Air conditioner compressor won't stay on

[PAylor]

The good news is that we have a new fifth wheel on order.  The bad news is after four years the a/c in the living room is acting up.  The compressor comes on for a few minutes then cuts off.  Any suggestions? 

[Kirk W]

Could it be freezing up? When ice builds up most RV a/c units do turn off the compressor. 

[Pat & Pete]

Maybe the capacitor(s) on the control board , or possibly the board relay .

Both weak links .

[GlennWest]

When I had them. Changed mine to mini splits. My compressor motor fan was freezing up. It would go back to working once it cooled off. Replaced it and good for a year and same again. We are full time so they run constantly. 

[bigjim]

If they have them still it could be as simple as a weak Klixon.  Or plugged coils. Right that a faulty fan could cause it too.

[Darryl&Rita]

Start simple. Clean the inside and outside coils. No cost, but time.

[papaamericano]

On 1/22/2021 at 8:35 PM, PAylor said:

The good news is that we have a new fifth wheel on order.  The bad news is after four years the a/c in the living room is acting up.  The compressor comes on for a few minutes then cuts off.  Any suggestions? 

If you notice that an air conditioner turned off suspiciously quickly - immediately after turning it on, after 5 - 10 minutes, do not rush to panic: perhaps you set such settings and it quickly coped with your task.

But there are also many reasons for the rapid shutdown of the air conditioner associated with the breakdown of one of its components or improper operation. In this case, only a qualified professional technician with the necessary diagnostic equipment can find the root cause of a breakdown and fix it.

Some of the reasons are:

REACHED THE SET TEMPERATURE
If you set too high temperature, an air conditioner will easily cope with the task and will turn off.
DRYING MODE IS SET
In dry mode, an air conditioner usually does not work for a long time. If you have it turned on, do not worry when a device turns off after 10-15 minutes.
COMPRESSOR OVERHEATING
If a compressor overheats, it will be turned off. But there can be many reasons for overheating:
A condenser of an outdoor unit is clogged with debris and dust.
Narrow capillary tubes are clogged, usually due to poor installation.
A dryer filter may be clogged.
A cooling fan of an outdoor unit is defective or heavily clogged.
AIR TEMPERATURE SENSOR BROKE DOWN
An air conditioner control board makes decisions about turning on/off a compressor, including based on information from an air temperature sensor.
INTERIOR UNIT FAN BROKEN
An inoperative fan will drastically reduce cooling, and a control module may well shut down an air conditioner after a while.

This information also might be useful :)

[TXiceman]

Replacing the compressor is costly.  Might as well replace the unit.

As noted, start simple by cleaning the coils and filters.  Also check for air bypassing from inlet to out let and retape any air leaks.  Next find our why the unit is shutting off.  This will take looking at the wiring diagram and a bit of trouble shooting.

Ken

[D&J]

If it only runs for a few minutes and your sure it's just the compressor kicking off but the fan is still running then the control circuit is working. That short of time is not long enough to freeze up or kickoff on temperature so it's probably going off on the current overload switch mounted on the top of the compressor. If it starts then the start relay and cap are good so that leaves a bad run cap or the compressor is dragging causing high current draw, you will need a amp probe to figure that out.

Denny