air conditioner quit again

[Dustytuu]

We have a 2008 Carriage we bought new. The Carrier brand living room air conditioner quit 3 years ago and we bought a new Coleman air conditioner which was equal to the Carrier AC that came in 5th wheel. Carrier does not make RV ACs anymore. Anyway the new Coleman AC quit so is now out of warranty! Coleman will not do anything about it. I would think it should have lasted more than 3 years!
We will now have to buy another Coleman AC and my husband and son will install it. The cheapest we have found is $817.29, with $165 for shipping. We had a 15,000 BTU, ducted, with heat pump. Have looked everywhere I know to look. No one stocks them in AZ and it has to be ordered. Some dealers say they can not order it in the books they use but did find some that did.
The compressor went out and no one sells a compressor any more to install in an air conditioner! So I guess a new one is only option.
Anyone have any ideas? I have tried to talk to the CEO of Coleman and no luck yet. I believe Coleman should do something for us. Maybe not complete replace value but something......
A Coleman is only AC that will fit and work with our wiring and will not have to be retrofitted. which was done when we bought the first Coleman.
Thankfully we have a bedroom air conditioner so that saves us somewhat.
Thanks

[renegade99]

I know your husband is a Master Electrician, but if there is oil all over the unit you either have a leak in the system,a sealed system so even if compressor is bad there should be no oil, not a common problem, or the capacitor has blown, a fairly common problem that I have seen several times. I have picked up several bad RV AC units with "bad" compressors and have only had 1 that was actually bad.

[TNSnowbirds]

redhooker wrote:
Unfortunately the RV air conditioners have gone from questionable quality to terrible quality in the last 10 years. On 2 coaches I have replaced 4 in the last few years. They have gotten so bad that Newell actually takes them apart and rebuilds them before installing in their coaches due to a complete lack of quality options. Funny to see a million dollar class A tag axle with 2 chinese ACs that cost less combined wholesale then the toilet inside.

The RV market is ripe for a premium parts manufacturer to spring up as I too am tired of replacing the junk on our fiver. $800 is a lot of money-but I would pay significantly more for a quality unit that came with a 5 or ten year warranty.

I agree with you redhooker, We have a 2014 5er and we are on our 3rd Dometic 15k unit and it will barely keep the inside temp at 78/79 degrees when it's 85 outside. We have had no trouble getting replacements it's the 150 mile roundtrip journey to the dealer to get the work done.

[redhooker]

Unfortunately the RV air conditioners have gone from questionable quality to terrible quality in the last 10 years. On 2 coaches I have replaced 4 in the last few years. They have gotten so bad that Newell actually takes them apart and rebuilds them before installing in their coaches due to a complete lack of quality options. Funny to see a million dollar class A tag axle with 2 chinese ACs that cost less combined wholesale then the toilet inside.

The RV market is ripe for a premium parts manufacturer to spring up as I too am tired of replacing the junk on our fiver. $800 is a lot of money-but I would pay significantly more for a quality unit that came with a 5 or ten year warranty.

[Dustytuu]

Then we will pay the $800 price. If the $700 price is no longer available. No big deal.
Ordering it from a place in Texas. Have to wait until we get to our winter place down south. Moving Monday. Already have someone there to install it for $150.00 labor.

RV park here has not had any electrical problems. Our surge protector has not shut down power for any reason. Have a very reliable surge protector. My electrian husband hot wired it in to trailer electrical system. Husband is a Master Electrian so I think he has the electrical knowledge to handle anything electrial
Thanks to everyone for suggestions..

[Ozlander]

That $785 is only good til the 9th.

[pianotuna]

Dustytuu,

What is the low voltage cut out?

[Dustytuu]

Jurneyman291, we have a good surge protector hot wired into our electrical system. It also protects against brown outs. If problem happens it shuts off power for about 3 minutes before it will come back on. Had no problems there with the power.

Our breakers did trip 2 pr 3 times about the time the air conditioner went out.

