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Clenta · 07-21-2019, 08:59 PM

We have a 2002 pace arrow RV. Now I know we are in the hottest part of the country right now at 102° outside. However when I run both air-conditioners I have problems with shedding and eventually the unit will get hot enough to flip the breaker in the back bedroom. Once that cools off we can reset the breaker and all the units come back on. I guess my main question, since we are new to this lifestyle, how cool should our dual air conditioners on for 50 amp service keep us and should it shed all the time?

waterman480 · 07-21-2019, 09:23 PM

It all depends on what you do to help it. Are the awnings out on the sunny side? Do you have the window shades down? More extreme - do you have insulation on all your windows? Including the windshield? You might need to do all these. I'd start with putting down the shades and buying some reflectix for the windshield. Yes, it will feel like a cave - but a cooler cave.

The a/c will put out air 15-20 degrees colder than the air it takes in. How fast it drops the coach temperature and how low you can go depends on your heat gain, with windows being the worst offender. Don't forget your overhead vents and any skylights. They need to be insulated too. (Our bathroom is always hot due to the skylight - so we keep the bathroom vent and door closed when bringing down the coach temp.

Your breakers should not be getting hot and tripping. Perhaps breaker screws are loose, corrosion, or just tired breakers. (Yes, they do get old) It could also be your A/C units are drawing much more current than they should. They will draw a little more in hot weather, and even more if the shore side voltage is low. However, they still should not trip the breakers if all is ok.

danhannah · 07-22-2019, 01:02 AM

Low voltage in some (busy) campgrounds - anything lower than 105 volts - causes ACs and other equipment to draw more amps and to run too hot. It can damage a lot of equipment. Do you have a voltmeter to check the park voltage?

spyderRV · 07-22-2019, 02:51 AM

I would ask, are your condensing coils clean? I make it a habit of cleaning mine annually. If they are dirty / clogged it will pull more amps. These A/C's in my opinion have marginal material to do their job it does not take much to stress them.

Clenta · 07-22-2019, 08:52 AM

No we do not but we will buy one today. We’ve run into different campgrounds and everything seems to run fine so I too am questioning the voltage here. Thank you

Clenta · 07-22-2019, 08:53 AM

Thank you we will try insulating our RV better and see what happens. We’re also going to buy a voltage meter to see what’s going on here at the campgrounds. Thank you so much for your reply

zorro2kita · 07-22-2019, 09:09 AM

I doubt if you have 50 amp service unless they were upgraded by somebody prior to you - standard was 30 amp service - what plug do you insert into the CG pedestal ?
Purchase a 110 v box fan and use when plugged into 110 v service. Also, use the above cooling suggestions -- we also opened the breaker panel and set small portable fan to blow on the breakers - this seemed to help --

Clenta · 07-23-2019, 08:58 AM

We do believe the coach was upgraded as we find a 50 amp breaker in the bedroom on the panel. We are plugging in a 50 amp plug into the CG pedestal.

zorro2kita · 07-23-2019, 10:40 AM

Then 50 amp service should run both a/c's plus other accessories - how long have you owned the coach ? Can you find the repair bill for the amp upgrade ? If so, when was the conversion done ? Any warranty for this job ? I get the sense something was not done correctly --Try opening the breaker panel and let a small fan run to cool this area off - this did help us when we found c/b tripping -- Advise of results -- thanks

twinboat · 07-23-2019, 11:29 AM

Is the breaker that is tripping a dual 50 amp breaker ?

If not, you have 1/2 of 50 amp service. Still should run the 2 air conditioners but maybe not with the water heater on.

You may need to clean the coils on the roof unit. Remove the big covers and hose out the fins around the coils. Name: 047569062797lg.jpeg
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Clenta · 07-25-2019, 02:19 PM

Had a tech out today to the RV park. He determined we weren’t getting enough voltage from the park to run both air-conditioners. We also found out we were misinformed, we only have a 30 amp service as you suggested. The check left and even plugging the 30 amp connector into the CG pedestal, we cannot run one single air-conditioner without it shutting down the compressor and causing a light on our panel to show shed. As I stated the AC unit was brand new last fall and the technician did not find anything wrong with it today. We are able to run both ACs on the generator without issue. Luckily we are in a tiny RV park with only one RV parked next to us and no one’s staying there currently so were able to run our generator without disturbing anyone else. Obvious the bad side , were using our gas. We still have no solution as to why this 2000 to pay Sarro won’t even run one air-conditioner using the correct plug without causing the unit to shut down as it does.