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Hoss7 · 07-17-2020, 12:15 AM

I took it to a RV repair shop in Utah close to where I was staying, since they promised they'd be able to get parts by the next morning after specifically mentioning the reversing valve solenoid. They diagnosed it to being either the control board, or the reversing valve solenoid. They had a spare control board for my unit and they tested it with the new control board, but the same problem remained. They tried a heavy duty magnet on the valve, but it didn't work either. They're unable to get the reversing valve solenoid until next week, and since our trip has to continue, we left with a $275 bill for them to tell me what I already knew...

I have ordered a reversing valve solenoid online and I'll have it in my hands sometime during the middle of next week. Hope it fixes it - we're heading to Wyoming where it's cooler, but heading straight back into the hotter eastern states. Thanks for everyone's help and input!!

Ivylog · 07-18-2020, 08:09 AM

$275 and they couldn’t measure the resistance of the coil when they had its wires off.
??? The ineptitude of many RV repair places is mind boggling.

vito.a · 07-18-2020, 02:35 PM

Hoss, I've had a similar experience. Now I try to repair most things myself. Most of the good/experienced RV technicians left the business back in 2008 when the RV market crashed.

jacwjames · 07-18-2020, 02:56 PM

I was in Spain for business when I talked to my wife. She was getting ready to go on a trip and said the emergency flashers didn't work so she took it to camping world. She said they couldn't find the problem so she left it there.

I said "WHAT" and got the telephone number. I made the call and talked to the service manager and told him to immediately stop working on it. Luckily they only had started looking at it so $150 bill.

No telling how long it would have taken to find/fix the problem.

I told my wife if she was stranded on the side of the road to just turn on the emergency flashers on the Jeep she was pulling.

Later when I was home and working on something I was working under the dash behind the radio. Just for the heck of it I hit the flasher button and they started to work. I was able to trace the clicking sound to the flasher relay which was buried in a bunch of wires in the dash, just plugged into the wiring harness laying loose. Replaced the relay and that solved the problem. If it was not clicking there is no way a technician could have found and fixed it.

FWIW. The phrase when the Cat's away the Mice will play. I was on the road +200 days that year, mostly international. When I changed the oil on the rig late that year I had to do a double take on the mileage, she had put +12,000 miles on the rig pretty much flying solo.

Hoss7 · 07-24-2020, 01:14 PM

Good news and bad news. Good news is that I received the new reversing valve yesterday, installed it within 45 minutes and it resolved the problem! All 3 roof A/C's were blowing ice cold for several hours without any issues at all. Finally, a cool coach!

Bad news? Today, the front-most A/C (thermostat located in the kitchen) just stopped working. I noticed that it's blowing warm, ambient air (outside ambient is 84* and A/C vent temps are 87*).

Now what? Can this be the reversing valve on this A/C unit, or would it not be the reversing valve since it's blowing ambient air and not heat pump air?

I checked the 120V breakers in the bedroom, and none are tripped.

Thanks, everyone.

jacwjames · 07-24-2020, 01:39 PM

Ever watch Hee Haw >>> If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all!!

I would start by resetting the thermostat, this is for the 5 button

SYSTEM RESET
a. Turn the ON/OFF switch to “OFF” position.
b. Simultaneously depress and hold the MODE and ZONE
push-buttons while turning the ON/OFF switch to “ON”.
FF should appear in the LCD display until the MODE and ZONE push-buttons are released.

Attached is a troubleshooting guide.

Here we go again.

Hoss7 · 07-24-2020, 01:51 PM

Just tried your reset procedure but it didn't change anything. Thank you for the troubleshooting guide. Any other ideas before I go to the roof to start checking things? Intake filters may be a bit dirty, but Zone 2 (accessed from the bedroom thermostat) uses the same intake in the living room, and that A/C works fine.

Is it possible that it's the reversing valve on this unit as well, even though it's blowing ambient air and not heat pump air?

96 Wideglide · 07-24-2020, 01:58 PM

Not sure what you mean by 'thermostat stopped working'?

Hoss7 · 07-24-2020, 02:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by 96 Wideglide

Not sure what you mean by 'thermostat stopped working'?

The thermostat works fine without any issues. What I meant is that the front-most A/C stopped blowing cold air (the A/C that is controlled by the thermostat in the kitchen). The fan works, but I can't hear whether the compressor is kicking on or not until I go up to the roof.

96 Wideglide · 07-24-2020, 02:19 PM

Oh. This time it may be the start capacitor.

Hoss7 · 07-24-2020, 03:33 PM

Does anyone know the PN# for the start capacitor, or how to find part numbers for various parts, so that I can start checking on availability? Or, can I use a generic start capacitor off of Amazon Prime? My unit is a Duo-Therm 630516.321.

jacwjames · 07-24-2020, 06:27 PM

Heres a link to the Start Capacitor that fits my AC unit, it shows it's compatible with yours
https://www.adventurerv.net/capacito...v-p-47193.html

Also attached is a parts breakdown for my AC unit, mine is a 630515

It's item 51 on the 2nd page.

They do make a "Hard Start" capacitor, I put one on when I was having trouble with my front AC, it turned out to be the motor which I replaced for ~$120. If you get on the roof check the fan motor by trying to turn it by hand, mine was almost froze up, could barely turn it with my hand. It was pulling higher amps on starting and it would occasionally trip the breaker.

jacwjames · 07-24-2020, 06:42 PM

I found the link the Edometic web site that provides parts list

https://www.edometic.com/allusr/sp.n...&searchorder=4

There several listed, mine ends in E1, not sure what the difference is.

Click on one and it will provide a list of parts and there is also a link to a parts diagram. Print this to PDF for your files.

Hoss7 · 07-24-2020, 08:12 PM

That is extremely helpful, thank you so much! We have gotten settled in to a campground for a few days, and I will get up on the roof tomorrow morning and report back with any findings. Thanks for everyone's help in this never-ending saga of things breaking on this trip!