I have an American Standard Allegiance 12 5 ton Air Conditioner. The
model number is 2A7A2060A1000AA and the date of manufacture is 01/2003.

I am trying to determine if it has a hardstart kit on it or not. Some
people have told me that all ACs newer than 5 years come pre-installed
with a hard start device.

I have a 16KW Generac Generator (their new model 5244) that it claims
is "Central Air Certified" for a 5 ton unit. It did indeed start the
unit, but it seemed to struggle a bit (lights dimmed quite a bit, took
a couple of tries to get it started).

I have seen some info that a Kickstart hardstart device will allow for
better starting when voltage is low and is useful when used with a
generator.

I open the outside unit and found the following:
A round silver GE Capacitor with the following info:
27L322
80uf 440VAC
+06 .06% 50/60Hz
Protected P969
T10000AFC DIELEKTROL VI 0240
D137452P39
It is about 6" long 2.5" in diameter

Not sure if this is a start capacitor or a run capacitor. The only
other thing I found wired in (other than the contactor) is a gray
cylinder slightly bigger than a D cell battery.

I intend to have a HVAC contractor come out and install the Kickstart
device if it is of benefit, but I would rather not pay for the service
charge (I live in a rural area) for someone to ome out and tell me it
will do no good. Any suggestions as to what I have and whether or not
the Kickstart will help? I'm kind of out of my element here.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions.

Brad