Jump to content

A/C Dilemma


jimnina

Recommended Posts

We have a 2003 Class 'A' and the front A/C quit. I've checked the compressor and it seems to ohm out okay. I did find a burnt wire on the fan  relay to the thermostat board. Funny thing is that the fan was still working (Would the fan relay cause the compressor not to kick on?).  So it seems that maybe the start/run caps, or the fan relay might be bad. The dilemma is that the A/C is original to the coach and the sticker says 03/2003. So am I living on borrowed time and should I just bite the bullet and replace the A/C unit? From what I read 15 years seems to be a fairly long time for the A/C to last.  

event.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Our 18 year old front AC quit a while back . Turned out to be a 6 or 7 dollar relay located on the control board . 

We're in SW New Mexico . It's been close to or over a hundred degrees for a couple weeks now and at least another week before it settles to the low 90s . We run the AC everyday for a good share of the day and even at night when the temps stay too high for comfort .

Anyway , the AC is running smoothly . 

Goes around , comes around .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 hours ago, jimnina said:

So am I living on borrowed time and should I just bite the bullet and replace the A/C unit? From what I read 15 years seems to be a fairly long time for the A/C to last.

The 10 - 15-year lifespan is pretty typical for fulltime use, but far longer is not uncommon for part-time RV use. We had a part-time RV that we bought when it was 7 years old and kept for 9 more years. I then sold it with all of the original appliances still in use and working fine, but it only saw weekend and vacation use, not even close to what a snowbird or fulltime unit is given. If your RV has been lived in fulltime for the entire history, I would consider replacing it before spending a great deal on it, but even then I would take the time to troubleshoot it at least to a point of knowing more probabilities of what may be wrong. Visit Bryant RV Service and see if you can't get a copy of the service manual for your a/c unit and do some troubleshooting with it first to at least eliminate the easy possibilities. Throwing parts at a malfunctioning unit is much like buying a lottery ticket. You might get lucky, but it is a risky way to troubleshoot. On the other hand, finding an RV tech who is competent to work with an air conditioner is pretty risky as very few of them have the kind of electrical background needed and even fewer have any significant air conditioning knowledge.

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a 2007 class C.  This winter I replaced the slide out seals, both ACs and the microwave.  Probably premature, but I hate breakdowns when away from home.

Last year the frdge was replaced with a residential unit, and the generator got a 1000 hour service, and the inverter/charger was replaced

I believe in PM, but I am probably on the other end of the bell curve from most people

Rich and Carol

2007 Dynamax DQ 340 XL

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, fly2low said:

I have a 2007 class C.  This winter I replaced the slide out seals, both ACs and the microwave.  Probably premature, but I hate breakdowns when away from home.

Last year the frdge was replaced with a residential unit, and the generator got a 1000 hour service, and the inverter/charger was replaced

I believe in PM, but I am probably on the other end of the bell curve from most people

Some lower income camper is likely real happy with your discards . 

So , you have another 'motive' for your PM : Helping the needy . ;)

Goes around , comes around .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
On 6/10/2018 at 11:27 AM, jimnina said:

We have a 2003 Class 'A' and the front A/C quit. I've checked the compressor and it seems to ohm out okay. I did find a burnt wire on the fan  relay to the thermostat board. Funny thing is that the fan was still working (Would the fan relay cause the compressor not to kick on?).  So it seems that maybe the start/run caps, or the fan relay might be bad. The dilemma is that the A/C is original to the coach and the sticker says 03/2003. So am I living on borrowed time and should I just bite the bullet and replace the A/C unit? From what I read 15 years seems to be a fairly long time for the A/C to last.  

I work and teach residential/commercial HVAC equipment for a living as of now. New to this whole RV thing but in my residential/commercial experience if something looks burned out that is not good.  As far as diagnosing capacitors you need a meter that reads microfarads. The label on the capacitor will tell you what it should be. ex. 5mfd at 370 vac. Typical fan run capacitor.  Start capacitors run in a range of capacitance. ex. 125-175mfd at 330vac. Next is the contactor. If when the coil is pulled in the incoming voltage and the outgoing voltage should be within 2% of the voltage or you will get a drop in voltage and increase amperage which will negate your efficiency. See if the coil for the compressor is getting voltage required, not sure what that should be, and see if the contactor is pulling in. The contactor in an rv could be running on either low voltage ac current or 12v dc current. not really sure. If you don"t have the right meter than it would be cheaper to take the information down to a hvac supplier and just change them out. BTW the evaporator fan and compressor fan typically will have two separate contactors that might be why  the fan is running. Hope this is helpful.    

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, jimnina said:

Hey SDDamm,

Thanks for the info.

I did decide to just replace the two A/C's. Since they are 15 years old and we are hitting the road early next year we decided might as well.

Probably the better choice. It’s always an issue to have people understand that it’s 10-20 years olds do not worth fixing. I always ask them. How many cars have you bought in twenty years?  For many here in New England most say about three-five. I then remind them that equipment X runs daily and that is why it’s tired. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We received the A/C's ordered from PPL with free shipping. With the free shipping the units were $280.00 cheaper than CW. I saved almost $600 bucks by checking with PPL. There is a catch with the free shipping that I found out about when I ordered the units. The A/C's were free shipping, but the control board and thermostats were not free shipping. The parts person at PPL split my order to save me $$$ on shipping. The shipping for one order was $219.00, split order $10.00.

Installed the front unit this afternoon and was fairly simple. Hardest part was ciphering the wiring:)

 

event.png

Link to comment
Share on other sites

12 hours ago, jimnina said:

We received the A/C's ordered from PPL

I think that I would have done the same as you since you are fulltime. I apply that same logic to any major failure of an RV appliance. Not only does living fulltime in the RV put added wear on appliances, but it also means that a failure is more critical in nature. To me, the fact that you may have spent a bit more is well offset by the gain in reliability and convenience. My appliance failures nearly always come at the least convenient times. 

Good travelin !...............Kirk

Full-time 11+ years...... Now seasonal travelers.
Kirk & Pam's Great RV Adventure

            images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQqFswi_bvvojaMvanTWAI

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.

×
×
  • Create New...