Forum Discussion

Rhigley's avatar
Rhigley
Explorer
Apr 28, 2016

AC not cooling

When I'm using shore power my air (13500) dose not seem to cool down my unit. I turn it on and it runs until the sun sets. I turned it on in the driveway using the Gen. and placed a thermometer in the outlet of the unit and it came down to 38 deg. it was about 70 deg outside. When I'm out camping I didn't have a thermometer to check it with. Could my RV be wired wrong on the shore power side? I know that no matter the outside temp I should feel some kind of difference when I enter the unit and I don't Thanks
  • Never run AC on campground power without monitoring voltage.
    This time AC survived.
  • Thanks I bought a surge protector so next time I go camping I will have more info Thanks
  • It's possible the condenser coils iced over, not allowing air flow. This happened to us once. When first turning on the air conditioner, set it so it will begin to run, but shut off at a warmer temperature. Wait a few minutes and drop the thermostat a pinch. It will come on and again and cool and shut off again. During the "off" times, this allows ambient heat to melt any ice that forms on the coils. If the humidity is high and the compressor runs non stop, the coils will ice up. Once iced, no air can pass cooling the inside of the camper. All you have to do is shut the air conditioner off for a short while until that ice melts. And repeat.
  • your getting 38deg out of it, its doing just fine, couldn,t ask for more, cool down early ,its hard to cool a hot box.
  • That temperature drop seems fine. Due check air flow ducting is properly installed by removing the interior trim panels. Also check the plenum divider is actually sealed between intake and exit.

    Also a possibility the evaporator froze up. Assuming you have a wall thermostat check that the freeze sensor is imbedded into the evaporator. Often freeze sensor will be laying close but not touching.

    Is this the first time you have had trouble? And yes take the thermometer with you next time.
  • it works with the Generator
    there is little or nothing wrong with the A/C unit
    was the air temp 70* when camping ?

    sounds like LOW voltage at the camp site

    one KEY factor

    don't wait for the RV to get hot
    if it is supposed to be a hot day turn on the A/C in the morning , and let it run,
    a lot easier to keep something cool, than to get it cool after it gets hot
  • Perhaps where you were camping had low voltage and would not allow the compressor to start or run under brown conditions. The panel connection would be the same with shore power or transferred to gen so if the AC works well with the gen then I would be inclined to say it was the pedestal where you camped. Check the wiring coming into the panel from Shore and make sure all connections are tight. What happens when you plug in at home?

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