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06-18-2019, 05:43 PM
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#15
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Senior Member
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: Corinth, MS
Posts: 485
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Gary RVRoamer
Better idea: Buy a decent quality brand of cap on Amazon or Ebay and install them immediately. Keep the old ones as spares.
Why? The old caps are aging and will fail eventually, so get those new ones installed and postpone the inevitable. Better to avoid the failure altogether than to merely have a spare when the a/c quits at 11 pm. If you ever have to use the old spare, get a new one to replace it at your convenience.
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Good advice, that's what I did
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Mike & Becky
2005 Holiday Rambler Navigator 45PBQ
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06-19-2019, 08:04 AM
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#16
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Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2019
Location: Braidwood Il.
Posts: 8,300
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The start cap is like a jump start,dumps it stored energy to get compressor moving. The run caps help sync the power demand amps with the less volts available at the paticular part 60hz phase .These two are partially out of phase with each other. The run cap smooths it out"lines them up better" as seen with amp/volts phases on an oscilloscope you can hear the difference and measure reduced amp draw on a meter. Too big run cap will push the sync the other way past idea sync. Think of timing on a gas engine the right amount of advance timing is ideal.A multi cap can be replaced wit two caps instead if you can fit them in you may just need a jumper wire.
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95 Monaco Crown Royale
M11 400hp, 4060 trans.
Aquahot, Generac Guardian7.5k
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06-19-2019, 10:07 AM
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#17
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Senior Member
American Coach Owners Club
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: SW Florida
Posts: 2,971
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ancabuild
As I was traveling in Florida, my roof ac in the front of the coach quit working and trip the breaker, I did some troubleshooting once I got to my next destination and found out the starting capacitor was fried. I went looking for one and when I found it I also found that the price was extremely expensive at $52.00 at one rv place when I could buy it on amazon for $12.00, of course I need it right then. So, I had to fork their asking price. So, If you own an RV I would advise you to find out which capacitors you need for start and run capacitors for your ac's and purchase a spare one of each and have them with you to replace on Amazon so that you don’t get stabbed like I did. Hope this helps someone. Cheers
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Ahhhhhh, could you not wait, one or two days and pay a little extra for the quick shipping option?
Last one I bought, was from a dealer as well and for approx. $26, which was still a lot more than Amazon.
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07 Revolution LE 40E_1 1/2 Baths_Spartan MM Chassis_06 400HP C9 CAT_ Allison 3000
Dinghy_2010 Jeep Wrangler JKU ISLANDER
1998 36ft. National Tropi-Cal Chevy Model 6350 (SOLD)
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06-19-2019, 10:25 AM
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#18
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Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2018
Posts: 4,873
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TriMoot
Thanks Solo_RV_Guy. I went home at lunch and squinted into the air vents and came up with these numbers. It appears the front and back AC units are both the same part number, just different serial numbers.
I went over to Dometic's site and attempted to plug in the numbers somewhere but didn't have much luck. I sent them an email with the info in hopes they will get back to me.
But just in case you have a different website, here's the numbers:
Front: Part# 3105457, Box Kit, S/N: 63508383
Rear: Part# 3105457, Box Kit, S/N: 6350373 (I'm thinking the serial is wrong as I was really squinting hard to see it. I even recorded my voice saying the numbers, but I think I crossed my eyes or something as I would think they would be closer in number. Maybe the 8 is missing after the zero.)
Thanks again!
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The part number is for what Dometic calls "mechanical air distribution box." You need the model number from the A.C. chassis. You'll probably have to get up on the roof and remove the shroud and if you're up there, just look for the capacitor(s). Depending on the exact model you *may* have both a "start" cap and a "run" cap. The start capacitor is likely physically larger.
If you need to remover the capacitor to read the numbers on it, be very careful to not touch the terminals on it. You can discharge it by shorting the terminals together with a screwdriver shaft for a couple of seconds and it will be safer to handle.
Dometic has redesigned their site; it used to be much easier to find replacement part info. (Grrrrr.)
__________________
2005 Four Winds Majestic 23A
“To the world you may be one person; but to one person you may be the world.” - Dr Suess
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06-19-2019, 01:34 PM
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#19
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Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Sep 2013
Posts: 2,476
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__________________
2014 Newell 2020P 45'8" ISX 600 HP
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06-19-2019, 01:40 PM
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#20
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 672
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ancabuild
The easiest way is to match the numbers on the existing caps by getting up there and reading or taking a picture of the specs. The guy that sold the cap to me said you can go a little larger capacity but not smaller
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This is only for the start capacitor (black) the run capacitors must be within 5%-+Having said that run capacitors are also rated with voltages. You can go with a higher voltage rating but not capacitance
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06-19-2019, 03:15 PM
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#21
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2017
Posts: 1,299
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I don't know about RV A/C units but many home A/C units have 2 capacitors, a start and a run. You can often buy brand name, direct replacement for 20%-30% of the price on eBay. Worth having around.
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Retired. 31 year of automotive engineering for one of the Detroit 3, specializing in Powertrain Control Systems.
