

After hours of research I decided we needed a small inverter type generator that would run on propane. The problem with a small generator is that it will run an air conditioner but won’t start it. The amperage draw the air conditioner compressor needs to start up is too much for a small 2000 watt generator, like what I had in mind.

I found the answer to this problem in the Micro-Air EasyStart.  There is a whole lot of discussion about the EasyStart in Airforums. Here is a thread to start you off. Do a search for Micro Air for much more discussion. This post quickly explains how the EasyStart works and if one should elect to purchase there is a $40 coupon. $259 isn’t pocket change. But the money I don’t have to spend on a bigger generator makes it well worth it. I should mention that if anyone elects to go with the Easy Start I recommend also buying the $10 installation kit. It’s got all the tie wraps, connectors, etc you need to do the installation.

Speaking of the installation, I have to admit that I was a little apprehensive about doing this myself. I was reassured by many posts on Airforums of people saying how easy it was to install. Also Micro-Air has a manuals and resources page that includes a YouTube video and installation instructions for the Penguin II air conditioning unit on top of Shiny.

In the end I recruited the help of my good friend Jim Bohan. Took us about 1 hour and really wasn’t that bad. Getting Jim up on the roof was the hardest part. 🙂

 

 

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