3rd AC failure in 3 years

64thunderbolt wrote:
if it runs while in storage means it is running constantly off & on on a 24 hr per day for how many years?

He answered that in the original post. Longest any of them has lasted is ONE year, Jan 14 to Jan 15, the first one did not last that long (April to Jan).

I too wonder about that "Fail to cool" I can think of a few reasons that can happen.

Condenser coils clogged with cottonwood seeds (That did it for me, a quick cleaning and all was good).

Compressor motor burned out: Common issue where voltage is low, Install a Progressive Industries HW-30C or HW-50C depending on trailer power plug (50 amps gets the 50C, 30 the 30).

Even if the voltage is good (IS where I am parked) Flickers can (And have here) happened, this is where the power goes off sometimes for less than one second, just long enough to stop the compressor, which then tries to restart with full head pressure.. NOT GOOD, the HW-#0C will hold power off 2-3 minutes so the compressor can bleed down and re-start normally.

Finally,, On my Carrier Air-Vs (this may be model specific) there ar ea couple of vibration traps, these are like the water traps in a drain, pipes go down and back up in a U shape.

They have these thigns rubbing up against each other.

And that is why I now have a 15,000 BTU air conditioner in my bedroom, pipes rubbed each other holy.

(The front one I spread the legs a bit so they do not chafe and I expect it to last a long time)

TTguy wrote:
When we are not using it we keep it in a covered storage building with 50Amp service. I set the ac thermostat to 84 degrees to keep the humidity at bay.

Is there adequate ventilation above and around the AC while stored?

How hot does it get up there around the AC in the storage area during the summer while the AC is running?

I have worked on 20 + year old air conditioners, and this failure is not typical.

First I would check the input voltage. If this voltage is typically 110 to 128 volts, I would not be to worried about the voltage.

Second I would make sure that the fan and compressor capacitors are still good. A bad capacitor can make the fan motor stop, and this can cause extreme high head pressure on the compressor and melt the windings. A bad compressor capacitor can also melt the internal wiring.

Also check the power cord end. It should not look melted, or get 'warm' while in use, say while running the A/C or a 1,500 watt electric heater to put a 12 amp load on the receptacle. A infrared heat detector or digital thermostat will indicate if it is getting to warm. It should be within about 5F of normal outside temperature.

You might have plugged into a bad receptacle, with loose contacts on the receptacle, that are not holding onto your plug tightly, and will be the cause of a voltage loss.

Good Luck,

Fred.

PS, no need to go with the same brand.

Sounds like voltage issue either in 5th wheel or the power source

if it runs while in storage means it is running constantly off & on on a 24 hr per day for how many years? Wonder how many hrs are on the units when they fail? I would not plug it in and run the a/c all the time. These are not quite like home units.

Need more information on cause of failures.

How did they fail? Did they leak the refrigerant, or did the compressors fail?
"Not cooling" covers a lot- the specific failure would help in figuring the underlying cause.

It may be possible that either the storage building electrical outlet is not supplying the correct voltage (under-voltage) or some of your usual camping sites have brown-out conditions. Your generator may cause the same problem.

Have you monitored the 120v ac voltage at one of your outlets in the RV?