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Jsledder's avatar
Jsledder
Explorer
Aug 05, 2023

First Post, Out of Frustration over Dometic AC

First off, glad to have found this site as it appears to have lots of good information from fellow RV'ers. We are currently living in our Forest River Wildcat 5th wheel for going on a year now (new home being built). Ever since buying this camper new in '16 we've had issues with the AC, the thing seems to start/stop alot while it's cooling, I realize it should "shift" the fan to Hi if it's too far out of range on the thermostat but it doesn't seem to do that very often, it will shut the fan off (not compressor) several times in the course of a few minutes or it will just run flawless all day, never know. Well, earlier this year the thing wouldn't come on at all and I just figure it bit the bullet, so I bought a new one and installed it, guess what... same thing but at least it ran. A few weeks go by and it refuses to start again, T-stat is set as 72 and it's almost 90 in here, I call the dealership and they tell me that more thank likely either my T-stat or control box is bad so I drive 2 hours to get a new control box and T-stat, install it and and same thing. So now I'm thinking I have a good AC unit thrown into the dump pit and something else is the problem since I just spent $1600 on a new AC/Control box/T-stat. What else is there besides wire running from the AC to the T-stat.??
Right now we are having to basically reset the thermostat each time it shuts down, it will run and satisfy the thermostat and when it shuts down it will not restart without doing that, which really sucks at night!!! During the day while it's so hot it just runs all day.
I'm at a loss!! I'll try and search the forum for more tips.

16 Replies

  • Thanks for the replies.
    A. We are not in a campsite or near a dealer, it is a permanent setup at the moment.

    Doug:
    1. I believe it to be a model 595. MGF # is B59516E711C0EMX.
    2. Control board 3316230.700.
    3. The old T-stat was a 3 button, the new one is a 3 button touch. 3 wires coming out of wall. Both T-stats perform the same as far as the condition I am explaining.
    4. Thermister is installed as per the card on the wire. 1" up and into the fins.
    5. This one is ducted.
    6. Seperation plenum is installed and appears to be in very good condition.
    7. 4 bolts from the inside.

    Upon checking all this, I found that when I pulled the thermister out of the fins then a few seconds later the AC started. T-stat was set at 71 and the air temp inside was 79 and it was not running prior to pulling that out and letting it hand down inside the camper. While it was hanging down the unit would shut-off upon satisfaction of T-stat and the start back up if I lowered it to a colder temp. Put the Thermister back in the fins and the problem came back.
  • jkwilson wrote:
    I would not run with the fan on low. Ice up is a common occurrence with low fan speed. I’ve never seen a unit that changes speeds on its own


    Dometic on Auto will go from Hi to Lo or Hi to med to lo fan speed depending on the model of the Top AC unit. Doug
  • I would not run with the fan on low. Ice up is a common occurrence with low fan speed. I’ve never seen a unit that changes speeds on its own
  • Inquire at your RV park or campground (managers/owners) about a mobile RV repairman with electrical/AC experience. A Google search may also help you find a dude that knows RV AC and electrical systems in your general location area. Inquiry phone calls may also be necessary in addition to email contact.

    I was always very lucky in that my Dometic AC would freeze me out even in the high heat of Texas summers.
  • 1. Need Model of AC
    2. need P/n of Control board
    3. need model of tstat. Is the tstat a single zone LCD square tstat? 3 wires going to wall tstat?
    4. Is the Freeze thermister installed in the evaporator?
    5. Ducted AC system?
    6. Separation plenum installed between the air intake(filter) and cold exhaust plenum?
    7. TOP mount AC unit or you have the 4 bolts from inside the RV? Doug
  • I am not familiar with Dometic units, I have 2 Coleman units on my coach, controlled by a single tstat. If your tstat controls the unit thru a data wire vs the normal 12v Y1 wire, then interference could be the cause. I had pursued my issues for almost two months before I tracked the culprit to an ac to dc 12v wall transformer. Once I replaced the transformer units have been trouble free. I would start by turning off all your 120v breakers except for the main and the a/c unit. See if the unit will run normally. If it does, then I would begin turning on the other breakers one at a time, monitoring the unit. My issue was found when I turned on one of the general receptacle breakers on the inverter sub panel, which happened to control all my entertainment systems in the coach. The transformer powered my HDMI to CAT5 conversion module and was hard to locate. This may or may not be a solution for your system, but I would find the schematics for your tstat to see if it controls the unit thru a data wire.

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