A/C Problem

[arby]

I have a really strange problem with the front roof air conditioner on my 07 Diplomat. It has been running non stop for past 30+ days with no problem. Suddenly the other day it quit. Just like it lost all power. No fan, no nothing. In a few minutes it started up again then after 15 min quit again then it started later and ran ok for hours. I am working a hail storm in OKC so yesterday I was afraid to leave it on while I was gone. When I came home it was only 105 degrees inside the coach. Fired up the ac about 3 pm and it was still running at 11 pm when i went to bed. This morning it is off and won't restart.

I spoke to a mobile RV repair guy. He seemed pretty sharp on the phone but the only thing he could think of was that it was freezing up. He said there are 2 relays. One for fan and one for compressor and they will both shut down the unit when it freezes. Made sense at the time but not now. If that were the problem it should thaw out fairly fast at these 90+ temps were are having.

I repeat.........it is like it is losing all power. It is not the start capisitor before you suggest that.

Has anyone else had this problem. Any ideas?

[gto19]

If it is frozen up the way I defrost mine is put it on the fan mode only and within 5 minutes I can see a bunch of water poor off the roof from the ac unit then it seems to run great after that in ac mode. Not saying that's your problem but give it a shot

[bullydogs1]

I bet the freeze sensor is just hanging there under the vent. If that isn't hooked up the sensor won't tell it to shut off way before its time. The only other possibility could be the intellitec but I sure would check the freeze sensor...it is under the inside vent cover and you will see a wire on it. Needs to be clipped on to the proper area.

[arby]

gto19, thanks but can't run the fan. lose all power

Bullydogs1 - thanks. A little more info please. You say under the inside vent cover. Do you mean where the filter is? What does it look like? Worth looking into but I would think even if that is the problem it should come back on after a while.........hmmmmm I guess it does....sometimes.

After my post this morning I went to just double check that the circuit breaker wasn't tripped. It wasn't but i did notice it seemed to be loose. Tonight I will take the panel off and check that further. That will be at least a 2 beer job they way they built the cabinet around the circuit panel.

[wa8yxm]

First give it the old look see.. if you remove the filters you can easily see if it's icing up. The evaporator coils (The ones that ice up) are right behing the filters, at an angle

Second.. That is more or less how mine worked when this rig was brand new.. And from that expierence I discovered that many RVers have a few screws loose.. Oh, you knew that,, No you did not, I was not talking about that kind of screw.. I mean the kind you tighten with a screwdriver (Often a #2 square bit) They are the ones in your 120 volt power distribution panel.. The ones that hook the wires to the circuit breakers and/or bus bars.. Tighten them with the rig UNPLUGED and generator off Please.. No need to look like "Readdy Kilowatt" and light yourself up

I was amazed at how loose some of mine were, Over a full turn to tighten them. ALL of them were loose.

[arby]

wa8xym Thanks for your input. I like the way you are thinking mainly because it is the same way I am thinking. I checked all of my screws and most were tight and a few I could maybe turn 1/8 of a turn. This thing just gets wierder! I was suspect of the breaker even though it never tripped. I took it out and saw no signs of arching on the post but ran over to Home Depot and got a new one anyway. The new one just didn't feel right. No tension on the "switch" but I put it in and nothing. Took it back out and put the old one back in and the unit fired right up. What are the chances of getting a new defective breaker? Or did I?

As of right now I have it down from 114 degrees to a balmy 86 at 9 pm in OKC. It will be interesting to see if it works through the night.

I did take the entire inside cover off and I can not see the coils on this unit. It is a Durotherm. Maybe it is different? I also can not seem to find the "freeze sensor" that was mentioned earlier.

And I was wrong about another thing. This was not a 2 beer job. So far it was 1 beer and 3 Scotch/Rocks and still working on it. It is Saturday night ya know.

Gotta run for now and plug in my electric blankie. Hope I need it all night long. Will keep you posted.

