A/C Not Working

tom463219 · 07-13-2019, 11:43 AM

A/C was working well until yesterday. I can hear the compressor cycling on and off at 2 min intervals, fan stays on. Air coming out of vents is 71 degrees, outside is 79. Inside filters are clean and the divider in the ac is properly installed. I went on roof and found the line running to the inside is freezing up. When it freezes the compressor quits for a minute or 2, it quickly thaws and the compressor restarts again for a couple minutes, then the cycle repeats. Cooling is minimal inside. Any suggestions as to the nature of the problem? Thanks.

Jimmyd · 07-14-2019, 04:26 AM

Tom, the only other thing you can do is put the blower into hi speed mode if you haven’t done this already? It keeps the units from building up ice. Hope this helps! Jimmyd

tom463219 · 07-14-2019, 02:46 PM

Thanks. Now it isn't freezing up. It wont even get cold at all. Guess I gotta find a shop to look at it..

Rustynuts · 07-14-2019, 02:50 PM

Sounds just like ours was doing and ended up being a bad compressor unit, got it replaced under warranty.

tom463219 · 07-14-2019, 02:52 PM

No warranty on mine. Its 3 years old.

RogerR · 07-14-2019, 04:28 PM

Based on my experience with cars you may have lost your coolant up to the point where it will only have enough to run for a few seconds then the pressure sensor kicks off the compressor.

If it was a car I would add a can of gas and see how long it lasts. But I don't have much experience with RV AC repair to recommend anything except seeing a repair guy.

If it is a window type and not under warranty it might be best to just pitch it and get a new one. Roof types are a lot more expensive.

Maybe someone else has a better diagnosis.

tom463219 · 07-14-2019, 04:36 PM

It's a roof mount Coleman Mach 15000 with heat pump. They don't even put connections on the unit for checking pressures or charging. They consider the whole unit throw away and replace if anything besides a capacitor goes bad. Might have get a new one. Thanks

Clayduster71 · 07-15-2019, 04:20 AM

You may as well buy a new one, you can't fix them. I went ahead and replaced them both on my Seneca.

Camper_bob · 07-15-2019, 07:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tom463219

No warranty on mine. Its 3 years old.

Coleman may have a longer warranty than Jayco's standard 2-yr warranty.

It's worth asking anyway.

MANY of the components installed on our trailers are made by manufacturers that carry longer warranties.

gs750t · 07-23-2019, 05:16 AM

On our 26xd the freeze sensor was just dangling from the unit and we had the same condition you are describing. I removed the inside a.c. cover and reinstalled the sensor probe between the fins of the radiator. This fixed the a.c. freezing up.

tom463219 · 07-23-2019, 06:42 AM

I did check that, i installed a new one thinking it might be bad. Was of no help. Actually now there is absolutely no cooling at all. I also put in a new start capacitor, that was of no help either. After talking to the manufacturer I ordered a new unit. Thanks for the suggestion.

houstonstroker · 07-23-2019, 06:53 AM

PPL in Houston has some good prices. They are easy to install. The hardest part was getting the unit onto the roof. I left the unit in its box and slid the entire box up my ladder.

I have heard that some RV Tech type peeps can add a bung to the AC line and recharge the unit. I am not sure of the cost.

tom463219 · 07-23-2019, 07:02 AM

I did find that you can install a saddle valve to recharge the unit. I've read that they have a tendency to leak. Like you I will install a new unit. I have 2 strong sons that can wrestle it up to the roof. Thanks for the suggestion.

Berjr · 07-23-2019, 07:33 AM

Our AC was also acting up. It would cool slightly but just could not catch up. I thought perhaps it needed a recharge and was going to have a local AC guy install a port to recharge the unit. However when i went up to inspect the unit i found that the fan blade itself was loose on the motor shaft and had back out of the coil housing thus not pulling the air across the coils so it was not cooling well. So perhaps the blade was ever tightened up on installation? Anyways it is an easy check so i thought i would pass along our findings

Camper_bob · 07-23-2019, 12:54 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Berjr

Our AC was also acting up. It would cool slightly but just could not catch up. I thought perhaps it needed a recharge and was going to have a local AC guy install a port to recharge the unit. However when i went up to inspect the unit i found that the fan blade itself was loose on the motor shaft and had back out of the coil housing thus not pulling the air across the coils so it was not cooling well. So perhaps the blade was ever tightened up on installation? Anyways it is an easy check so i thought i would pass along our findings

Did your unit seem to vibrate or make more noise when the fan was loose?

I'm wondering if I might have this problem too...

Sorry for a bit of a hijack OP...

Berjr · 07-23-2019, 01:32 PM

[QUOTE=Camper_bob;776731]Did your unit seem to vibrate or make more noise when the fan was loose?

I'm wondering if I might have this problem too...

Sorry for a bit of a hijack OP...[/QU

No it did not vibrate.

but it was loose enough to travel the length of the shaft as i could see where the blades had rubbed at least once up against the cooling coil. and i found it up close to the motor. The shaft is quite long which i found strange ill estimate it at 14". I wonder if something is missing like a spacer.

Camper_bob · 07-23-2019, 01:45 PM

[QUOTE=Berjr;776744]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Camper_bob

Did your unit seem to vibrate or make more noise when the fan was loose?

I'm wondering if I might have this problem too...

Sorry for a bit of a hijack OP...[/QU

No it did not vibrate.

but it was loose enough to travel the length of the shaft as i could see where the blades had rubbed at least once up against the cooling coil. and i found it up close to the motor. The shaft is quite long which i found strange ill estimate it at 14". I wonder if something is missing like a spacer.

Ok, thanks. I opened it up to insulate the "cold" side of the box, but I did not check the integrity of the fan attachment to that shaft. AFAIK, there is a simple clamp that uses a small set screw that holds that fan in place on the shaft; no spacer that I know of.

I will go up top and check this out hopefully before my unit goes back to storage. My unit cools, but I'm not getting a high enough temperature delta in my opinion, so the fan could be a potential cause for that based on your experience. It also seems to be vibrating a bit more than it should. I have twin AC units on my camper, and the one above the living area is the one that sounds like it's vibrating too much. I've been thinking it might have something to do with the fan, so I'll look and find out for sure.

Berjr · 07-24-2019, 04:29 AM

Thanks Camper Bob

we only have the 1 AC unit but being in in MA we probably don't need the second one. We felt our unit wasn't cooling to peak either that is why i was up there, I read some place the temp return from intake to exhaust is only suppose to drop 10*-15* but i don't think our was even 5*.

Camper_bob · 07-24-2019, 09:34 AM

Put the unit back in storage last night, so AC fan inspection will have to wait a few weeks.

I need to clean my filters and do quite a few other "maintenance" items ahead of a long trip anyway, so I'll just add it to my "Pre-flight" check list.

jgerhard · 07-24-2019, 11:40 AM

I've had this happen when the 120VAC was low. Lot's of campers in a hot campground can cause supply voltage drops, especially if the campground is old.

face value: $.02

James

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