Air Conditioner Issues

[djsamuel]

Well, here we are at Highlands Hammock State Park, in Sebring, FL (key word Florida) and we find our air conditioner does not work. The fan turns on and I can hear the compressor turn on, but no cool air. Worked fine when we had the camper out last month for Mother's Day. With Florida being the key word, it is HOT to have no A/C. Has anybody had this problem before? We have the Dometic Penguin II A/C, 13.5K unit. We purchased a 5 year extended warranty so we still have 3.5 years left, so that's good. Still not too pleased though.

Thanks.

Doug

[daplumbr]

I just ran some searches on troubleshooting and/or problems with that model on Google. I also ran through the installation/owner's manual on-line. The only thing that turned up was the usual iced evaporator and too low a input voltage. Since neither is likely your problem, a safe guess might be a loose connector let the R410 out? With both the fan and the compressor running but not cooling, I'm not sure what else it could be. If it was a car, I'd say check the compressor clutch and/or belt, but these are almost certainly direct drive. One simple thing to try is disconnect all power to the unit (flip the breaker) for several minutes and then try it again. There is a long shot possibility that something (what, I don't know) got overloaded and tripped something (what, I don't know) that's resettable with all power off. 

[djsamuel]

I just ran some searches on troubleshooting and/or problems with that model on Google. I also ran through the installation/owner's manual on-line. The only thing that turned up was the usual iced evaporator and too low a input voltage. Since neither is likely your problem, a safe guess might be a loose connector let the R410 out? With both the fan and the compressor running but not cooling, I'm not sure what else it could be. If it was a car, I'd say check the compressor clutch and/or belt, but these are almost certainly direct drive. One simple thing to try is disconnect all power to the unit (flip the breaker) for several minutes and then try it again. There is a long shot possibility that something (what, I don't know) got overloaded and tripped something (what, I don't know) that's resettable with all power off. 

Thanks for the help. I tried cycling the breaker earlier, but no dice. At least it's raining now and has cooled a bit. Thanks again.

[djsamuel]

We're home from camping and I took the cover off of the A/C.  I had a suspicion the motor start or run capacitor may be bad, even though I could hear the compressor.  But I thought maybe it wasn't turning the right RPM.  When I took the cover off I could see refrigerant oil in the base.  I looked at the tubing and found the crack shown below.  So it is back to the dealer for this one.  Fortunately I have the extended warranty.

[charliem]

[font size="3"]Dang, Doug,

How much more can go wrong for you? Although the AC failure is not LL's doing, it's still irritating. I hate to even suggest you try the M****w**e. Mine went out, but the return policy of the manufacturer was cool. Copy the S/N label, cut off the plug, and mail both to the company. Throw the remainder away. The new replacement was at my house in three days.

Good luck to you and Camp On.
[/font]

[djsamuel]

Well, I am looking at it as a freak event.  I am waiting to call the service department at the RV dealer to take it in to get fixed.  It was frustrating when it happened, and it was a HOT and humid few days of camping; but we still had fun.  At least the failure occurred on a two night local trip rather than a long distance one.  

As far as the other problems I've had, they've been basically roof leaks, poorly cut panels, a loose plumbing fitting (fixed at the campsite) and tires.  I got a new tire, had Don at LivinLite send me a new panel for the refrigerator, and I have the leaks taken care of (once I finally found the source).  I have about 6,000 miles on the trailer now and no problems while towing.  It also tows great. So I have to look at the bright side

[charliem]

[font size="3"]Roger that. Keep on the sunny side of the street.........................
[/font]

[djsamuel]

[quote source="/post/12327/thread" timestamp="1434371691" author="@charliem"][font size="3"]Roger that. Keep on the sunny side of the street.........................
[/font][/quote]I remember one guy on RVNet said that to stay sane with a camper, you need to look at each problem as a new adventure.  I just made the appointment for Wednesday, and also found out there will be no deductible, regardless of the Dometic warranty or my extended warranty.

[djsamuel]

Just dropped the camper off at the dealer this morning.  I asked the service manager if they have a lot of A/C problems with all of their campers and he said yes.  He said 10 years ago, A/C units would last 20 years with no problems; now they are changing them all of the time.  Coleman used to be a mainstay of the camper A/C industry, but when they were bought out, everything went cheap, both Coleman and Dometic.  He said years ago they could just solder a schrader valve onto the tubing and recharge the units, but now the tubing is too thin.  So, make sure you maintain your units.  I should have mine back in a week or less.

Doug

[dh50]

[quote source="/post/12327/thread" timestamp="1434371691" author="@charliem"][font size="3"]Roger that. Keep on the sunny side of the street.........................
[/font][/quote][font size="4"][font color="#196ce6"]To keep on the sunny side of the street here in Florida....we look for shade trees!  [/font][font color="#e6193b"]96 degrees[/font][font color="#196ce6"] yesterday....almost beat a 1921 record of [/font][font color="#e6193b"]99 degrees![/font][font color="#196ce6"]   8-)[/font][/font]

[whoofit]

[quote source="/post/12434/thread" timestamp="1434551967" author="@djsamuel"]Just dropped the camper off at the dealer this morning.  I asked the service manager if they have a lot of A/C problems with all of their campers and he said yes.  He said 10 years ago, A/C units would last 20 years with no problems; now they are changing them all of the time.  Coleman used to be a mainstay of the camper A/C industry, but when they were bought out, everything went cheap, both Coleman and Dometic.  He said years ago they could just solder a schrader valve onto the tubing and recharge the units, but now the tubing is too thin.  So, make sure you maintain your units.  I should have mine back in a week or less.

Doug[/quote][p]This is our experience. The Aljo Aly trailer we just got rid of was a 1989. We got it from a family member who bought it new and used it regularly. We had it set up for years at the ocean and used it regularly. Never serviced the A/C other than filters. Never repaired the A/C, 'cuz it never failed. It was a Coleman.[/p][p]
[/p][p]First thing the buyers check was the A/C....cold and quiet after 25 years....that's a quarter century to us lay folk.[/p][p]
[/p][p]I'm glad to have the side mount A/C now with all the problems I've read about with the rooftop ones being a sone problem and failures. I hope you get it sorted soon, DJ.
[/p]

[daplumbr]

I just turned on our here at home to see what I could do about the exterior sound. However, the wa-wa-wa-wa-wa low frequency resonance inside I noted in another thread is so bad I may give up before I start and call LL about what to do. The compressor is either not mounted correctly or not running correctly. I suspect the former. After it stops raining and dries out, I'll go up and take the cover off to see what's up. Does anyone happen to know if the unit should be mounted to the roof with any type of "cushioning", like rubber grommets, or a heavy rubber gasket, or etc.? Or maybe that's all hidden by the sealant anyway.