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06-19-2019, 04:24 PM
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#22
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Senior Member
Join Date: May 2015
Posts: 127
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As some others have mentioned here and on other forums, rarely, probably never do you see a start capacitor on a fan, only on a compressor. That will always be a single unit. On the other hand, fan and compressor both use a run capacitor, often a combination unit that handles both the fan and the compressor. These have 3 terminals labeled fan, common, and herm (herm being the compressor). I agree with those who question the quality of many Chinese capacitors simply because I see so many other Chinese imports that are so sketchy! FWIW, the kinds of capacitors we’re talking about here are constructed by laying a separator between two conductors. The separator is a dielectric (paste or plastic that I have seen) and the conductors look like foil. These pieces of foil are very close to each other because this separator is super thin. The capacitance depends on the thickness of the separation between the conductors and the area of the conductors. This conductor/dielectric/conductor assembly is rolled up and put in the “can” we call the capacitor. Having said all that......whew......it doesn’t take much for a power surge or an internal physical contact between the foils to cause the whole thing to fail. Seems like a very common thing and so spares make sense.
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06-19-2019, 04:59 PM
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#23
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Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2013
Location: Melbourne Beach, FL
Posts: 1,945
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Solo_RV_Guy
The part number is for what Dometic calls "mechanical air distribution box." You need the model number from the A.C. chassis. You'll probably have to get up on the roof and remove the shroud and if you're up there, just look for the capacitor(s). Depending on the exact model you *may* have both a "start" cap and a "run" cap. The start capacitor is likely physically larger.
If you need to remover the capacitor to read the numbers on it, be very careful to not touch the terminals on it. You can discharge it by shorting the terminals together with a screwdriver shaft for a couple of seconds and it will be safer to handle.
Dometic has redesigned their site; it used to be much easier to find replacement part info. (Grrrrr.)
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Thanks Solo: Yeah, I had also emailed Dometic and they told me the same thing..wrong numbers. So I'll hopefully have some time this weekend to crawl up there and check them out.
Thanks for the reminder to discharge the caps 1st. I'd hate to remember it after I wake up from falling off the roof..OUCH!
I really think it's a great idea to get a jump on this and have them ready for when (not if) it fails.
Thanks to all for another great thread.
__________________
___________________
2005 Newmar Essex 4502
1997 Suzuki Sidekick JX, Spokane, WA (Hoping to replace this soon)
1997 RexAir 32' Ford F53 Chassis, Banks system.
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06-19-2019, 06:13 PM
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#24
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Senior Member
Fleetwood Owners Club Freightliner Owners Club
Join Date: Jan 2019
Location: Wadsworth, Ohio
Posts: 379
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TriMoot
So how do we determine exactly which caps we need? Off the top of my head I don't know what model of AC units I have other than Dometic, and since the rig is from 1997 I am assuming the units are too. Guess I should crawl up there and grab the existing part numbers from the caps just to be safe. Hopefully they're easy to see and read part numbers.
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Remember capacitors store energy, be very careful when looking for numbers, It can be a “Shocking” experience
__________________
Barney & Penny with our two puppies Lucy & Dixie
2008 Fleetwood Discovery
2020 Jeep Cherokee Trailhawk
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06-19-2019, 06:21 PM
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#25
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Senior Member
Join Date: Apr 2018
Posts: 672
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You could take the capacitor to a motor rewind shop, and if it is still functioning there is a meter that can tell the capacitance. I'm sure they would be happy to do that. I have one, but its a bit of a trip for you
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06-19-2019, 07:06 PM
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#26
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Senior Member
Winnebago Owners Club Fleetwood Owners Club Holiday Rambler Owners Club
Join Date: Dec 2011
Location: North East Florida
Posts: 2,007
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I will chime in about capacitor quality something I know since I've been in the A/C industry quite awhile
From the early 70's until mid 80's capacitors were generally made in the U.S. and seldom failed. Mid 80s' until late 90's our capacitors came from Mexico and they seamed to last 5 to 7 years. Since then all the manufactures use Chinese caps and they seem to last around 18 months.
Now we as a business sell AmRad capacitors. built in the U.S. as replacements and have been doing so for a long time with no failures.
__________________
2019 Horizon 42Q
Cummins L-9 450 HP
Maxum Chassis / IFS with Tag
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06-20-2019, 01:22 AM
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#27
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Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Woodstock, GA
Posts: 182
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Quote:
Originally Posted by tropical36
Ahhhhhh, could you not wait, one or two days and pay a little extra for the quick shipping option?
Last one I bought, was from a dealer as well and for approx. $26, which was still a lot more than Amazon.
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It was more than a couple of days and with 90 deg. weather, two grands, a daughter and DW I could not put it off. I would have forked more than money to keep them at peace. If you know what I mean.
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06-20-2019, 04:24 AM
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#28
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Senior Member
Monaco Owners Club
Join Date: Feb 2016
Posts: 1,051
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ancabuild
It was more than a couple of days and with 90 deg. weather, two grands, a daughter and DW I could not put it off. I would have forked more than money to keep them at peace. If you know what I mean.
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No doubt just about anyone else would have done the same including me.
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