Generac load shedding 2

[readydave8]

I have high locked rotor amps on heat pump relative to capacity of genny, it's struggling to start HP, although it does start

HVAC guys I asked about soft start kits both recommended Hard Start, this would not reduce starting amps but only duration

Should I install hard start kit, or will that make situation worse? Or spend the extra money on Soft Start? Or leave it like it is and let voltage drop slowly bring it up to speed? (I think customer will be ok with lights dimming in this case)

 

[gar]

220323-0922 EDT

readydavid8:

A piston internal combustion engine is generally designed to allow near full power capability on a continuous basis. Back when I was young and walked by the Ford dyno lab I would see engines running continuous full power with red hot exhaust manifolds glowing. These would run this way for many continuous hours.

An electric motor or generator can be very much overloaded for a short time and not stall, in particular a DC unit, like possibly 8 to 10 times rating. But it can not continuously run at this level because it will overheat.

Thus, even though a generator could supply a lot of starting current, when it is powered from an internal combustion, that engine is the limiting factor.

If you added a lot of inertia load, a big flywheel, to the gas engine, then your engine generator could handle a large peak starting current load.

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