Bounder: '16 Bounder Chassis A/C stopped working

[computerguy]

I have a '16 Bounder on the Ford F53 chassis.
The chassis AC stopped working. Fan is blowing just warm air.
AFAIK it is not a Ford AC system. Not sure where to even start troubleshooting myself. I'd like to do the cursory stuff before I even think about bringing it to a shop. And the the question is where to bring it for service? Not Ford I presume. I really dislike RV dealers. Was thinking a regular automotive AC repair place?
Any info on what system is in it and troubleshooting steps would also be appreciated.

[MrMark52]

Automotive AC is automotive AC. Problem is someone who has a shop with a door big enough to get the nose of the coach inside, or someone who is willing to work on it out in the sun.

Any good HVAC person an work on it - the Ford side of it might have specific peculiarities, and the coach side of it will have its set of peculiarities. But in the end they all have a compressor to compress the refrigerant gas, a condenser to reject the heat out of the refrigerant gas, an expansion valve to throttle the condensed refrigerant, and an evaporator that transfers the heat from the air into the refrigerant.

[Blastvalve]

I had the same problem this spring. Called the 2 local Ford dealers, neither would do it due to size. (Actually was a bit of a relief as one of the Ford dealers has a parking lot that’s annoying to navigate in a car!)

I ended up taking to a local Freightliner facility. When I called ahead the Service Manager was good in saying if it was mechanical, should be an easy fix. If electrical, probably best to not have his techs chasing it due to their lack of Ford knowledge, basically said “they would eventually fix it, but might be trial and error and not the most cost effective”.

Prior to my appointment I ended up jumping the low pressure switch which confirmed either the switch was bad or it was low on refrigerant. At the time I noticed the switch assembly turned easily in my hand, which isn’t normal and hopefully a cause of the leak.

Tech vacuumed out the system, tested it to ensure it held pressure, and then recharged with refrigerant and dye so that if leak wasn’t the loose low pressure switch, it could be traced. So far so good, bill was about $200 for labor and refrigerant.

If it is a bad low pressure switch, they are pretty cheap and can be ordered by any Ford dealer. (I bought one just in case as the Freightliner dealer wouldn’t have stocked and was fine with me buying and them installing if needed). Switch was about $25, and mine needed a supplemental wiring pigtail which was another $30. Ford took the unopened ones back when I didn’t need.