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BayouBoys's avatar
BayouBoys
Explorer
Jun 19, 2016

A/C troubles

Ended my last season in August. RV has been sitting up since. We had an adventurous year selling a house and buying a new one. We have been very busy getting settled into the new house. Need some much needed R & R.

Got a 30 amp circuit run for the RV. Start up the A/C to check everything out. The compressor starts up and runs for a few minutes then turns off and doesn't come on again.

Leaving Friday morning and getting kinda desperate. No time to take in for repair. Any suggestions?

8 Replies

  • Update: Replaced both parts and got the same results. I guess the unit is toast. Will bring to dealer after this trip. I guess i will have to bring a window unit for this trip.

    To top it all off, checked the battery this evening and it was boiling. This will get replaced tomorrow.

    This is turning out to be an expensive trip.
  • j-d's avatar
    j-d
    Explorer II
    Capacitor you pictured is a two-in-one. 60mfd for Compressor (may be marked HERM) and 5mfd for fan. With a third terminal that's common to the 5 and the 60. You can replace that with two, or replace one side with a single capacitor, or even use one side of two two-in-one's. You'd just need a jumper to connect the COM terminals of the two.

    Hopefully just Capacitor and wiring, but this thing's been HOT. Could be failing compressor, but also likely it's seen low campground voltage and/or poor air flow across its coils. Clean it, not just the rear coil (condenser) that you can see, but the front coil (evaporator) that's inside a housing.

    An appliance parts shop should have something that'll work. Singles or two-in-one. Yours is marked 370-VAC, but 440-VAC works fine.
  • This is what I found. The oval capacitor looks like the fan start capacitor. This visibly looks good and the fan starts with no problms.

    I did find what looks to me as the run capacitor on the compressor. Note the burnt connector on the compressor end. I believe this to be my problem. Hopefully this is just a bad capacitor and not a burnt compressor.








  • Thanks Fred I will check this morning. Any thoughts on where i can locate a capacitor locally?
  • Well your voltage is high enough. I only worry when my voltage is below 108 volts, and will still run my A/C then.

    Next thing to check is under the roof cover. It is a possible bad run capacitor.



    Picture on the left is a bad capacitor, the one on the right looks normal.

    If you have a amp meter with a capacitance tester, you can remove the two wires going to the capacitor, then test it. But if you do not have one, it is cheaper to replace it, than buy a tester.

    Lowes sells a $40 clamp on volt - amp - ohm meter with capacitance, and temperature probe as well. It can clamp over one wire going to a AC motor and tell you how many amps that motor is consuming.

    Your run capacitor probably is in the 35 Mfd - 45 mfd size range. I keep a bunch of them on my service truck, and have installed about 8 of them in the past 2 weeks.

    Good luck, and hope it starts working right - soon!

    Also while you have the rooftop cover off, check the cooling coils. See if they need to be washed. Take a garden hose to the outdoor coil, if it needs it. Just like washing the radiator on your truck, wash it, then put back the exterior cover. It should be washed about every other year, if you use the RV in-frequently.

    And you might also want to remove the inside cover, clean the air filter in there, as well as tighten the clamping bolts that hold the inside frame to the underside of the Air Conditioner. This will clamp down on the A/C gasket, and keep it from leaking in rain water. This service needs to be done about every 3-5 years. Do NOT crank down on the bolts, just give them a snug tightness with a nut driver or socket. About 20 inch pounds of torque, or not much!

    Have fun camping!

    Fred.
  • Golden_HVAC wrote:
    Actually you need to check the voltage inside the RV while the A/C is on. If it will not start, and you want to find out the voltage, plug in a electric heater to put a 15 amp load on the electrical system, and determine the voltage.

    My guess? You might have a bad run capacitor.

    You might have a bad electrical connection, or the plug might not be gripping the RV cord tightly.

    I was in a RV park once on a hot day, and found I was only getting 108 volts. So I went to unplug and put in my 12 volt booster, but the plug was very hot - like a toaster. I was getting a 10 volt drop across the plug, and at 15 amps, that is 150 watts drop across the defective cord plug.

    SO you have a few things to check out, google bad popped capacitor.

    Find out your voltage at any receptacle in the RV while there is a 15 amp load on the RV.

    Good luck,

    Fred.


    Voltage is 119-120 with the fan running. When the compressor turns on it drops to about 115v. when compressor kicks off voltage goes back up to 119/120.
  • Actually you need to check the voltage inside the RV while the A/C is on. If it will not start, and you want to find out the voltage, plug in a electric heater to put a 15 amp load on the electrical system, and determine the voltage.

    My guess? You might have a bad run capacitor.

    You might have a bad electrical connection, or the plug might not be gripping the RV cord tightly.

    I was in a RV park once on a hot day, and found I was only getting 108 volts. So I went to unplug and put in my 12 volt booster, but the plug was very hot - like a toaster. I was getting a 10 volt drop across the plug, and at 15 amps, that is 150 watts drop across the defective cord plug.

    SO you have a few things to check out, google bad popped capacitor.

    Find out your voltage at any receptacle in the RV while there is a 15 amp load on the RV.

    Good luck,

    Fred.

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