I have
found 2 places to order a new Air conditioner and there is $30 dollars difference in their prices. These are exactly same as our unit. Has heat pump, ducted and Is 15,000 BTU. Going to order it in about 10 days. After we move south. Got someone down there to install it.
We already did this 3 years ago. The new one we bought 3 years ago must have been defective in some way to only last 3 years. This was what we were told from someone in the business.
The installation is a piece of cake.
New one is costing $785.00 plus shipping which will run about $120.00.

[Journeyman291]

Check voltage in rv park several times a day. I have seen peak loads vary voltage in rv parks as much as 30v. A surge protector won't help that.
I recently had a water leak in mine. After opening the sealed condenser unit (just remove about a dozen sheet metal screws) I found the coil jammed full of dirt and the drain pan holes plugged with dirt. After cleaning with a bottle brush and compressed air my a.c. runs a lot colder, quieter and less often.

[sayoung]

Dustytuu wrote:
Yes I knew this. That is the name on our Coleman Air conditioner book. Airexcel is on our book but I did not mention that because some would not relate to Airexcel. But they know the Coleman name.

No one will work on our air conditioner and keep telling me this is impossible. Year right!!!! I do not believe it is impossible but we have had great trouble finding parts and no one will sell them to us but will only sell to dealers. My husband could install a part, but he does not have the equipment to bleed the lines and etc.

I normally don't work on rv ac's but when someone from out of town is in a jamb we do.if its a bad compressor,we would get 850 to 1K to replace it so I would say get a new unit.
Are you sure its the compressor and NOT the run capacitor as when they blow, oil does go everywhere.If its the compressor that has lost oil,the terminals are blown or seal bad and normally that's a grounded compressor and trips breakers.oil is usually black and smells really bad.

[deshemar]

Problem is that even if you find someone who is willing to work on the AC it will most likely not make economic sense. These AC's do not usually come with service ports and even if you find the compressor it will likely cost more than replacement. Complete Replacement is fairly easy and straight forward. I have seen a compressor replacement cost around $1k. Then u have the taped in service ports that are often prone to leak as they are not soldered in. I would look to replace, that is what I did when mine went bad.

[Hvyhauler]

Just a thought... A commercial / industrial refrigeration supply company or a mobile reefer truck repair company may be able to help you.

[Dustytuu]

Yes I knew this. That is the name on our Coleman Air conditioner book. Airexcel is on our book but I did not mention that because some would not relate to Airexcel. But they know the Coleman name.

No one will work on our air conditioner and keep telling me this is impossible. Year right!!!! I do not believe it is impossible but we have had great trouble finding parts and no one will sell them to us but will only sell to dealers. My husband could install a part, but he does not have the equipment to bleed the lines and etc.

[allen8106]

You should be able to google the model number of the compressor and find a replacement. the compressor is made by Tecumseh.

By the way, the AC isn't made by Coleman. It's made by Airexcel in Wichita, KS, they just manufacture product under the Coleman name.

link below.

http://www.parttarget.com/4130-01-612-9920_4130016129920_1450-4039.html/-A0B79093-62AA-4AFC-89B1-E3E338D1A1DB

[Dustytuu]

Thanks to everyone who has tried to help and thanks for suggestions.
We do have a surge protector hot wired into the electrical system. So not likely an electrical surge problem. Since husband is a retired Master Electrician he got a good surge protector. And he wired it in. Checked for any electrical problems. Did not find any.
The compressor in the air conditioner has oil leaking out of it so pretty sure that is shot. Have tried to get parts but no one has them and the company said they are not made to replace parts now.... Hummm. I guess that way they sell more air conditioners?
The cheapest new one which has the model number is $817.00 plus shipping. Husband and son will install it.
I am going to try Amazon to see if they might have one. Our model number is 48004-876 and the replacement model is 48004-966,
Ours is ducted and with heat pump, 15000 BTU.
We are not new to the RV lifestyle. Have had several 5th wheels and last 2 were bought new. Never had any problems with the air conditioners and some were Coleman. We have done the RV thing for several years and full time for last 8 years.
Again thanks to everyone for their suggestions.