Inverter for 6 amp Air Conditioner

[Capt’nKarl]

I'd like to ask for advice, input, pros and cons, yeas or neas on the practicality of using an inverter to run our 6000 Btu air conditioner. Full load of A/C with the raw water pump is about 6.5 Amps. I'm curious about whether it's practical to run our 3YM30 Yanmar with a heavy duty alternator all night to power an inverter to run our A/C on the hook. Has anyone done this? Suggestions?
Thanks,
Karl

 

[tlkenyon]

It would pretty hard to sleep with the noise, given that you would not want to just let it idle...prob run it a 1,000 rpm or so. Rather have a small generator on the swim step...further away and maybe less noisy, not to mention avoidance of hours on the main.
TK

 

[Crewdog]

Seems to me that leaving engine going all night would be open invitation to possibility of carbon monoxide poisoning.

Not sure if a small a/c unit would run on a square wave inverter; initial surge current may be too much.

 

[Scuffy]

I would think a Honda 2000 generator would be a way to do it. Just make sure you have a carbon monoxide detector that works. We used to have 9500 btu rooftop unit on a C-Dory and the Honda 2000 would run all night and run out of gas about 5:00 am. But if your unit only draws 6 amps the Honda might just stay in ECONO mode and last thru the night. I think the Honda 2000 units put out around 16 amps max.

 

[knotflying]

Go with the Honda Generator.

 

[Irish Mist]

We have met a couple that would put the generator on a dingy and anchor it away from the boat to avoid the noise and vibration .. But my vote is also for the Honda .. Keep the hours off the main..

 

[captstu]

I ran my 16,000 BYU/HR generator as you describe with an auxiliary 200 Amp generator - worked OK, but racked up 5000 hours on the engine fairly quickly and had to do a full rebuild - lots of carbon and wear. A Honda is cheaper, quieter, less costly to run, and can be replaced for nearly nothing compared to the $3k it costs to rebuild the main engine. Don't do it.