Spartan Power SpartanStart - Soft Start Kit for RV Air Conditioner, A/C Unit, up to 20K BTU, 120v Softstart Aid, Battery Saving Softstartup System for RV, Van, or Camper Air Conditioning Systems

Important note: This review is my own honest personal findings after purchasing and using this product. I was not compensated in any manner by any person or entity for this review. We have two ACs on our motor coach; an older 13.5K BTU Dometic Penguin I, and a newer 13.5K BTU Dometic Penguin II. Ours are cooling only, but this product would work equally as well in a heat pump. Please be aware that if your AC or heat pump utilizes any kind of inverter technology, this will NOT be suitable, as the compressor in an inverter drive unit uses a totally different technology, which in fact already operates in a "soft start" manner. We discovered that if we are boondocking when it is extremely hot, and the drive belt in the coach's 7.5KW Kohler diesel generator has some hours on it, and we're running a few other appliances as well as one of the AC units, the AC starting demand of the second unit is enough to cause lots of mayhem with squealing generator belt for several seconds until the AC comes up to speed. Also, it is impossible to run more than one AC on the "just in case" 6.5K surge Harbor Freight quiet inverter gasoline/LP generator we carry in the basement. The last time we boondocked, it was apparent that we desperately needed a good solution to these problems, and I knew that a soft starter was the solution. However, the company who started making these units really have not dropped the price much at all in the past 10+ years or so they've been on the market, so I was not about to spend that kind of money on a box containing less than $100 worth of parts. I was happy to discover several newer companies making these units, and I settled on the SpartanStart based on the few positive reviews I had found, and discounted the couple of negative reviews I saw to obvious operator error. Also, the fact that these are made in Australia is a definite plus. The wife and I are very happy that we ended up with significantly easier to start AC units without the high price tag. With our Dometic AC units, these soft starts were extremely easy to install. Yours should be just as simple. It is a simple matter of identifying the three leads (on our Dometic units, red is start, white is run, blue is common) to determine which of the SpartanStart leads needs to go to which of the AC leads. For our units, that means Spartan red goes to Dometic red, Spartan black goes to Dometic blue, Spartan blue goes to Dometic white - easy as one, two three! Spartan Power has an available chart / installation guide which may or may not be accurate or include your particular unit. I simply used the wiring diagram in the original factory manual for our AC units to decide what needed to connect where. I cut the three Dometic leads in a good dry spot to make the splices, and the conveniently included crimp connectors were used with a ratchet crimper to make the connections. If you don't have a crimper, wire nuts should be acceptable substitutes, as long as they are applied properly. The supply leads which come from the Dometic's power feed connects to the Spartan's clearly identified "SUPPLY" leads, and the Spartan "COMPRESSOR" leads connect to the Dometic's compressor - yet another "no brainer". Please note that any original starting components MUST be disabled or removed from the system for this to work, as the SpartanStart has built-in circuitry which replaces the original starting circuit. In this case, I simply disconnected the lead going to the PTC thermistor and secured it in the junction box, but left the PTC, start capacitor, and all the original leads there. This way, if this SpartanStart ever goes North, I can easily bypass the unit and return the AC to working condition in just a few minutes. As far as effectiveness, I could not be happier! Using a Fluke i1010 clamp-on current clamp and a Fluke 187 multimeter set to MIN/MAX, I monitored total inrush current on the supply line. Here is the measured starting currents on the AC units. Penguin I: Before SpartanStart: 52.7A After SpartanStart: 27.1A Penguin II: Before SpartanStart: 49.5A After SpartanStart: 21.3A As noted, this is total current, which will include the running current of the blower fan which starts and comes up to running speed several seconds before the compressor. This is due to the compressor start delay provided by the Dometic thermostat, and also any start delay from the SpartanStart. The Dometic blower has three speeds, and these tests were conducted with the blower on High. Further, albeit minor start current demand reduction could be seen by manually setting the AC unit's blower to low. As expected, no run current reduction was seen, verifying the SpartanStart does indeed have a hard relay bypass after it starts the compressor. The run amps on both units remained around 11.3A on the Penguin I and 12.5A on the Penguin II (verifying also that R12 is a more efficient refrigerant). Finally, not to be understated, the rooftop units are now considerably quieter when they start, No longer does it sound like an opossum dropped on the roof when the compressor is engaged! I am certainly looking forward to a more peaceful sleep while running the AC, and this is hands-down the #1 reason to install the SoftStart even if you have ample generator supply or always plug in at the park. The inrush current was measured during several restarts after installation on both units, and it appears certain there is no "learning" period for this unit, as compared to the other models on the market. It simply works right out of the box, and no sizable decrease in starting current is realized after several restarts that can't be attributed to the compressor warming up. It is debatable whether this is good or bad - but the evidence shows that we can now successfully start BOTH/EITHER unit(s) while running on either the coach generator or the quiet inverter generator without issue. With the inverter generator we just have to make sure to not allow both AC units start at the exact same time; as long as one unit has already started, the other unit can be turned on within a few seconds and the generator successfully starts the second unit. From what it seems, if you happen to have at least a 3000W pure sinewave DC inverter, this would allow a similarly-sized AC to run. It should be noted that the difference in starting currents seen between our two units are likely due to age, with the Penguin I being around 12 years older with likely many more hours on it than the Penguin II. After testing, all that was left to do was to permanently mount the units, and the pictures show where these were placed. The unit specifically states to mount them out of the way of any heat sources, so I found a place which was not in the direct path of the hot condenser air discharge. The only "knock" I have against the SpartanStart is that I'm much of a fan of using the double sided super tape they include as a mounting solution, so I made sure to mount them in a spot where if they do come loose, they won't damage anything or be damaged. That being written, so far they are holding up to the vibration, heat, and use. Due to the way the AC is constructed, the SpartanStart needed to be mounted upside down on the Penguin I to allow the status lights to be seen. The AC covers fit back on just fine with plenty of clearance. This review will certainly be updated if we run into any unusual longevity issues. I expect these units to last for years, if not the life of the coach, since we only use the motorhome a handful of times a year during the cooling season - far less than one would experience at home. I believe a Spartan SoftStart would be a wise investment for your RV if you ever experience issues with your AC / heat pump starting, especially considering how much less expensive it is as compared to its competition.

