[norman78]

Had a customer request a soft start kit to be put in on his 5 ton Lennox XC-16 condensor that we put in maybe 2 years ago. He said his lights dimmed and it was noisy. I told him the soft starts are expensive but if he really wanted it I'd put it in at cost plus labor. He said a few years back someone put one in his pool heater heat pump and it really made it quieter. Ok, so i come back and install it. took a max inrush current as is before installing. . 95-100 amps max inrush. After hyper engineering soft start put in. 29- 30 amps max inrush.. (The single phase model that johnstone carries, don't have the exact model , just know it was a hyper engineering soft start. ). Me and my employee that put it in were both impressed. Told the customer how much we dropped the max inrush current. It had it's one second compressor delay between fan start and compressor start which is normal i found out. He seemed fine. a week later he says it's not working properly and it sounds loud again. I go back. checked inrush current. 30 amps. still has the compressor one second delay. The noise on start up sounds the same to me, (I honestly think they don't help much noise wise, it's still a 5 ton compressor trying to start), it's not gonna be quiet. . One week after that he still insists it's not working properly. I cant fix peoples heads. But Am i correct that if the inrush current is still down to 30, that it's doing it's job, regardless of what he is hearing. This is the fist one ive put in. Why these are so much more than a 521 compressor saver hard start kit im not sure. But i heard soft starts are kinda like a high end hard start kit on steroids. any input or if there is something i'm missing feel free. thanks

 

[rjk_cmh]

I don't know about your specific soft-start, but they are often rated for a limited number of starts per hour, at least in the 3-phase industrial ones that I have dealt with. If you exceed that number, they could overheat, so maybe it's starting in bypass across the line because of short cycling?

 

[lkapigian]

I'd go back with an OEM hard start

 

[KB Cool]

Put a bag on it! lol

 

[beenthere]

Inrush current is still as high as it was, before you put the start kit on it. Its just that the draw duration is so much shorter now, that your meter isn't able to read it quick enough.

 

[theoldscroll]

Put a bag on it! lol

Does it have a sound blanket?

 

[heatingelement]

521 and a blanket.

 

[stat]

Not sure what a soft start kit is. I install hard start kits.

I was wrong once before...

 

[rundawg]

Not sure what a soft start kit is.

http://hypereng.com/single_phase.html

 

[heatingman]

http://hypereng.com/single_phase.html

Looks pretty slick


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[heatingman]

You have to figure out if the noise is wire snap that he is hearing, ive never found a real fix for that.

If its trully the unit outside that he hears, then insulation blankets usually work.


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[rundawg]

Looks pretty slick

According to their graph on the web site, compressors with these “Soft Starts” never reach LRA at all.

I always understood how “Hard Starts” work, was as “beenthere” stated back in post #5.

Maybe the electrical guys can explain why this is.

 

[pecmsg]

Max RLA 32 but good for up too 7-Tons?

 

[idratherbsailing]

I assume it use's SCR's and manipulates the sine wave on start up so the compressor ramps up which reduces inrush as full power is not immediately applied, SCR's are used in a lot of commercial equipment for variable speed motor control.

 

[Gentleman Pete]

A handheld multimeter will not give you a meaningful inrush current reading. Don't use these readings to evaluate your systems. Make the HVAC trainer bring a scope to the class and have a good look at what hard and soft start kits do.

 

[VTP99]

It's been five years since he was last here.. Let's hope he has learned something 🫤