Soft Start Capacitor- Coleman Polar Cub Air Conditioner

by Greg Zimmerman
Published: Last Updated on

Our Honda EU2000 generator didn’t have the oomph to reliability start our 2009-era Coleman Polar-Cub air conditioner. It would trip the overload protection about half the time. After doing some research, I learned that 2009 and older Casitas don’t have soft start capacitors.

A capacitor stores electricity and supplies a jolt when under a large load, like the A/C starting up. I added the Supco SPP6E capacitor and now the A/C starts every time, even with the Honda puttering in “Eco mode”.

The install is straight forward. First make sure power is removed from the Casita. Next climb up on the roof and remove the big three screws on the top housing and it lifts off. The front right corner is the electrical box (yellow sticker on it). Remove the screws and open it up. The tall round capacitor is the compressor start capacitor that we’re going to help out by plugging in the Supco. It piggybacks on and there were empty terminals to easily plug the wires into. The electrical box had just enough room for the Supco to fit tightly so it doesn’t move around. Re-assemble and ready to go!

4 comments

jay sie Thompson October 20, 2021 - 6:33 pm

Greg, would this be similar to the one little house customs sells?

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Greg Zimmerman October 20, 2021 - 6:41 pm

Similar, but I can’t tell what brand they are using from the website picture. Obviously it’s a cheaper version at only $13.75.

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jay sie Thompson October 20, 2021 - 6:57 pm

amazon offers a couple, do you know which horsepower range? 1/2 to 3 hp?

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Tom Griebe November 22, 2022 - 4:21 pm

Actually, a hard start capacitor does not work like this – “capacitor stores electricity and supplies a jolt when under a large load, like the A/C starting up. ”
It works by providing a phase shift to better align the start and run windings in the compressor motor. This Youtube video explains this.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5i5jmGBGKxI

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