Hey all, ill try and make this short and conciseMY wife and i have been rving for about 5 years. We have had pop ups, travel trailers and this year we stepped up to the plate for our first (what i consider) big trailerPicked up a nice 2014 KZ 36 foot toy hauler 5th wheelSory folks after a $70k truck to tow with the voltage was out of the question or any of the other big names but the KZ we could afford and we liked it.It does not have the second AC unit but does have the 15,000 BTU AC upgradeTrailer is wired for 30 amp serviceAC is a coleman machI picked up the trailer out of state so the dealer is NO helpOn the way home with our new toy we spent a night in an RV park just for the road tripAC seemed to work just fine and was nice and coldFinally got home and went to transfer all of our stuff to our new trailer in the driveway. The dealer told me the AC would run on a single 20 am standard house electrical socket as long as it was all you were using. So i decided to plug her in and turn it on given the fact it was 99 degrees out todayThe AC never got really cold. I took out the temp gun and it never really blew much below 75 degrees. It just was like a fan.I took the grill off inside the trailer and made sure the filters were clean. The ducting was good with no leaks and not loosing any cold air. It all looked nice and fine as you would expect from a newer trailerits a 2014 Went up on the roof, took the cover off, and cleaned out the condenser and looked at the caps. Everything looked in order will no sign of strangenessIs it possible its not really turning on because its not on a real 30 amp service plug but just on an adapter to a regular 3 prong house outlet.Any suggestions?The wife is about to beat me for buying the "broken trailer "and of course the dealer being out of state is absolutely no help

99* outside and you get 75* air inside? That sounds pretty good. You can have any dealer check out the AC and get warranty work done if needed. BTW, a 2nd AC would make things a lot better.

azdryheat wrote:99* outside and you get 75* air inside? That sounds pretty good. You can have any dealer check out the AC and get warranty work done if needed. BTW, a 2nd AC would make things a lot better.it was more like 81 actuallymy laser thermometer is a posYes i agree that a 2nd ac would be better but we live in colorado. 99% of the year we are in the mountains campingIts 60 degrees up there and us the AC twice a yearit just happens to be very hot lately at homeI know where your at in AZ a 2nd is like standard equipmentbeggars can't be choosers.We are lucky to have what we doMy question is really the followingCan one run a coleman mach 15k btu AC on a house cord or is that my problem

If the air going into the unit is 80F, then the air going out should be about 58 - 64F.Was the air on the rooftop side blowing out warm or hot? It should have been, but guessing that you shut it off before going up there to check the capacitors and remove the cover.Where you using the same extension cord used for your garden tools, or did you plug the RV directly into the home receptacle?If you where using a small diameter cord, that could be the problem. You really need to check the voltage inside the RV while it is running. If it is taking in 80F air and blowing out 70F air, then it is low on freon. Adding freon is a "Option" but they would need to install a freon filler valve, and that cost would be over $100. Find a leak (your system would only hold about 2 pounds of freon, due to it's small size) might be difficult. If it is leaking, and you do not repair the leak, then it will all leak out again. The biggest problem is that the repair (if you can find anyone interested in spending 4 hours working on such a small system) is that the cost usually is close to what a new one costs. If it is only 4-5 years old, then warranty repair might be possible. Call Coleman and ask. They will need the serial number for the unit.Good luck!Fred.

I have one of those volt meters that you plug in to a receptical it was reading 114 while we were using a 20 amp to run the AC. We were also using a 30 ft 30amp cord atached to our 30ft 50amp with a 50>30 dogbone and then a 30>20 reducer. AC is 12 years old.

18 to 20 degree differential is normal for any air conditioner-home or RV.

15000 BTU AC troubleshooting or not? | Good Sam Community

Golden_HVAC
Explorer
Jun 21, 2016
automagp68 wrote:
dougrainer wrote:
36 foot and 1- 15k AC unit. 99 degrees outside. It will NOT cool period. Now, at this point, you need the compressor amps checked. NOTHING else will do for a check out other than this. Once that is done will determine if the AC unit is performing to spec. RVP(Coleman) will not warranty this unit. It is too old. Doug

Thanks everyone for the replies

Let me clarify a few things

Coach is 35 feet but 10+ of it is garage.

Garage door was shut and vents closed as to not cool the garage.

I was using a plain old orange extension cord like for power tools or something.
Since we were parked at home nothing was on in the coach except the battery charger was running
Voltage at the plug is unknown but i can check that today.
When i was on the roof like i said in the first post i DID clean out the entire unit and check the ducting for leaks

Should the AC have separate breakers for fan and compressor? I doubt it but ill look today.

For those of you suggesting the AC will not cool the coach, why do they sell it then?
If that were the case i doubt i would be the first person to complain about it
I know a bigger unit would be "better" but like i said we typically use the ac twice a year
we camp in the colorado mountains

The Orange extension cord is probably the problem. If it is 16 gauge, it is rated at about 9 amps and with a motor starting current of 30 amps for 2 seconds, it really will not do well.

If it is 14 gauge extension cord, then it is rated at a max of 15 amps, but probably will have to much voltage loss. Especially when starting the compressor.

If it is 12 gauge, it will be nearly the size outside diameter as the RV cord itself, and should handle the 20 amp load, and take the 30+ amp start current without to much voltage loss.

I have a 30' Bounder with dual pane windows, 13,500 Btu A/C and lived one summer in Mesa AZ. I could keep it around 85 inside. I was getting a 20F temp drop across the evaporator, and had my RV plugged into a 50 amp receptacle, with 118 volts while under load.

Once the sun goes down, and it is only 95F out, it would cool to 75F inside.

My guess is your power cord is to small. If you can plug into the 20 amp plug in the laundry room, it is better than the wiring going to all the bedroom receptacles, then to the garage, and you might get a higher voltage reading under load.

If you have a 30 amp electric dryer, with a 4 wire receptacle, you could make an adapter from that to the standard 50 amp stove receptacle, (buy a 30 amp 4 wire dryer cord and a surface mount stove receptacle, and connect them together) then plug in the dryer cord to the dryer receptacle, then plug in a 50 to 30 amp adapter to that, and you can plug your RV directly into a 30 amp receptacle that is already in your home.

In any event, if you can pull the RV close enough that it's own cord can reach a receptacle in your home, it will probably work right - if you can avoid any extension cords.

If you have a electric stove near the RV, then you could unplug it, and using a standard RV 50 to 30 amp adapter, plug in there. At least you will be able to figure out of the A/C is suffering from low voltage.

Good luck!

Fred.

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