Worked like a charm! Glad I purchased this. This soft start was like half the price of its competitors. Easy install. Literally 3 wires to splice in. I didn’t use the connectors it came with, I used the marine heat shrink butt connectors because the AC is exposed to the elements. Took about an hour to install. Most of that was trying to figure out where to mount it and the other part was just me taking my time. The automotive grade adhesive mounting tape is the real deal. So be sure to know exactly where you’re mounting it before committing. Once it’s on, (insert dude phase), it’s not going anywhere. They give you ample excess wire length. I hade to cut down like half of it. Instructions were well organized. I just scanned the QC code provided and the chart you need is really well made. Pro Tip: when first installed, the compressor turned on and fired right up but then stopped after about 30 seconds. After my initial heart attack and me thinking I royally screwed it up, I should have read my AC manual. The weather was right at 60 degrees and it shut off due to the low outside temp. This is apparently a safety feature for my specific AC. This was not the soft start’s problem. Once the temp got up and over 70, this thing ran like a dream. I ran this with no issue with my WEN 6800 inverter generator. Last I looked, it was at 1/4 load with no issue. Overall highly recommend this soft start. My travel trailer is prepped for a 2nd AC UNIT. When the time comes, I will be purchasing this again without hesitation. AC Unit : 15k GE (Model ARC15AACWH3)

Made in Australia for the outback. So far so good. Very easy to install. Do not need to take wires off or remove anything. Only 3 wires to cut from compressor to supply and put this in between. Directions on color codes to wire easy. Bought two. Put on Camper 1 with a Colman Mach. 30 min install. Put on Camper 2 with a Dometic A/C with thermostat. Easy install. I do not like the connectors that come with. Have to have a tool to crimp. I used solder sticks on one application and regular household screw on cap connectors then black electrical tape. The box is small enough to find a place to mount. I can now work on my camper in driveway, hooked up to 20-amp circuit from garage and have A/C on. It was 86 degrees F out with heat index of 92F when installed. Temp gage in Colman when running was 52 F degrees at vent. 55 F degrees on Dometic. A/C runs great and seems less noisy. The compressor isn't as loud. I have yet to try this on a small inverter generator but have all the confidence that this will work as well. Just make sure if using an extension cord to plug in camper with adapters to household 20-amp service that it is a good quality 12 or 10 gauge if anything less that cord will get hot from the draw of amps. Very happy with this product. And I did call customer service to verify a few things out of Las Vegas area. Had to leave a message for a call back, and was called within the hour and very knowledgeable assistant verified and affirmed what I was doing was correct. Product great as well as customer service.

Installed yesterday, works great! Easy install don't know why i was intimidated by it initially. (i do not like electrical work) no more generator overload! I have an older duotherm ac unit, removal of the compressor start capacitor is my suggestion. However, do not expect a response from spartan regarding install questions. Never did receive one to mine!