Residential Style Central Air - NOT Roof Air Question

Google the name and model number and get the manual.

Journey1 wrote:
We have a 2006 Winnebago Journey Class A Diesel Pusher. Our air conditioning unit is not on the roof. It's what Winnebago refers to as a Residential Style Heat/Air Conditioning unit.

We've recently had issues with the air conditioner not working. We were actually hooked up with a really nice guy who owns a HVAC company. He came out and within 30 minutes had it up and running. He told us we need to check and add coolant soon to keep the motor running smoothly.

Does anyone know the following:

1. Where do I check the fluid level?
2. What kind of coolant is required?
3. Where do I add the coolant?
4. Anything else I should know about this procedure?

Why didn't you ask the "really nice guy that owns a HVAC company" when he was there??? LOL

It's something you can't do, unless you have gauges, a refrigerant vacuum, AC "keys", and the correct refrigerant.

Consider your unit on "life support", it isn't going to last for long if the tech NEEDED to add refrigerant to make it work again.

Just like roof units, basement units are not really designed to be serviced.

If it lost refrigerant, it has a slow leak somewhere and he was not interested in finding and fixing the leak and that is what that "really nice guy that owns a HVAC company" was politely trying to tell you.

Sounds like a job for youtube.

1.It is a RVP(Coleman) basement AC unit. THAT is what they are called
2. Page 57. https://winnebagoind.com/resources/manuals/pdfs/Operator2006/06Journey.pdf
3. MOST Home/residential/Commercial HVAC people have no idea how RV systems operate. They CAN repair most common problems like Capacitor failure and Fan Motor Failures as those are same type systems. I state this because over 41 years I have had to go behind those HVAC repairs and fix the actual problem.
4. They are SEALED units and IF that HVAC person actually knew RV systems could have told you in less than 20 minutes if the unit was charged correctly.
5. One of the BIG scams Home HVAC people do is to ALWAYS state you need to "top off" the Freon or refrigerant system when they come out for that "free" or low cost system check out. Freon 22 costs them about $10 a LB, and they charge it out from $75 to $100 per lb and you ALWAYS need at least 1 to 2 lbs they claim. IF your Home AC unit loses that much in a year you need to have the system checked and any possible leak fixed.
6. IF he knew that, and how to charge a sealed system he would have charged you $100 for a lb of Freon. But since he could not find any Schrader(fill) Valves, he just gave you his standard answer, which is BS.
7. Last, you run the system(BOTH Compressors) for a minimum of 30 minutes and take a Temp corrected AMP draw OF EACH Compressor and that will tell you the state of charge on your system. The DATA plate on the outside Basement unit will have the type coolant(which should be Freon 22 on a 2006 model) and the Amp draw based on 95 degrees ambient. Doug

PS, this may be your system, but verify the Model number.

http://www.rvcomfort.com/pdf_documents/1976323_copy8.pdf

2oldman wrote:
Sounds like a job for youtube.

Nope.







That is a 2ton unit which has dual 13.5K A/C compressor units inside, it is a one piece unit and just like a RV roof unit, refrigerant is sealed and is not designed to be serviced.

It also costs $3K just for the unit and depending on the age of the OPs unit most likely would require ductwork modifications.

Not exactly a Ytube or DIY project for the faint of heart.

That nice guy that fixed the OPs unit would have had to install "vampire taps/ports" to add refrigerant and those do tend to leak. Only way around that would be to braze in permanent ports and that would require full evac of the system and refill after the taps are brazed in.

OPs unit IS on life support unless they can FIND AND REPAIR the leak.. That fix gets considerably more difficult in these units since they are crammed together then installed in a very tight RV "basement" space.. Also highly possible that all the coils are aluminum tubing and not copper making a leak repair not only difficult but possibly impossible.

Depending on the age of the OPs RV, may be money ahead to replace with roof top units instead of throwing out a lot of money on the basement A/C..

Sometimes you just have to poke a fork in it and call it dead.

You don't say where you are located, but if you are close to northern Indiana, you could see Leon at National Refrigeration in Shipshewana. He is a young Amish man who owns the company and works on any and all RV AC/s and refrigerators. He is very good and very reasonable.

Dale

If y'all don't mind, I'll try to help the OP...

I have an Alfa motorhome with a Coleman basement air conditioner/heat pump, and I have some experience getting it worked on. I do not have a Winnebago but probably the same or very similar Coleman.

OP, do you know what the HVAC guy did? Did he add freon, and if so, do you know how he determined it was necessary? Or did he do something else and tell you you're going to need freon soon? Your post isn't clear on that.

If he added freon, how did he do it? As others have noted, these units don't come with the port(s?) necessary to add freon. I've never heard of a vampire port, but when Alfa owners go to the trouble to have the unit removed to be worked on (which is necessary on an Alfa, and not cheap), the advice is to have a port (or ports?) brazed on, in order to be able to add freon in the future.

Or, I guess I should ask--what do you mean the air conditioner was "not working"? Wouldn't come on? Wouldn't put out cold air? Would come on and then turn itself off after a while?

Someone said these basement units aren't designed to be serviced, but replacement ones aren't available any more (the new ones have the ductwork reversed), so many Alfas have had theirs worked on and keep them running. The newest Alfa out there is a 2008, which means there are lots of air conditioners still running that are substantially older than the OP's. Like my 2003--replaced one of the compressors a couple of years ago, and it's working fine.

Can you be more specific about what was wrong and what was done to fix it?

I had a Winnebago Luxor with the basement air and just sold it 2 years ago. The A/C always would about freeze us out.....never did have a problem with it and it rode around in there for over 100,000mi. Doug is the man and I am glad he is here for us.