Thanks,

RB

[bullydogs1]

The freeze sensor has a wire on it and is a metal probelike instrument..You might go to the Duotherm website and see if there is a manual on the thing online. Let us know how it is tomorrow and we will go from there. I doubt it's the breaker itself.

As far as scotch goes, Make me a tangueray and tonic...I sure could use it about now.

[arby]

bullydogs1 You were right of course. It wasn't the breaker. It was runing at midnight when I went to bed. Got up in the middle of the night (like some old men do from time to time) and it was running. Got up at 7 and it was off. 9 am and it still hasn't started up so I seriously doubt it is freezing up. Would have thawed out by now. I was going to try to switch the rear to front on the t stat but not possible. It only has one phone jack cabel going into a circuit board. Found a service manual on line and there are 49 possible causes for this symptom most of which are way over my head after we get past breaker and fuses. This really has me baffeled. Will try to get a mobile guy out here tomorrow. Only going to be in upper 90's today. Maybe I can find a cool casino.

[Sixpack98]

Arby,
Sorry for your troubles and yes, a casino would be cooler. However, likely to be more expensive. It sounds like you have eliminated the usual suspects with this strange problem. You might try posting on RVNET under tech issues. There are 2 or 3 good AC techs that have forgotten more than I will ever know about RV AC's.

Good luck with your troubleshooting and let us know what the problem was.

[bullydogs1]

Why do I think it could be boards heating up ? creating expansion, creating some kind of loose connection...I would replace boards in the AC unit and the thermostats at this point. Let us know how this turns out...at least you have some AC...My start capacitor went on my gasser in Delaware 2 years ago and it was 90 degrees and humid..The rear one kept the rear bedroom cool and I had to lock the dogs in there to stay cool...Had to go up on roof and get capacitor and replace...

Now I have Carrier units, on this DP...One compressor fried without warning and I had the whole unit replaced but had to do the drill with Carrier...You just wonder.

[arby]

YE HAW!!!!! Problem solved! I hate to tell you what it was bucause about 20 guys are gona say "I knew that". It was all too simple. I have been trying to sort this thing out in my sleep (or when I was trying to sleep in this heat) for 3 days now. I had a brain storm. My panel clearly said I was on 50 amp but I unplugged from shore power and started the gen. Both a/c ran fine. Then I plugged into 30 amp and both ran fine..........not at the same time of course. Obviously one leg of the parks 50 amp breaker is out. I called the emergency # for the park which of course is closed on Sunday night. They can't get an electrician out until tomorrow. Fortunately my neighbor is only using 30 amp so I am using her 50 amp and all is well.

Thanks to everyone that tried to help. Put this one in your memory bank. It could happen to you some day.

Gotta run now. I have to try to find my winter jacket. I have it cooled down from 105 to 98 allready.

[bullydogs1]

You are going to laugh...I have a surge protector from progressive that is worth its weight in gold...best money I have ever spent and it has saved me from both a spike and the low voltage/wrongly wired pole (that was at an overnight stop at that campground just at the Harry Nice Bridge)...Get a surge guard and you won't ever have to worry about this again..I'm glad you found the trouble...and you have good AC..

[arby]

I'm not laughing. I know I am on borrowed time. I have been full time for 8 years and several years before that without a surge protector. I did lose a transfer switch once that I thought may have been from park wiring but couldn't prove it.

Would your surge protector have shown my problem? I need to get one!

I have a good friend that got almost everything in his coach fried from a mis wired hook up at his sons home. Fortunately the electricians insurance paid the bill but what a hassel he had!

Brrrrrrrrrrrr...............it's getting cold in here.

RB

[Sixpack98]

Arby,
My Progressive has a remote panel that shows voltage and amps for both L1 and L2. It also shows HZ and error codes. So, yes it would tell you if one of the lines was inop. I also think the Inteletic panel should as well at least on the power status side it should. Not sure what the service 50 amp display would show though. The progressive has saved us several times at parks with bad power or bad connection. A quick look at the remote display tells you a lot about what is being deliverd.