Air conditioner supply shortage?

The RV AC shortage is only the tip of the iceberg.

theres 5 on e bay new,, just my .02cts something about your dealer sounds fishy. looked on amazon theres some more.

Aluminum, steel, copper and even many plastics are increasingly getting short on supplies due to many companies getting shut down.

Most A/C systems will use a lot of those materials and may be having issues getting enough of those materials.

Additionally, the A/C manufacturers themselves may be operating on very limited manpower due to mandatory 6ft spacing on the Manufacturers production floor like pretty much every other business now days. This results in far lower manufacturing production.

You do not mention what gen you are using and does your A/C work from normal commercial power?

Did your gen previously operate the A/C without problems?

Reason I ask is if the A/C operates fine on commercial power then the issue might just be your gen OR other loads that may be running in your RV.

If your gen is a 2Kw gen, that is a marginal at best size which may or may not be enough to consistently handle a 13.5K A/C unit. Some folks have been able to get 2Kw gens to work, but in reality to do that they must turn off the converter, the water heater element, set the fridge to run from gas only..

Realistically you need at least 3Kw gen to reliably start a 13.5K A/C with other loads turned on in your RV..

Did your shop give you a starting and running current number of the A/C unit?

When all the OEM's shut down in April, that also meant RVP which are made in Wichita Kansas. So, once the Elkhart Indiana factories started back up, there IS a shortage of RVP AC units as RVP had to start back up also and start producing units. There is a shortage of all appliances due to the Covid 19 problem. Doug

If your space is small enough then consider a 9200 btu unit. I have one in a small space and it works great, cools fast, and runs easily on 2,000 watt gen.

Why would your AC pull more amps? Compressor going bad? fan motor going really bad?

dougrainer wrote:
When all the OEM's shut down in April, that also meant RVP which are made in Wichita Kansas. So, once the Elkhart Indiana factories started back up, there IS a shortage of RVP AC units as RVP had to start back up also and start producing units. There is a shortage of all appliances due to the Covid 19 problem. Doug

X2 on the home fridges and appliances shortages!

Right now folks better hope that none of their home appliances quit, difficult to find any store that can order fridges.. Most are selling only what they had in their warehouses and as they run out, you are out of luck..

Heck even something as simple as buying Diet MT Dew or Diet Coke it is getting difficult to find some versions and brands in stores right now..

What generator?
Start issue or running issue?
So the 20 amp breaker doesn’t trip but the generator overloads?
Did the start cap get tested?
What was the amp draw measured?
And no, I don’t buy the shortage issue.

On our 06 Outlook, the generator is an Onan 4000 KY......, Which I think was pretty much Winnebago's standard for c-class of that vintage.
What's happening to cut the generator off? Generator still runs, but trips the breaker ON THE GENERATOR! Maybe just a weak breaker on the generator. On mine, the breaker started tripping on a heavier load and finally could not be reset, the breaker handle just flips from side to side, no tension. The generator runs fine but no power because of the breaker.
For 12+ years, the Onan would run everything in the coach. Then the A/C started tripping the generator breaker.
The Air Conditioning unit still works great on shore power, kept my interior at 70F this past July (90-100F), no shade.

Ken

Your repair shop is correct. I have been looking for a new Coleman AC unit for a few weeks and there is not one to be found. People that say they have one really don't. They are placing your order on back order and hoping to drop ship one from a distributor.

time2roll wrote:
What generator?
Start issue or running issue?
So the 20 amp breaker doesn’t trip but the generator overloads?
Did the start cap get tested?
What was the amp draw measured?
And no, I don’t buy the shortage issue.

OK, I guess you have some other insight into no shortages? Well, I DO have the Insight.
1. For over 2 years prior to Covid 19 was a historical BOOM for RV sales.
2. Due to that BOOM, AC's both Dometic and Coleman were in short supply for the OEM's. RVP worse than Dometic. So, OEM's that were usually using 1 AC maker had to go to other AC makers. Since Dometic and RVP were the only real makers able to supply the OEM's in bulk, they had to start using BOTH Dometic and RVP to get enough units for production
3. RVP was hit hardest as they did not have the capacity to fill orders to OEM's and those OEM's started mixing Dometic and RVP to get enough units
4. That meant for almost 2 years RVP had just enough units to supply the OEM's and very few for Retail sales AND very few to send out under warranty. Warranty replacements took precedence over retail sales. At some points over this time, It took us up to 2 weeks to get replacement Warranty upper units, even tho we were 275 miles from Wichita. So, RVP started to allow Service Centers to get replacements from our local Distributors to get them faster, but that caused the Distributors to then run out of units that would be earmarked for retail thru dealers.
5. Once Covid 19 shut down the oEM's, RVP had to shut down also. Once the OEM's started up again, RVP had to gear up to start supplying units which caused another shortage
6. Dometic builds in China, so they had no problem building units if they needed too.
7. Prior to Covid 19, There have been RV refer shortages, both Norcold and Dometic. Toilet and Toilet LID shortages. ENTRY door shortages on Towables. Other shortages also. At one time 2 years ago, Jayco had over 250 towables on their storage lot waiting for entrance doors. Doug