Community Forums

rogelling · 08-21-2015, 08:51 PM

Our front a.c. began making loud rattle so I shut it off and got on the roof to discover the rubber isolation mounts for the condenser fan had sheared off. I can't get anyone out here till Thursday. Fortunately the weather has turned cool.

I hope this is not a harbinger of things to come because on inspection the mounts were pretty corroded by moisture....on a 7 month old coach!

Old Crows · 08-21-2015, 08:57 PM

AC make and model?

CJ7365 · 08-21-2015, 09:07 PM

Wow, 7 months, wonder if the fan is not balanced causing excessive vibration

Sammie · 08-21-2015, 09:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rogelling

Our front a.c. began making loud rattle so I shut it off and got on the roof to discover the rubber isolation mounts for the condenser fan had sheared off. I can't get anyone out here till Thursday. Fortunately the weather has turned cool.

I hope this is not a harbinger of things to come because on inspection the mounts were pretty corroded by moisture....on a 7 month old coach!

Roger,

Start by reading this thread.
http://www.irv2.com/forums/f278/rvp-...it-210236.html

Sammie

loisjop · 08-22-2015, 04:44 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rogelling

Our front a.c. began making loud rattle so I shut it off and got on the roof to discover the rubber isolation mounts for the condenser fan had sheared off. I can't get anyone out here till Thursday. Fortunately the weather has turned cool.

I hope this is not a harbinger of things to come because on inspection the mounts were pretty corroded by moisture....on a 7 month old coach!

Roger, I'm pretty sure you have the a/c units that have the B/C condenser fans that have been discussed extensively here. Did you check the fan to see if a blade had broken? That is usually the cause of the mounts shearing. It's usually the top that shears off. If that's the case you can unscrew the old mounts and screw new ones on. I would use blue loctite on the new ones.
Call RVP at 314 832-3446 and have them send you all new D model fans and new mounts. Noel

voltdoc · 08-22-2015, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loisjop

Roger, I'm pretty sure you have the a/c units that have the B/C condenser fans that have been discussed extensively here. Did you check the fan to see if a blade had broken? That is usually the cause of the mounts shearing. It's usually the top that shears off. If that's the case you can unscrew the old mounts and screw new ones on. I would use blue loctite on the new ones.
Call RVP at 314 832-3446 and have them send you all new D model fans and new mounts. Noel

X2 - at first glance the fan may not have looked broken but I would bet it has one or more large cracks in the hub, remove it and inspect carefully. Just helped another Entegra owner with the same symptoms - fan was cracked and making noise but had not fully broken yet. It is good you were there and caught it before more damage was done. As Noel said call RVP and they will send you the parts. If your other fans are not D models they also WILL fail eventually.

DebbieMH · 08-22-2015, 06:21 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by loisjop

Roger, I'm pretty sure you have the a/c units that have the B/C condenser fans that have been discussed extensively here. Did you check the fan to see if a blade had broken? That is usually the cause of the mounts shearing. It's usually the top that shears off. If that's the case you can unscrew the old mounts and screw new ones on. I would use blue loctite on the new ones.
Call RVP at 314 832-3446 and have them send you all new D model fans and new mounts. Noel

X3 .... our front ac did the same thing. Replaced the fan with the D fan and no problems since. (knock on wood!) We replaced all three. Took the tech about 20 minutes. I could have probably done it myself ... but I won't get on the roof (afraid of heights). Now, our back ac does sometimes make louder noises than other times. I haven't yet figured out the pattern, as it really just happens when we are in bed. Any thoughts on that, anyone?

rogelling · 08-22-2015, 01:09 PM

Thanks Noel and everyone else. I new I should have read that thread on cracked Mach fan blades. ...it didn't seem relevant before. ...I have someone coming to fix the mounts on Thursday but I think I will cancel and wait till I get new mounts and blades to do all 3.

brobox · 08-22-2015, 01:22 PM

Roger, I just had my front A/C replaced in Denver. The shop owner told me that 80% of his Colman replacements are due pre "D" model 3 bladed fans breaking and putting a hole in the coil. It's hard to believe that Coleman has not recalled those, but they haven't.

I was in the the 20% with a bad coil solder joint. I had the 6 blade fan and one of my motor mounts was broken also. I will update the other 2 units whne I get home.

50sbuckeye · 08-22-2015, 01:50 PM

I just had my whole unit replace a month ago because of the fan breaking and punctured a hole in the freon line! It starts with a vibration then gets worse. One way to be sure is put the unit in question on fan operation only. If it works ok then you have the same problem that a lot of us have had.

voltdoc · 08-22-2015, 04:41 PM

Helped a 2014 Anthem owner (taraf) a couple days ago to put a D fan on his middle AC unit. When we pulled off the shroud we found what looked to be an intact fan but on closer inspection it had a large crack (it had been making inappropriate noises). We also found this:

The stud or screw or whatever you want to call it that comes up thru the bottom pan to attach the rubber "isolator" mounts was just gone. The owner and I theorize it was never there to begin with. We had to unbolt the unit from the roof, lift it up slightly and put in a new screw. I had the same issue with one of my AC units last year. Also note in the photo above the start capacitor (black box to the left) has broken off its normal attachment point at the top of the motor and was glued to the pan.

As you are checking your fans you may want to make sure those rubber isolators are not loose or missing the attaching screw.

For reference here is a photo of one of the isolator kits that hold the motor in place. Three of these are used on each fan motor:

The stud part points up and along with the hex nut attaches to the motor foot. The flat side points down and rests on the pan, the screw comes up thru the bottom of the pan. If that screw is there and captive in the pan bottom you can usually attach the rubber isolators without unbolting the AC unit from the roof.

If you do need to unbolt the AC unit from the roof, remove the inner gray fiberglass cover (4 nuts). Then remove the 4 long roof bolts which will free the AC unit from the roof. With a helper, try to lift it on one side without shifting it and have your helper feed the screw in from underneath. If you do shift it, it might be hard to get it realigned so the roof bolts line up.

I also noticed that Entegra has added foam blocks under the rear part of the AC pan. I'm assuming that this is to prevent over tightening of the 4 bolts mentioned above causing distortion of the pan which may cause more noise inside the coach. I need to add this to my AC units as some seem much quieter than the others. The foam blocks looked to be about 1" thick but need to check what the proper dimensions need to be. If anyone knows the ideal thickness please let me know.

rogelling · 08-22-2015, 05:04 PM

Noel sure enough one of the studs coming up through the pan is missing. I'm gonna try to use a piece of wood to go under pan and line up nut to hole...long shot.

MRUSA14 · 08-23-2015, 05:13 AM

Wow,Rob, great writeup and terrific photos.

hogdriver · 08-23-2015, 05:13 AM

I'm not sure what the specified torque is on those AC hold down bolts but my trade in 13 Aspire had a front AC unit that the Entegra dealer removed three times to stop water leakage. You need those bolts evenly tight but not overly tightened. The gasket between the AC unit and the roof is a big part about the seal. Make sure the condensate drain is undamaged after you move that AC unit. My old AC unit used two gaskets, one had a notch in it for the condensate hose.