Coleman Mach AC Intermittent Operation

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by Bad Larry

I looked at my ACs this morning, and the fans are intact, nothing unusual, and no evidence of contact with the shroud. Hopefully in your case, the fan assembly is either available quickly, or they can salvage one off another unit for you, then address the root cause of the contact.

It’s the intermittent nature of our problem that has me concerned, we are about to embark on a multiple week trip ourselves, hopefully it will work more days than not. I have a couple copies of the assessment form required by Maxxair, so if it goes down on the road, I will try to get a qualified tech to document the pertinent info to begin the replacement, again…

When it comes to finding a replacement on our own, I am challenged to find the EXACT model number, but can find a few that are very close. I suppose a call to maxxair would clarify the differences in model numbers. Last time I called them, it took several days for a recontact after selecting the “call back” option rather than holding…their customer service follow up was less than impressive (right in alignment with the current reliability of their product)…

Intermittent could be a bad freeze sensor. Mine is at the dealer now. They said the freeze sensor is bad. They have asked Renegade for a replacement ac unit because the compressor is pretty beat up from the fans when it broke.

Got an email today saying they have also submitted the replacement to AirXcel (Colemen) but it didnt say if they got any answer from Renegade. So its still a waiting game for me.

I think I might buy a new freeze sensor from Amazon, $22. I know the plug is different than the stock one but all Id need to do is cut the wires and splice them together. I also want another fan but the dealer wants $150 for it. I might hit up a couple other dealers and see if they have any mach 10s in the junk pile that I could get the fan off of at a discounted price.


Jerry

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by Bad Larry

Halfprice, it’s a Mach 10, and I will check the fan blades this morning, that’s an interesting problem…should be a fairly easy fix, right?.

Someone on the Valencia Verona Verona LE Facebook page posted the instructions on how to change the fan blade.

If you are not a member of the group you should join and do a search for it Its a fairly easy looking fix

Jerry

[Bad Larry]

Thanks again for your follow up Jerry. We’ll see what happens starting tomorrow as we head east. Not in my nature to wing it, but in the current pathetic climate of supply issues, what other options are there?

I have the Airxcel assessment forms, worst case scenario, I will see what we can find for an adequate replacement on the road…I already briefed my wife on the process of getting the new unit to the roof if it comes to it. At the very least, it would be good entertainment for the spectators at the RV park, right?

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by Bad Larry

Thanks again for your follow up Jerry. We’ll see what happens starting tomorrow as we head east. Not in my nature to wing it, but in the current pathetic climate of supply issues, what other options are there?

I have the Airxcel assessment forms, worst case scenario, I will see what we can find for an adequate replacement on the road…I already briefed my wife on the process of getting the new unit to the roof if it comes to it. At the very least, it would be good entertainment for the spectators at the RV park, right?

Tie a rope around the new unit and while standing on the roof pull it up and have the unit slide on the ladder. It helps to have someone under the unit pushing it up.

Ive installed two ac units on thor class a My buddy has a small lift so it was easy to get up there

Jerry

[outlawten5]

Halfprice, I do the same with exhaust fans. Use the ladder as a kind of conveyor belt. Definitely a 2 man job though.

[DeetsMaggie]

Intermittent nature of your problem seems very consistent with an icing issue. That is to say, the cooling coil is icing up.

Our Coleman Mach had same behavior. Would make cold air for a while, then start blowing hot air. Shut unit down for hours or overnight and it would blow cold air again, for a while, till it began blowing hot air again.

There is a thermostat, or freeze-stat placed in the cooling coil. It's purpose is to intermittently turn the compressor off when the coil gets too cold. If it gets too cold, especially with high humidity, the condensation freezes on the coil and eventually blocks all air flow thru it. Until you shut the thing down and it thaws, and makes cold air again.

