Air conditioner woes

[Veebyes]

Recently replaced fan motor & capacitor. Fan works fine. The issue is that the compressor kicks in, runs fine & quiet for awhile then gets very noisy, amperage draw goes way up, then it trips the overload breaker on my inverter charger shutting all power off tothe trailer. What is preventing the compressor from shutting off? Considering connecting the original capacitor again.

[time2roll]

Great to hear you are running cool again.

[Veebyes]

Final installment of the saga. Called a small RV repair place in Lafayette, IN last Friday. Ordered new unit. Booked installment time for yesterday at 10. Dropped trailer off. A little over an hour later got a call. Job done. $1150 for everything. Living cool & quiet again.

[pianotuna]

Veebyes,

Sorry to hear of the problems. Did you happen to monitor the voltage as the over load started?

[Veebyes]

Not sure if I understand the issue of how much can pass through the Magnum. In any case I tried going back to the original capacitor. No difference. Ran for a bit. Loaded up & I got to the switch before it popped the breaker. Next stop for us is Lafayette IN. Found a repair center that can do an install of a new unit in one day. Price quoted isreasonable. Next week we will be cooling out again.

[dougrainer]

pianotuna wrote:
Hi Doug,

Thanks for refreshing my memory. 60 amp transfer. But I wonder if is L1 and L2
capable. That's the part I'm fuzzy about.

Should not be as L1 and L2 each have 50 amps. The 60 amp pass thru gives you a little leeway for running one leg thru the Inverter. Doug

[pianotuna]

Hi Doug,

Thanks for refreshing my memory. 60 amp transfer. But I wonder if is L1 and L2
capable. That's the part I'm fuzzy about.

[Veebyes]

Was out doing domestic stuff today. Will try going back to original cap. No water at site so trying a clean that way will have to wait a few days. Voltage at site is very good. 125V each leg. A COE CG. Near empty all week so VD not a problem. Headed to Eckhart IN in a few weeks. Might find a service place there that has a new unit onhand & can do same day install

[dougrainer]

pianotuna wrote:
The Magnum 3012 hybrid comes with a 50 amp "pass through" relay. i.e. a "transfer switch". If my memory serves me it is intended for a 50 amp pass through. I may be wrong about that because the install was several years ago, and I do not have a 50 amp RV.

I'm still careful to try to NOT switch while under load.

The correct way to wire a hybrid inverter is to pass all the power through the inverter.

I use a "patch board" so if my inverter should fail, I can wire around it in the time it take to move two male plugs from one socket to another.

You are correct, but remember, a 50 amp RV is actually 100 amps. 50 amps on each leg. So, if you attempted to run a Hybrid Magnum and utilize the Magnums 50 amp pass thru, you could only use 1 leg of your 50 amp service thru the Magnum. Doug

PS. your model has 60 amp pass thru capacity.

[wa8yxm]

Oh you are running it through a 2000 watt inverter.

Hook a volt meter to the leads to the A/C. IF the voltage dropps enough current will climb.. Motors are strange. Initally as voltage drops current may as well due to something called Power Factor. but there is an optimal point (PF=1.0) after that a drop in voltage will increase current.

your A/C likely wants between 13 and 14 amps Normally 14 Times 120 = 1328 That only leaves you less than 80 watts for the other stuff.. In my RV the other stuff is 300 watts.

[pianotuna]

The Magnum 3012 hybrid comes with a 50 amp "pass through" relay. i.e. a "transfer switch". If my memory serves me it is intended for a 50 amp pass through. I may be wrong about that because the install was several years ago, and I do not have a 50 amp RV.

I'm still careful to try to NOT switch while under load.

The correct way to wire a hybrid inverter is to pass all the power through the inverter.

I use a "patch board" so if my inverter should fail, I can wire around it in the time it take to move two male plugs from one socket to another.

[dougrainer]

Veebyes wrote:
Amazing how many do not read an OPs post. Every word. I never said a word about trying to run the AC through the inverter. Shore power goes straight to the inverter charger unit & bypasses it. It happens to have a circuit breaker on it which trips. The draw readings on each leg come from a Progressive Industries external box on the shore power post. Used the AC a bit today but jumping up to turn the compressor off manually when the noise built up & before the circuit breaker kicked out gets old real quick. Fortunately here in the midwest days have not been hot & nights are cool. My challenge will be to find a place that can do a same day install of a new unit. We are a month into a 4 month trip.

I understood you were not running the AC on Inverter. What I was stating was, it is NOT a good practice to run the RV THRU the Inverter. A LOT of People and RV Service people will do the LAZY/cheap install when installing a Inverter/Charger. They run the complete RV shore power thru the Inverter/charger, which is not the way to do it. CW used to be famous(infamous?) for installing Inverter/Chargers that way. If you have a 30 amp RV and the inverter has a 30 amp CB, then you can get away with it. If you have a 50 amp RV, it is NOT a good idea. Doug

[Veebyes]

Amazing how many do not read an OPs post. Every word. I never said a word about trying to run the AC through the inverter. Shore power goes straight to the inverter charger unit & bypasses it. It happens to have a circuit breaker on it which trips. The draw readings on each leg come from a Progressive Industries external box on the shore power post. Used the AC a bit today but jumping up to turn the compressor off manually when the noise built up & before the circuit breaker kicked out gets old real quick. Fortunately here in the midwest days have not been hot & nights are cool. My challenge will be to find a place that can do a same day install of a new unit. We are a month into a 4 month trip.

[wa8yxm]

S Davis wrote:

wa8yxm wrote:
You have described a clogged condenser coil. or restricted air flow in the area of the condenser coil.

Or low refrigerant charge.

No that woudl not cause the amps to climb as the pressure would not get high enough

I've fixed this issue several times on multiple A/Cs

[Wild_Bill_888]

I agree with wa8, the condenser is likely not dumping waste heat. The best way to test and clean it is with a garden hose behind the condenser with a medium velocity stream (high velocity will fold the fins over). Move the stream over the entire back surface of the condenser and watch it come out the front. If the water flows freely out the front surface it is good.

Confirm that the fan is running at full speed, in the right direction, when the compressor is running and that the fan is curved in the right direction. Drag a dollar bill over the entire front surface of the condenser, it should suck strongly against the fins.