AC problems

Check and clean/replace the centrifugal switch that connects the start winding to the capacitor.

Steve McKinney wrote:
Hi all! I am brand new to the group. Looking forward to "Camping retirement"..... I do have a small problem that grows as the summer heats up. My AC fan will not start w/o a little help. I can start it by spinning it as it hums. I have already checked the start capacitor and it checks good. Any recommendations?

Thnx in advance! Steve

Start capacitor is involved with the compressor motor. Fan usually will have only a run capacitor. May be only one capacitor with multiple sections. Run capacitor bad.

Fan motor has a bad bearing in it, replace it.

Replace it.. Save future headaches.

My Dometic Duotherm Brisk has a 3 terminal run capacitor with one section for the compressor and the other for the blower. How did you test it? Using an analog ohmmeter, the needle should deflect to near zero when first connected across one set of terminals and then move toward infinity as the cap charges to the ohmmeter battery voltage. If it measures zero it is shorted, infinity =s open. Even so, if the capacitor value should be 5uf and is degraded to 2uf the blower may not run. Substitution would be the real proof.

You might try a little oil on the shaft. My guess is that's only a short term fix if it helps at all. My buddy stored his at the beach and had similar symptoms. Once he oiled it it ran fine.

falconbrother wrote:
You might try a little oil on the shaft. My guess is that's only a short term fix if it helps at all. My buddy stored his at the beach and had similar symptoms. Once he oiled it it ran fine.

X2. sometimes you get lucky and a little oil will work it's way into the bearing and get you by a little longer but, if that works, you are running on borrowed time.

Same thing happened to me several years ago, and I agree with Caveman's post above. I had to climb up on the roof every time to take off the cover, oil the shaft, and turn it by hand several times to get the air conditioner fan motor to run after the trailer had been stored for several weeks. After oiling the motor it would run fine until the next storage period and then repeat above.

I solved the problem by junking the 13 year old unit and replacing it with an Atwood Air Command 15,000btu unit. This has been on our roof for two years now and functions perfectly plus it has heat which our old Dometic unit did not. We are perfectly satisfied with the change and hope it outlasts us! :B
Barney

Just got back to the camper tonight. Shout out goes to PaulJ2! Run capacitor was weak!

Thank you all so much!

Steve McKinney wrote:
Just got back to the camper tonight. Shout out goes to PaulJ2! Run capacitor was weak!

Thank you all so much!

Glad you got it going again. Happy camping!