Community Forums

ferd3 · 05-14-2011, 06:05 AM

One of the Carrier Air Conditioners in my Challenger quit working. I was told by the extended warranty company and the local RV Repair service company that Carrier no longer makes RV air conditioners or provides parts for them. Has anyone else been told this?

Ferd Koehn
06 Damon Challenger

RustyJC · 05-14-2011, 06:19 AM

I guess it depends on which Carrier AC you need - they are indeed out of production, but some units and parts may still be lying around on some RV parts suppliers' shelves. See HERE.

Rusty

RVRon · 05-14-2011, 06:23 AM

That's just wonderful....hope nothing ever happens to my 2 Carrier rooftops. Come to think of it, I can't find one of my remotes....hmmm

wa8yxm · 05-14-2011, 07:36 AM

I have heard that on the forums.. I have a pair of Carrier V's.. This I will say..

Save for the "mother board" (Control board) there is nothing in that or any other air conditioner that is unique to that brand (or any brand) an air conditioner consists of several parts.. Other than the control board there is a fan/blower motor, this is an off the shelf at any motor supply and can also be re-built by a motor rebuilder very easily.

There is a compressor, again this is an off the shelf at a refrogeration supply

A condenser and an evaporator,, Some tubing and such, All these parts are generic though the condenser/evap unit may be a custom size (you may have to do some metal work to get one to fit)

The only thing that is unique to any given make and model is the control board and the outer housing.

When it comes to RV-Air conditioners they have another thing in common. The hole in the roof is a 14" square, (14" by 14") again, the brand does not matter.

Finally we get to the electrical connections.... There are basically three sets of electrical connections.

1: 120vc.. This is common to all brands.. basic White, black and green/bare (Neutral hot and safety ground) all the same, no difference brand to brand

2: (Optional) 12vdc, Carrier V uses this, not all models do.. if you don't need it, cut the wires and tape, heat shrink or wire nut (And tape) the ends, I like the wire nut with tape myself (Belt and suspenders)

3: (Also optional) Thermostat. The Carrier V has 2 wires (Blue) which control the furnace,, Most A/C's have two or more wires that control the A/C from a thermostat located elsewhere.. SOME the controls are all built into the insider cover and these have NO thermostat wires of any kind..

IF you have a Carrier V you can go with the "No remote" type, and then put in a common T-Stat for the furnace (you will have to figure out where to splice that device in) just cut and tape the blue wires.

Other types.. Well, if you have a multi-wire T-Stat, it will still control the furnace and so long as you need the same wires for the A/C (Usually a temp sensor and 1 or two fan wires) with the new one you are good again.

IN short, even if they don't make them any more.. It should be easy to replace it with a different make.

TXiceman · 05-14-2011, 10:39 AM

Carrier still makes A/C units...they are just out of the RV market.

Ken

ferd3 · 05-14-2011, 04:24 PM

The front unit is the one that quit. That was bad news, that unit is used to control the heat and the cooling.

The repairman told me the controler circuit board was bad. They spent allot of time trying to locate parts and were not successful.

We could not turn on the unit remotely or manually.

Since the front unit controlled the heating system, they moved the rear unit to the front and replaced the back unit with a Coleman unit.

I asked the repairman what do I do if the front unit goes out. He said we would have to replace it with a non remote controlled unit and change the heat to a wall thermostat.

The Coleman replacement unit fit without any modifications.

Ferd

powerboatr · 05-14-2011, 06:29 PM

wow that really is terrible
ours work pretty well
might start looking around for a new one as a spare

or get two low profile peguins

did your extended coverage provide for a different brand?

ferd3 · 05-14-2011, 07:30 PM

I have a $500 deductible, the A/C unit was $956.67. Extended warrenty paid $456.67. Also had some labor cost that were not covered by the warranty.

powerboatr · 05-14-2011, 07:38 PM

Thanks, i was looking at how and when to replace ours if they go belly up....
wheeeewwww

WD40 · 05-14-2011, 10:01 PM

That's great, I just had a new Coleman unit put in my bedroom about a year ago. So far it's worked great, don't use it much, but nice to have it when it's real hot outside.
Doug

wa8yxm · 05-15-2011, 08:05 AM

I will make life a bit easier for you when the"new" front unit goes.

The two BLUE wires (They are blue on teh A/C may be differeint in your wall) control the furnace.. all that is on those wires is a pair of relay contacts. Open (off) or closed (Turnon furnace) These wires then run down the wall somewhere... If you can locate them you can cut and splice in a common RV type wall T-Stat at this point to control the furnace..

In my coach that turned out to be easy.. I have a section of wall (one panel) that has most all my electrical stuff, the 12 volt fuse block (Progressive Dyanmics, very nice, LED's to show which fuse blew and everything) The Breaker box (Seperate from the fuse block but also a PDI) my "monitor" panel and controls for the slides and some lights are all on this panel. It's also where they hung the holder for the A/C Remote.

I will add.. You might wish to contact Carrier.. There used to be arule that they had to carry replacement parts for a period of so many years. but that was a long time ago and I don't know if it was state or federal. They may still have eplacement boards, Just not listed in the catalog.

Turns out the wires are behind the monitor panel. Easily identified and spliced into.

But they may be different in yours.

(heck, they were even labeled!!!!!!)

But if all else failed, you could mount the furnace T-Stat next to the Air Conditioner and just re-route the wires (The ones connected to the BLUE wires on the A/C) to that spot... A very simple job.

TXiceman · 05-15-2011, 10:15 AM

I would be really surprised if Carrier did not have replacement boards for a few more years. I would forget the dealer and contact Carrier directly about the part. It may take some digging to find the right department to call, but they should still have parts for the units.

For the dealer the easy way out is to just replace it rather than fix it.

Ken

WD40 · 05-15-2011, 12:12 PM

Thanks a bunch.

Doug

howdja · 05-15-2011, 02:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ferd3

One of the Carrier Air Conditioners in my Challenger quit working. I was told by the extended warranty company and the local RV Repair service company that Carrier no longer makes RV air conditioners or provides parts for them. Has anyone else been told this?

Ferd Koehn
06 Damon Challenger

Ferd, I was in the same spot you are in last year. I was able to purchase a 15,000 btu unit to replace my 13,500 btu unit on ebay. There was a dealer on ebay who said he had an opportunity to buy a significant quantity of carrier units and had done so. His price was very fair and had quick shipping. The new unit is also a heat pump and comes with a remote control. You might do a search on ebay for the carrier unit. I have the paperwork filed....somewhere....I'll try to find it in case you need more info.