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Old 08-19-2009, 07:29 AM   #1
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janetpowell
Air Conditioner Issue

Fred and I are enjoying our time as Camp Hosts at First Landing State Park in Virginia Beach. We are going on our second month. It has also been a summer of repairs!!! The truck, then the awning got destroyed in a heavy storm, and now our air conditioner is not working well.
We don't use the air conditioner very much, but last night was a bit humid. During the night I was awkened when the air conditioner cycled on and off for just a short period a couple times. It was strange. This morning it is clicking and we can hear the ?motor? turning on and off. The fan continues to run, but it doesn't seem to be putting out cooler air. I turned it off and thought we would give it a rest. It is expected to be hot and humid for the next couple days.
I know it's hard to diagnose with very little information, but I was hoping our friends might have some ideas of where to start.
Thanks! Janet and Fred Powell
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Old 08-19-2009, 07:04 PM   #2
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Hi Janet and Fred

Glad summer is treating you well, just the repairs ……

The AC, well this much I know, but have no idea if it is your problem.

This is from commercial cold storages, but I would believe apply here as well.

If the fan runs, then that is ½ the battle. It means the control board is at least 1/2 working right.

Next is the compressor. In order to get any cooling, the compressor has to run. It compresses the Freon (R22)gas that makes the cold. When the compressor short cycles, on and off and on and off, it is trying to run but something is shutting it back down. Now what?

This may be the simple correction. See this excerpt from the Dometic AC service manual

C22a. Ambient Temperature
Running the air conditioner or heat pump at a temperature
below 75 degrees Fahrenheit may cause the inside coil
(evaporator) to freeze up in the cooling mode. The most
common time for this to occur is at night. Even after the
ambient temperature has gone up, the coils will remain frozen.
To assist the defrosting of the coil, turn the air conditioner
to HI FAN mode; set the temperature selector to a
higher setting and let the air conditioner or heat pump fan
run until the coils are defrosted.


Source: http://www.nwrvsupply.com/manuals/du...at_service.pdf Takes a while to open, it is 127 pages

If the AC evaporator coil, ( the one inside up in the ceiling above the plastic ceiling grate and mesh filter) freezes up, then it can start and stop the compressor I do believe. It does on cold storage units that is for sure. If you run the system on low, it can at times freeze up at night as the fan is not running enough to defrost the unit. As they say above, turn the fan on manual (HI) and let it blow thru the unit to defrost it. Then start as normal. How long? Well maybe 30 minutes plus. If you hear water running across the roof during this time, then for sure you where froze up.

On the cold storage units we use to have, we had electric heaters inside the coils to burn out the frost. These small RV AC units have a freeze up switch on the evaporator coil that shuts down the compressor when you approach the freeze up state. Then the blower runs to defrost it.

If this helps, then that was the simple fix. If it does not, then it may be more complex and your compressor start capacitor may have a problem or the compressor it self.

We have a AC guru person here on the forum who works on AC systems all the time. Rich something I think. But I have not seem him post now in a while and I do not remember his screen name. I think he has his Sunline parked on a permanent spot.

Hope this helps

John
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Old 08-19-2009, 07:27 PM   #3
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janetpowell
air conditioner issue

Thanks John! We can always count on you for an intelligent answer!! We left the air conditioner off all day, then turned it back on in the late afternoon during dinner preparations. It seemed to run ok. Now this evening as we prepare for bed, it is quite hot and humid. So, we will try setting the temp about 78 degrees and leave the fan on. Last night we had it set on 74 degrees. It was quite comfortable to sleep, but the sound of the air conditioner going on and off in short cycles kept me awake. Fred also awoke and did turn the temp up a bit.
We do have a mobile RV repair guy that fixed our awning, so we may call him. Actually, he is due to replace the new handles on the awning, they are defective, so possibly we will pick his brain while he is here installing them.
This is the hottest week we have had here in Va Beach, fortunately!!!
Thanks again, Janet and Fred
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Old 08-20-2009, 07:00 AM   #4
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I had a similar experience on my T-2570 as what JohnB is referring to. Once the sun would set, a short time later my AC would start cycling, depending on some factors such as the outside temperature and humidity level. Cool, but damp nights were especially bad. Ours would cycle so short that it would build up pressure that it apparently wasn't releasing, and each time it would try to restart it was more difficult than the last, resulting in an eventual tripping of the main breaker where the trailer was plugged into shore power.

We like to sleep in very cold temperatures, so we would set the AC right around 67 most nights. If it was hot out, the unit ran great. But if it was cold and damp we had to set the temp all the way up into the mid-70's to prevent this problem. Technicians told me there was nothing wrong with my AC.

The only "fix" that eliminated the problem for us was to run a small, electric fan-powered space heater sitting on the dinette table (beneath the A/C unit) pointed upward. Reading John's post I now see why this makes sense. With this setup, we could get the trailer down into the 50's if we wanted!

Jeff

P.S. our new Sunline 5th wheel does not have any such problem
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Old 08-20-2009, 11:57 AM   #5
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janetpowell
air conditioner

Thank-you for the response. Last night we ran the fan and the air. Again about 3AM, the short cycling and clicking started. We had it set on 78, but the inside temp was 72 when Fred got up about 6AM. Later I noticed it was set at 80, but the inside temp was 64. Not sure what it means......We will be calling the mobile RV guy...it is 94 today with 85% humidity, air conditioning at night really isn't optional!!
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Old 08-27-2009, 02:47 PM   #6
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janetpowell
air conditioner issue

The handle and arm for the canopy finally arrived and the mobile RV repair people installed them and also replaced the thermostat for our air conditioner. Works like a charm!!! And only a $40 fix!!! We are back in business. We will be here until mid September and then we head to Maine. I don't think we will need the air conditioner in Maine. Hmmmm, what can go wrong with the heater????
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