The "freeze-stat" is just wedged in between fins on the cooling coil about 1/2" or 3/4" deep. A mickey mouse way to mount it. Ours fell out. It was still a functioning "freeze-stat" but out of position it never sensed the cold temp of the coil to shut down the compressor. You just have to reach up there and stick it back in. A pretty easy fix, but on our model it required removal of the electric heater coil and the control electronic box to get in there. You can't actually look up and see the coil on our model so wife's little make-up mirror helps to see where it fell out. Just stick it back in, a little deeper. maybe a dab of epoxy as well.

I imagine lots of AC's get replaced at great cost due to this issue.

Maybe this will help you.

DeetsMaggie

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by DeetsMaggie

Intermittent nature of your problem seems very consistent with an icing issue. That is to say, the cooling coil is icing up.

Our Coleman Mach had same behavior. Would make cold air for a while, then start blowing hot air. Shut unit down for hours or overnight and it would blow cold air again, for a while, till it began blowing hot air again.

There is a thermostat, or freeze-stat placed in the cooling coil. It's purpose is to intermittently turn the compressor off when the coil gets too cold. If it gets too cold, especially with high humidity, the condensation freezes on the coil and eventually blocks all air flow thru it. Until you shut the thing down and it thaws, and makes cold air again.

The "freeze-stat" is just wedged in between fins on the cooling coil about 1/2" or 3/4" deep. A mickey mouse way to mount it. Ours fell out. It was still a functioning "freeze-stat" but out of position it never sensed the cold temp of the coil to shut down the compressor. You just have to reach up there and stick it back in. A pretty easy fix, but on our model it required removal of the electric heater coil and the control electronic box to get in there. You can't actually look up and see the coil on our model so wife's little make-up mirror helps to see where it fell out. Just stick it back in, a little deeper. maybe a dab of epoxy as well.

I imagine lots of AC's get replaced at great cost due to this issue.

Maybe this will help you.

DeetsMaggie

Freeze sensors going bad is fairly common. Its the first thing a tech checks when looking at an ac unit thats not cooling

[Bad Larry]

Thanks again for your responses, so far, so good with the front AC. I will be keeping an eye on the freeze sensor issue for sure. It does seem like a potential cause of what we are experiencing, especially with the additional humidity this time of year.

Thanks again for all your input, I appreciate it.

[halfprice]

So Coleman approved a new ac unit and renegade will be shipping it to my dealer. Service manager is waiting to hear when the unit will be available. Then it will take 7 days to get here

So I picked up my mh so I can do a few things to it before our next trip next month

I also bought a new fan blade just to keep in my parts/tool bin. If this happens again I can replace it myself

Jerry

[Bad Larry]

Halfprice, glad to hear they are getting you taken care of.

We are currently in Oklahoma, it’s hot at 105, 29% RH(not as hot as LHC), and the ACs are working hard to keep up…both seem to be hanging in there, with the front AC currently out performing the rear (57.2 degrees discharge air, vs. 69.5) measured with a UEI test meter…

[halfprice]

Originally Posted by Bad Larry

Halfprice, glad to hear they are getting you taken care of.



We are currently in Oklahoma, it’s hot at 105, 29% RH(not as hot as LHC), and the ACs are working hard to keep up…both seem to be hanging in there, with the front AC currently out performing the rear (57.2 degrees discharge air, vs. 69.5) measured with a UEI test meter…

I put reflexit in all the windows when parked at home. Helps keep the temps down. I left them in when we went on our trip and planned to remove them when we got to the cg. But it was so hot we kept them in. Reflexit really helps keep the inside cool

[Bad Larry]

Yes, we had a piece of reflective insulating material for each of the windows in our last rig, and even for the walls at the back of our cabinets. It made a huge difference.

I didn’t take the time to get set up for this rig, but will be picking up some materials on this trip.

Thanks again for your reply

[halfprice]

New ac came in and I dropped the mh off at the dealer this afternoon. Hopefully get it back early next week so I can loaded it up for our yellowstone trip In 2 weeks

Also bought a spare freeze sensor from Amazon and fan blade on ebay. Hopefully I'll never need them

Jerry

[halfprice]

Well they got right to it today. New ac unit installed and she is back at home

Time to put all the stuff back into the cargo bays and it loaded for yellowstone