Life of AC?

Just replaced a 7 year old Dometic unit on my TT. Tried to fire it up this year before vacation and it was short cycling as the compressor tried to start about every 5 seconds. It also obviously wasn’t cooling at all either. Dealer said freon had most likely leaked out and wasn’t serviceable. I got the new unit and changed it out myself. Hardest part was getting the new one on the roof.

First thing I would do is check the compressor capacitor. If that's bad it will cause a high amp draw trying to start. You would think the place you took it to would have check it but you never know.

I’m 15 years into my current one. Replaced a condenser fan last year finally

I wouldn't put $300 into a 6 year old a/c., I put the $10 kit on mine last week. nice

A TRUE "soft starter" is much more than just a capacitor. Yes, a bigger capacitor will help, but what you need is some "smart" electronics that limit the current for a second or two until the motor starts spinning before "giving it the gas" !

MicroAir EasyStart

When I solar my camper the AC unit was 15 years old. It still worked great.
I would try a new breaker first, that will only cost you about $5 for the breaker and 10 minutes to change it.
There's no way 3 to 5 years is a normal failure time frame.

Put a start kit on it

Start Kit

I personally will not hookup at the CG pedestal without a quality EMS " electrical management system ", not the cheap ones that merely display an issue but offer no protection.

Most common issue is the AC compressor burns out from low voltage.....yes the breaker does offer some protection but nothing near what a quality EMS can do.

I've been using a progressive industries EMS-PT30X, also here good reviews with Autoformers.

colliehauler wrote:
If it was run on low voltage it could need replaced. Low voltage will destroy a A/C unit.

Tell me about it. LOL.

Check all of your wiring connections in the back of the breaker panel.

Be sure to unplug first.