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infogeek's avatar
infogeek
Explorer
Sep 08, 2020

Rooftop Air Conditioner Issues

In June went on a trip, Roof air working fine for 7 days, when suddenly it wasn't. Blowing cool air but with an odor. It was suggested to me it was the capacitor. Since the MH had a few other maintenance issues I took it to a shop. A few weeks later and a few hundred dollars they said squirrels had made a mess up there, all cleaned, working. I had mentioned to check the capacitor but they never mentioned it.

In August took another trip. AC worked fine for 7 days, then same issue. Blowing air, but not cold, odd odor. Went up there myself and saw the capacitors not changed. (2000 Bounder 32H, original AC).

So I ordered a replacement and changed it out today. Since I don't have 30 amp shore power here, I fired up the generator. After running for a bit tried the AC. Seemed to kick on, but then seemed to have power issues, slowed fan, funny noise, obviously the generator was struggling (never an issue in the past, no problems running roof air before).

Shut it off, let the generator run a bit longer, tried again. Now it works when in FAN mode but when I kick it to COOL, nothing happens (no fan, no air, no noise, nada).

Questions: Did I blow a fuse? Is the AC just ****? Should I also replace the other ancient capacitors?

Not above letting a pro look at it or replace it if necessary. Any suggestions welcome.
Class A
  • chuckftboy's avatar
    chuckftboy
    Explorer
    Sep 09, 2020
    The compressor is not fused separate of the fan so you didn't blow a fuse.
    Did you replace a run capacitor or the start capacitor? You didn't say. Capacitors do often fail but they are not the only reason a compressor doesn't work. could be a bad thermal disk, wire connection, relay or even low on refrigerant. Did your servicer check these things?
  • Seon's avatar
    Seon
    Explorer II
    Sep 09, 2020
    My ac had the same symptom and I installed a hard start capacitor that fixed the problem.
  • Bruce_Brown's avatar
    Bruce_Brown
    Moderator
    Sep 09, 2020
    Seems odd it works good for 7 days then quits. Could it be something as simple as it's freezing up after a week, then works again after its thawed?
  • dougrainer's avatar
    dougrainer
    Nomad
    Sep 09, 2020
    chuckftboy wrote:
    The compressor is not fused separate of the fan so you didn't blow a fuse.
    Did you replace a run capacitor or the start capacitor? You didn't say. Capacitors do often fail but they are not the only reason a compressor doesn't work. could be a bad thermal disk, wire connection, relay or even low on refrigerant. Did your servicer check these things?


    RV AC units, the compressor will not fail for Low or NO refrigerant charge. RV AC units have no such pressure switches. Doug
  • infogeek's avatar
    infogeek
    Explorer
    Sep 09, 2020
    Bruce Brown wrote:
    Seems odd it works good for 7 days then quits. Could it be something as simple as it's freezing up after a week, then works again after its thawed?


    Though it sat in my yard for several weeks and still didn't work. That's when I took it to be serviced. Not sure what they actually did; they're hard to get hold of and there was a power outage and computer issues when I picked up.

    I replaced the run capacitor because that's what was suggested to me by several people, and I watched a few youtube videos that described a similar problem to mine and that's what they changed.

    I guess I'll replace all the capacitors and then get professional help if it doesn't work.

    Thanks for your help!

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