Air Conditioning question

[Lurker-JAY]

Hello I have a 2007 23B and the last couple of years when it is really hot my air conditioner freezes up, and ideas as to why and what I can do to prevent it. We are going to the Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky and I am guessing it is going to be hot and with a puppy that might be left in there at times I want to make sure it is cool for him. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in Advance.

 

[Bob Landry]

Freezing is caused by either low charge or dirty coils. Since the refrigerant circuit is sealed, I would start by giving the coils a good cleaning.

 

[Seann45]

According to my buddy (a heating and cooling tech) it is because of low freon level. Take it in and have the dealer check the freon in it..

 

[RoyBraddy]

The only time my OFF-ROAD POPUP air conditioner would freeze up was in the middle of the night when it was real humid outside. When mine freezes up I get a small water drip on the inside of the trailer.

 

[Camping Couple-JAY]

Hello I have a 2007 23B and the last couple of years when it is really hot my air conditioner freezes up, and ideas as to why and what I can do to prevent it. We are going to the Land Between the Lakes in Kentucky and I am guessing it is going to be hot and with a puppy that might be left in there at times I want to make sure it is cool for him. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks in Advance.

Bob hit it......clean the evap coil (inside) and the condenser coil (outside). Besides a low refrigerant charge, you may have a defective thermostat on the unit (staying closed). I am an HVAC Tech and the last thing to check would be the charge. Its a sealed system so you want to avoid opening it up unless you have to.

Mark

 

[glsimms-JAY]

Hey Lurker.....

All are good suggestions and I would start by cleaning the A/C first as well.

BTW, I live in Evansville, and the Land Between the Lakes area is one of our favorite places to go. Plenty of camping, boating, fishing and things to do!!

 

[Lurker-JAY]

Bob hit it......clean the evap coil (inside) and the condenser coil (outside). Besides a low refrigerant charge, you may have a defective thermostat on the unit (staying closed). I am an HVAC Tech and the last thing to check would be the charge. Its a sealed system so you want to avoid opening it up unless you have to.

Mark

Thanks for all the responses. Can I see the evap coil(inside) when I open the unit inside the camper? And should use anything besides water to clean the coils?

THanks again in advance.

 

[Lurker-JAY]

Hey Lurker.....

All are good suggestions and I would start by cleaning the A/C first as well.

BTW, I live in Evansville, and the Land Between the Lakes area is one of our favorite places to go. Plenty of camping, boating, fishing and things to do!!

I will be in your neck of the woods the second part of this trip at Holiday World.

 

[Lurker-JAY]

Hey Lurker.....

All are good suggestions and I would start by cleaning the A/C first as well.

BTW, I live in Evansville, and the Land Between the Lakes area is one of our favorite places to go. Plenty of camping, boating, fishing and things to do!!

I will be in your neck of the woods the second part of this trip at Holiday World.

 

[Camping Couple-JAY]

Thanks for all the responses. Can I see the evap coil(inside) when I open the unit inside the camper? And should use anything besides water to clean the coils?

THanks again in advance.

Hey Lurker
When you swing down the cover to replace or clean the air filter, you can see one side of the evap coil. Its hard to clean with water without making a huge mess in the camper. Maybe someone else has tried a different method. In the past I have used a couple of cans of compressed air. another thing to check....when it is iced up, is the entire coil (evap) covered in ice top to bottom? A partially ice evap coil could indicate a refrigerant charge issue. Check the easy stuff first.

Mark

 

[Doug-JAY]

Maybe a Coil brush they sell for refrigerators and compressed air as stated.

Doug

 

[glsimms-JAY]

I will be in your neck of the woods the second part of this trip at Holiday World.

Your family will have a blast there!! My daughter and her husband bought season passes.

If you're looking for a place to camp, try Lincoln State Park. It's less than 5 miles from HW and runs about $25 bucks a night. Where Lake Rudolph is easily double that amount and you don't feel like you're camping on top of one another.

Here's a link to Lincoln State Park where you can see the individual sites and all the specs, i.e., length, shaded vs. unshaded and whether or not they accomodate a slide-out. You can also book one on-line: (HINT.... Start looking at sites 001 thru 150 for electric)

http://indianastateparks.reserveamerica.com/campgroundMap.do

HAVE FUN!!!

 

[Bob Landry]

Once you tap into the refrigerant line to attach gauges with a piercing valve, you have to fix the puncture, sweat in a shredder valve, evacuate and recharge the unit. So if it doesn't matter if it was charged correctly or not. You have created unnecessary work. Charge can be checked by measuring the compressor amp draw with a clamp-on meter. A RV tech should know how to do that.

 

[Grumpy]

What speed do you have the fan on? If it's on low it will freeze up in humid conditions.

 

[Bob Landry]

I don't understand where people get the idea that an AC will freeze up in humid conditions. That's what air conditioning does, it removes humidity. It will not freeze unless the evaporator temperature falls below 32 degrees. In order for that to happen, the unit can be low on charge, not likely because these units only hold a pound of refrigerant. If you get a leak, you loose the entire charge. Anything that restricts air flow can cause freezing. That can be a dirty coil or a collapsed duct. it can happen by discharge air being fed back across the coil instead of being directed out the supply registers.

 

[MNWild-JAY]

I have the same trouble on low coo and was told by the dealer that it's normal to freeze when it's hot and humid, Now I am wondering if he just does not want to fix as it is under warrenty

 

[Lurker-JAY]

Maybe a Coil brush they sell for refrigerators and compressed air as stated.

Doug

Thanks, I tried to use compressed air and a brush to clean it. I do think I cleaned a lot out of it, but it still froze up on us in Kentucky. Once it warms back up in Illinois, I am going to try it again at our house and try some other suggestions, it is frustrating and if I wasn't such a cheap skate I would take it back to the stealership and let them look at it. Which will probably happen soon.

Thanks again for all suggestions.

 

[Grumpy]

For what it's worth: Here is my "E" mail corespondence with AirExcel (Coleman) and remember it is posted in reverse order.

Yes it would.

From:*DaveSent:*Tuesday, July 30, 2013 2:20 PM

To:*ebotts@airxcel.comSubject:*RE: Re: Fwd: Freeze upWould low fan speed be the same as reduced air flow? *That seems to be the controversy with people saying that wouldn't cause it.*

DaveEric Botts <ebotts@airxcel.com> wrote:The most common would be a toss up between two.* The first being a lack of*air flow through the evaporator coil.* This could be a dirty filter, dirty*evaporator coil, collapsed duct....etc.* The second would be the cold supply*air leaking back into the return.* With this, the air (already cooled) goes*back through the coil and gets cooled again.* It doesn't take long for a*coil to freeze in this situation.--------------------------------------------------From: "RVP Support" <rvpsupport@airxcel.com>Sent:*Tuesday, July 30, 2013 11:16 AMTo: <ejb@airxcel.com>Subject: Fwd: Freeze up>>> ----- Forwarded Message ----->

From: "Dave" To: "rvp support" <rvp_support@airxcel.com>> Sent:*Monday, July 29, 2013 1:06:54*PM> Subject: Freeze up>>> Can you please help settle a on going discussion and tell me what is the*> most common reason a RV roof mounted unit freezes up.